The Presidency: Protecting the Flank

• Share

(6 of 10)

On one distaff excursion, Imelda, a Miss Manila in 1954, who at 36 is one of the world's most fetching First Ladies, took the allied wives to a seaside archaeological site where 15th century artifacts had been partially exposed in advance so that the party could discover them, like so many Easter eggs. Lady Bird turned up several small vases. Imelda, wearing purple stretch pants and a printed purple top with all the brio that Emilio Pucci could have hoped for when he designed them, leaped into a trench and unearthed a burial vase.

Imelda's greatest triumph was a barrio fiesta, modeled after a village festival, that was held on the grounds of Malacanang the night the conference ended. Beneath gold lanterns that swung gently from broad acacia trees strolled 2,000 guests. All the visiting statesmen save General Park, unrelenting in a business suit, sported elaborately embroidered barong tagalog shirts worn outside the trousers; the ladies were supplied by Imelda with butterfly-sleeved balintawak and patadyong dresses.

In the gardens overlooking the Pasig River, Johnson sat with a bright pink bandanna around his neck and a wreath of white sampaguitas—the Philippines' national flower—on his head, sampling suckling pig, barbecued crab claws, pickled papaya and coconut punch laced with rum. When the band struck up Hello, Dolly!, the President loped out onto the marble floor with Imelda while guests scrambled atop chairs and tables for a better view. Alone, the couple danced through one chorus, Lyndon lumbering around in his Texas two-step, Imelda crooning the words to him. Still alone, they danced to a second chorus. When the band struck up the tune a third time and Lyndon seemed ready to wrangle Imelda around again, she shot an imploring glance at her husband, who immediately escorted Lady Bird onto the floor. Soon thereafter, he traded partners with Johnson.

Quick Change. Next day, the President went through his schedule at high velocity, laying wreaths at two military cemeteries, touring the rice institute at

Los Banos, choppering to Corregidor for a look at the enormous Malinta Tunnel where Douglas MacArthur holed up during the Japanese siege in 1942. Then, while Lady Bird set out for Manila in one helicopter, Lyndon boarded another for a secret trip that was to become the high point of his tour.

The previous evening, the President had met with Lodge, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, General William Westmoreland and Press Secretary Bill Moyers at Malacanang to discuss a side trip to Viet Nam. Westmoreland strongly recommended it as a morale booster for U.S. troops and the South Vietnamese as well. Johnson agreed, decided to schedule it the very next day, when he had a full program and nobody would suspect what was afoot. In the event of a security leak, the President said, the whole thing would be canceled—right up to the moment of landing.

Next morning, Moyers and other aides summoned some 45 reporters to a briefing in the U.S. embassy, literally impounded them when they arrived. Nobody was allowed out of the room—or in. Bussed to Sangley Point Naval Station across the bay from Manila, the newsmen took off in a chartered jet in the early afternoon. The President, 25 minutes behind them, changed into his brown ranch trousers and