Sarah T. Hughes

[Wolfstrike]

The appointment almost did not happen, according to historian Robert Caro, because the Kennedy administration thought she was "too old" and they were seeking younger jurists for the lifetime tenure afforded by Article III Federal judgeships. Hughes had been a "longtime Johnson ally," and as Vice President, Johnson had asked Robert F. Kennedy, the Attorney General of the United States and brother of President John F. Kennedy, "to nominate Mrs. Hughes" for the Federal bench, but the United States Justice Department turned him down. Johnson then offered the job to another attorney. However, Hughes was also an ally of the Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, who held up a bill important to RFK until Hughes' appointment was announced.[7]

Johnson was outraged at the chain of events because it appeared to be an intentional attempt to insult him, and made him look like the "biggest liar and fool in the history of the State of Texas".

Sarah T. Hughes American lawyer and federal judge who swore in Lyndon B. Johnson as President of the United States on Air Force One after the Kennedy assassination