The Presidency: Consensus of a Different Kind

Lyndon Johnson, the supreme cultiva tor of consensus, last week pondered a bitter paradox. He came to the presidency with a wide consensus created by the assassination of his predecessor.

He won election in his own right be hind a consensus of unprecedented breadth. He used the mandate afforded by that consensus to steer a sweeping program through Congress. But now, as Johnson approaches the end of his fourth year as President, the only audi ble consensus in the nation is the one that is building against him.

On the farms and in the cities, in suburbs and slums, among intellectuals and businessmen, a consuming sense of unease has gripped Americans. "There is," says Health, Education and Wel fare Secretary John Gardner, "a kind of negativism, a grumbling, complaining mood." Viet Nam, urban riots and rising prices have all contributed their part to what a White House aide candidly describes as "a general malaise." Ultimately, Johnson shoulders the blame.

The upshot is a crisis in confidence and leadership so severe that it threat ens to impair the conduct and prestige of the presidency.

Chasm of Mistrust. The pollsters of fer disquieting statistics. A Louis Har ris sampling shows that only 31% of the nation approves of Johnson's han dling of the Viet Nam war — a precipitous 15% drop in three months.

Gallup reports that a bare 38% of the citizenry likes L.B.J.'s overall conduct of his job — down 10% from last year.

Other Gallup polls indicate that 1) New York's Democratic Senator Robert F.

Kennedy has surged to a commanding 51-to-39 lead over him in a popularity contest among adults of all political persuasions; and 2) New York's Governor Nelson Rockefeller and California's Governor Ronald Reagan would swamp a Johnson-Humphrey ticket 57 to 43.

Some of the nation's major publica tions echo the pollsters' findings. A spot survey by the Wall Street Journal pointed to "a chasm of mistrust, anger and frustration — mostly over the Viet Nam war." The Christian Science Monitor predicted that America's 22 million Ne groes, who were 94% behind Johnson in 1964, may give as many as 30% of their votes to a Republican (other than Reagan and Richard Nixon) next year. Reason: "He overpromised."

Pressure Ploy. In both houses of Congress, Johnson's predicament was painfully apparent. In the Senate, criticism of the Viet Nam war grew so noisy among previously quiescent Republicans that the White House had to ask Minority Leader Everett Dirksen to defend its policies (see following story).

The House was in an openly rebellious mood on taxes and spending, thanks largely to the President's efforts to shift responsibility for any action to Congress. Loath to offend any voters by cutting spending on their pet projects, the President suggested the House wield the economy ax itself; he also urged it to enact his 10% surcharge on income taxes as speedily as possible. The House tossed the ball back to Johnson. By a lopsided 20-to-5 vote, the Ways and Means Committee deferred all action on the tax increase "until such time as the President and Congress reach an understanding on a means of implementing more effective expenditure reduction and controls."