Nation: THE POLITICS OF RECONCILIATION

THE blades of the backup helicopter for President Nixon's Marine One whirred to a stop, the chopper door popped open, and out onto the brand-new White House West helipad stepped the whole Johnson family: Lyndon and Lady Bird, Pat and Luci Nugent, Major Charles Robb and Lynda. They had come all the way from Texas for the latest extravaganza by Richard Nixon Productions Inc., a 61st birthday moveable feast for L.B.J. that started in San Clemente and ended in the new Redwood National Park, 800 miles farther up the California coast. It was an...