Evening star. [volume], November 24, 1963, Page A-12, Image 12

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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A-12
THE SUNDAY STAR
Wiikmffa, 0 c, HtrtmStr 24, IH3
Johnson's History
Shows Recoveries
From Adversities
By CECIL HOLLAND
SUr Staff Writer
For Lyndon Baines Johnson, the Nation'* 36th President,
destiny has been a companion ever far away.
Three times in a political career as spectacular as any in
the American saga, the rangy. 55-year-old Teaan with a rest
less. questing nature seemed to have reached the end of the
trail. Each time it was only the beginning.
He was defeated in his first bid for election to the United
States Senate. At the height of his power as Senate leader
he was struck down in 1955 by a serious heart attack. In 1960
he was defeated for the Democratic presidential nomination
by the man he has now succeeded as the foremost leader
of the free world.
A grandfather who predicted
great things politically for Mr. 1
Johnson at his birth was some- 1
thing less than a Delphic ora- I
cle He could see only as far as I
the Senate. i
18-Hour-a-Dsy Politician (
Pew men have become Presi- 1
dent with such knowledge and 1
skill in the art of politics. Pew '
have lived a political life so (
completely. Once while ad- <
dressing a Texas audience, the i
new President confessed that i
he seldom thought of politics <
‘ more than 18 hours a day." !
The new President has been
many things to many men. To 1
some he is the consummate i
politician and nothing more.
1 To some he is the masterful <
legislative strategist and tacti- i
cian. which he crrtainlv was '•
To others he has been one ’
seeking only to further his own 1
political ambitions. i
But to a relative few who 1
were able to pierce the protec
tive armor with which political
leaders surround themselves, !
he was more than that. To his
friends over the years, Mr. <
Johnson has revealed himself i
as one having a deep under- 1
standing of human nature, of
the problems of the day. and as
one. with the late President, of.
having a sense as well as a i
knowledge of history.
After he had been Vice Pres
ident for more than a year. Mr.! 1
Johnson sat down in his Capi- 1
tol Hill office one day with an
interviewer. It would be nice to
record that it was a relaxed
discussion, but for Lyndon
Johnson nothing is relaxed.
Defeated By Kennedy
Por more than an hour he
talked, ranging over world
events. American history, his
role as Vice President and what
( he found most satisfying in
what he was doing. He mused
on the revolution that had oc
curred in his 30 years in Wash
ington in the scope of Govern
ment and the added responsibi
lities of the Vice Presidency,
i It might have been different
if destiny had not been at Mr.
Johnson’s side at the Demo
cratic convention in Los An
i geles a little more than a year
’ before.
Mr. Johnson had fought
John P. Kennedy down to the
i wire for the nomination and
had lost. It was expected that
lie would return to his role as
the Senate’s dominant leader.
Accepts Vice Presidency
But Mr. Kennedy had other
; ideas. During the night that he
was nominated, he decided that
Lyndon Johnson would make
' an ideal running mate. Early in
the morning, the nominee's
brother, Robert P. Kennedy, l
i was put to work sounding out
the sentiment of political lead
‘ers. During the morning there
'was a conference between Mr. ,
’Kennedy and Mr. Johnson,
l For Mr. Johnson it was a
difficult decision. Many of his ;
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President and Mrs. Johnson leave St. John’s
Episcopal Church after attending special serv-
friends were opposed, and even
the late Sam Rayburn, his pol
itical mentor, was lukewarm at
best. Mr. Rayburn finally
growled that it would be all
right if Mr. Kennedy would call
a press conference and say he
wanted Lyndon Johnson as his
running mate. This the Demo
cratic nominee did.
Mr. Johnson confounded
friends and critics alike by ac
ceptlng second place on the
ticket. One supporter was so
upset he left Los Angeles with
out hearing the acceptance
speeches.
But the Texan, who keeps
his own counsels, confounded
them even more with the self
effacting way he merged him
self into the fabric of the new
administration. He was con
sulted, he was often at the
White House, he traveled at
home and abroad for the ad
ministration. But his role was
that of a supporter.
“The President followed me
when I was the Senate Reader,”
Mr. Johnson would often say.
"I am following him now. It’s
one thing to be the pilot and
another thing to be the co
pilot.”
