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At first Bobby acted as though it would. Washington's able Senator Henry Jackson had agreed to serve as Democratic national chairman until Jan. i—a job that, under normal circumstances, would put him in charge of the campaign. But Bobby quickly and quietly asserted his authority, and Jack confirmed it. Nowadays, everybody works for Bobby, and Scoop Jackson is a titled figurehead and troubleshooter (this week he was off in his own Washington State trying to retrieve a situation that imperils Jack Kennedy's chances there).
Bobby sat himself down in a small green-carpeted office in Washington's Connecticut Avenue command post and went to work on the National Committee itself. In Paul Butler's six years as chairman, a lot of moss had gathered. Bobby was appalled: "When we first took over here, there were at least 100 workers, and only one girl who could take dictation." At first there was talk of heads rolling, but Bobby strategically retreated: there was not time to build a new headquarters staff, and a lot of influential Democrats would have been offended by a wholesale slaughter. Instead. Bob increased his forces. Today the National Committee has overflowed into dozens of offices in five Washington buildings, and the scene at headquarters is one of organized confusion, with mimeograph machines and tables choking the corridors and the offices jammed to their transoms with employees. "Everybody's working like hell." says a press aide. "Some of them don't know what they're doing, but they're working like hell."
Not Enough Kennedys. Around him Bebby assembled the elite corps of veterans from Operation Kennedy—Top Organizer Larry O'Brien, Scheduling Coordinator Kenny O'Donnell. Press Attache Pierre Salinger, Fund Raiser (and brother-in-law) Steve Smith. Brother Ted Kennedy was ordered to San Francisco, to supervise campaign operations from the Rockies to the Pacific Coast. Denver Lawyer Byron ("Whizzer") White assumed command of the volunteer Citizens for Kennedy-Johnson groups, and 30 regional coordinators went forth to arbitrate local squabbles and mastermind campaigns in 30 states.
As the campaign rolled off, Bobby found that his problems were far more exasperating than any of the tight little situations he had handled so deftly in the primaries. The Operation Kennedy cadre was spread too thin—there were not enough members of the Kennedy family, enough brisk young Harvardmen, enough seasoned toilers from the primaries to blanket the entire U.S. In some states, Bobby settled for second-rate, amateurish local leaders; in others, imported Kennedymen were hampered by local feuds and politicians jealous of outside intruders. Some states, such as Indiana, lent themselves to a formula of the local organization and the volunteers working together in happy harmony under the direction of a coordinator from headquarters. In a few places, such as Montana, the tough young Kennedy corps took over completely. In other states, such as Pennsylvania, Bobby soon discovered that the most prudent solution seemed to be to leave everything in the hands of the local organizations. The result, Bobby discovered, is spotty: it is working fine in Ohio, not so well in Texas, dismally in Washington.