The Presidency: On Top Down Under

• Share

Pravda sneeringly called it a "Holly wood panorama." Indeed, President Johnson's Asian odyssey did at times seem more like a Bob Hope extrava ganza (The Road to Manila?) than a diplomatic errand of potential historic significance. The star of the show basked in all the attention he was getting from Hawaiian hula dancers and Samoan chieftains, spear-brandishing Maori warriors and confetti-throwing Aussies. His hand was puffed and bleeding from countless handshakes, his voice hoarse from scores of official and unofficial speeches, his feelings bruised by catcalling Vietniks and placards bearing such slogans as THE YELLOW ROGUE OF TEXAS. Even so, Lyndon Johnson was clearly relishing almost every moment of his first overseas trip as President.

In the first week of the President's 17-day, six-nation swing through Asia, he seized every opportunity to talk seriously to his audiences abroad and back home as well. He emphasized that his trip, far from being an electioneering gimmick, was undertaken with the compelling purpose of redefining America's role in the Pacific while encouraging Asia's emerging nations toward a new spirit of regional unity and cooperation. Whether or not they can succeed, Johnson repeatedly made clear, is a question that cannot even be asked until the war is ended. Yet at the very beginning of his trip, even before leaving Dulles International Airport, the President emphasized that the problems of pacification and reconstruction in Viet Nam—not just of military strategy—were uppermost in his mind.

No Rabbits. Air Force One was loaded with Texas-sized steaks, low-calorie Dr. Pepper soda, tapioca pudding, and tons of communications gear. Ahead flew a jet cargo plane carrying the bubble-top limousine and the Secret Service's ponderous "Queen Mary." Behind flew two jets with 130 newsmen. Below, U.S. Navy vessels were strung out at protective intervals of 100 miles; all land-based U.S. military establishments en route were on alert until the presidential craft passed.

As soon as Johnson reached Honolulu, White House Press Secretary Bill Moyers, returning from a scouting trip of Asia, reported the unsettling news that many people anticipated spectacular developments at this week's seven-nation conference. Hastily, the President wrote some cautionary lines into his arrival speech. "We do not expect to pull any rabbits out of any hats at Manila," he said. "We know that the greatest weapons in Viet Nam are patience and unity."