“Loyal Partnership”
In that conversation in hi*
office. Mr. Johnson described
his relations with Mr. jCennedy
as “the most faithful, loyal
partnership that ever existed”
with no tioubles and no argu
ments. The first alliance for
progress, he would say, was
“made in Los Angeles, and it
was between Boston and Aus
tin.”
The relationship continued
right up to the end. In his Oc
tober 31 press conference, Mr.
Kennedy said he expected and
wanted Mr. Johnson on the
1964 ticket.
As an emissary of the ad
ministration, Mr. Johnson tra
veled all over the world. He
trudged through villages in In
dia, browsed in the shops of
Pakistan and Iran, talked with
Norwegian workers at a coffee
klatch and visited all the coun
tries of Western Europe. He
came to regard his activities in
these fields as one of the most
satisfying contributions he has
ever made in public life.
His missions were highly
satisfying to the White House,
too, even if some American dip- i
lomats looked askance at Mr.]
Johnson’s informal, handshak
ing ways. He had a pungent
reply for such critics who have!
"ridden in regal and dignified
aloofness past the people over
whom they had domination.”
Chairman of Space Council
And he added: “We cannot
demonstrate the essence and
spirit of the American political
system . . . unless we leave our
limousines abroad as we would
at home. After all, what dignity
are we trying to prove—that of
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Sheltered by an umbrella, President and Mrs.
Johnson return to his offices in the Executive
Office Building after paying their respects to
the Kennedy family at the White House. With
the office of Vice President or
that of the human race?"
In addition to his travels, Mr.
Johnson served as chairman of
the space council, head of the
President's Commission on|
Equal Employment Opportuni
ty. attended legislative meet
ings at the White House and
participated in these secret de-:
liberations of the National
Security Council.
As a result of what he calls
, the revolution in the scope of
i government in Washington in
. the last 30 years. Including the
office of Vice Presieent, Mr.
, Johnson was as well-equipped
. as anyone could be when he
f was called upon to take over
J the Presidency.
> This was 26 years after he
’ was first elected to the House
. when 29 years old, and 15 after
i his election to the Senate by a
margin of 87 votes. When he
1 1 returned to Washington after
his Senate victory, he said.
“Well, here I am, Landslide
Johnson."
Johnson's Speeches "Folksy”
As President, Mr. Johnson is
; expected to support the broad
■ | outlines of the Kennedy ad
ministration’s foreign and
domestic policies which he had
defended from many a plat
| form.
• He is regarded as an effec-
I tive speaker but not in the
l classical tradition of a Winston
■ Churchill or Adlai Btevenson.
I Most of his speeches have a
' folksy, Texas quality. After
' John Glenn’s epochal space
ices for the slain President. With them is the
rector, the Rev. John C. Harper.—AP Photos.
I flight, the Vice President greet
ed the astronaut, “In my coun
try. we d say you're pretty tall
cotton."
If his eloquence may not be
of the highest order, there is
|no mistaking his meaning.
Once, in speaking of the radl
, cal right, he said, “America will
neither be pulverised by Com
[ munists nor demoralized by ex
, tremists.”
, He added that it was time
, for some domestic housekeep
ing to take care of such ele
-1 ments and said: “We have not
‘ merely preserved the past, we
have embalmed it and are
1 keeping it in our parlor.”
»
. Speaks Only as An American
j In the past Mr. Johnson has
; been regarded as being on the
. conservative side and as a rep
. resentative of the Southern
■ point of view. Many times he
has sought to dispel that im
■ pression. In the Kennedy ad
ministration he has Impressed
the North as much as he has
angered some parts of the
South with his views on civil
rights.
His own personal feelings
were summed up in a speech at
Nashville, Tenn., when he was
seeking the Democratic nomi
nation in 1960.
| “I am here not as a Texan
speaking to Tennesseans,” he
said. “I come as an American
to speak to Americans. When
ever I go ... I will speak only
. as an American to Americans—
• whatever their region or their
i religion or race.”
them are Jerry Bahne, chief of the White House
Secret Service detail (over the President’s right
shoulder); Representative Boggs (over his left
shoulder); Senator Humphrey (to right of Mr.
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Former President Eisenhower speaks earnestly to the new President.
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President Johnson confers with Secretary of State Rusk.
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Secretary of Defense McNamara meets with the new Chief Executive.
Boggs); House Speaker McCormack (between
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson); Senator Smathers (top
of head visible behind Mrs. Johnson) and Rep
resentative Arend.s (with hat at far right).