The Man Who Had the Best Time

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After dining at the White House with their guests, the Johnsons drove out for the final ceremonials, the Inauguration balls—and that is just what the President had: a ball. At the Mayflower and the Statler Hilton and the Armory and the Shoreham, and what Lyndon calls the Sheraton-Texas (where most Texans made their headquarters), Johnson stopped long enough to say a few words and to shake hands right and left, just as if he were campaigning. He also got into the crush on the dance floor, as the band played oldies like The Way You Look Tonight and I've Got the World on a String. Luci, the Watusi expert, burned up the floor with her best beau, Paul Betz, a student at Maryland's Mount Saint Mary's College.* Lynda and Manhattan Stockbroker (and onetime White House aide) David Lefeve, and Hubert and Muriel Humphrey joined the rest.

An "Uninaugural Ball." With commendable skill, the President danced with Lady Bird, changed mid-dance to pick up with Muriel Humphrey, the wives of Maryland's Senator Daniel Brewster, Pennsylvania's Senator Joe Clark, Commerce Secretary John Conner, Louisiana's Congressman Hale Boggs, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, Postmaster General John Gronowski and Minnesota Governor Karl Rolvaag. He delighted the crowd when he helped hoist Margaret Truman Daniel over the rail at her box and took her for a brief spin on the floor.

Many leading Republicans had of course been invited, but most of them attended a sort of "uninaugural ball" at the Congressional Hotel, where the dancing was done by, among others, Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney and William Scranton, who had also gamely ridden in the parade earlier.

Meanwhile, Johnson continued his rounds. At the Sheraton-Park, he read off some witticisms that sounded a little like discards from a Bob Hope routine. "The Secretary of Labor is in charge of finding you a job, the Secretary of the Treasury is in charge of taking half of your money away from you, and the Attorney General is in charge of suing you for the other half. . . . Never before have so many paid so much to dance so little."

At the Statler Hilton, Johnson introduced Humphrey as "the greatest Vice President 1 have ever known," and Hubert replied: "I had a feeling that after that gracious introduction, what you are really saying is that you are going to do the dancing and let me dj the speaking." Lady Bird got in a word too: "Thank you—this is a day for joy for the Johnsons and the Humphreys." And Muriel: "Imagine following three of the greatest speakers in the whole United States! Have a good time tonight. It's a great day, and great days are ahead."