The Roller Coaster

THE PRESIDENCY

The Johnson roller coaster kept swooping down and up--from the forced hilarity of political show biz to the solemnity of tributes to two of the world's lost leaders, from the gaiety of a Gaelic reception to the sentiment of a high school commencement in the old home town.

"This is not a partisan dinner," declared the President at a noisy party rally in Washington's National Guard Armory. "It is open to any member of any political group who wants to contribute $100 to the Democratic Party in November." For their money, some 6,000 Democrats saw a two-hour show in which Comic Milt Kamen tastelessly joked about the mating habits of the whale, Gregory Peck quipped that this is the year of the "Republican write-in" and the "Democratic shoo-in," Dancer Mitzi Gaynor peered down her middy blouse and asked: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Tricky Dick Nixon knows."

There were fleeting moments on a higher plane. Operatic Soprano Anna Moffo, aglitter in gold, thrilled with a selection from La Traviata. Folk Singer Joan Baez, musically effective if a bit maudlin, dedicated All My Trials and its plea, "Hush, little baby, don't you cry," to Jacqueline Kennedy. The show crashed to a close as a huge red heart emblazoned U.S.A. LOVES L.B.J. drifted from the ceiling and the crowd chorused an Allan Sherman parody to the tune Once in Love with Amy. Sample lyric:

Once in love with Lyndon,

Always in love with Lyndon;

Love him and love him,

Till our hearts are aching;

Why are we making this fuss?

'Cause Lyndon's always been in love with us.

Beyond Duty. Proving that his devotion to party extends far beyond any sense of mere duty, Johnson sat through the show again two nights later with 16,000 Democrats in Manhattan's Madison Square Garden. He also attended $1,000-a-plate dinners at Washington's International Inn and Manhattan's New York Hilton, a $100-a-plate dinner in Manhattan's Americana Hotel. The five affairs stuffed the party's 1964 campaign wallet with some $2.5 million.

Ireland's tall, tough President Eamon de Valera, 81, arrived for a ceremonial state visit, went to a White House dinner attended by such American-Irish as Eileen Farrell, Ed Sullivan, Speaker John McCormack. Johnson and De Valera both recalled the warm reception Jack Kennedy had received in Ireland last year--a visit that had led the Irish President to plan his U.S. trip so as to be in Washington on Kennedy's 47th birthday.

For the birthday, Johnson invited the Cabinet, the National Security Council and former Kennedy aides to a meeting to pay tribute. Said Johnson: "You served with devotion to his person and dedication to his cause. None of us would deny that a great cause requires great captains. But he also knew, as we must always remember, that beyond this hallowed house and this cherished city abide the people we serve. Without us, they are a strong and free people in a strong and free land. Without them, we are nothing. That and that alone is the secret of this transition."

"More Than Any Other." Johnson also noted the passing of India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Said the President: "Perhaps more than any other world leader, he has given expression to man's yearning for peace. In this fearless pursuit of a world free from war, he has served all humanity."

From New York, Johnson flew to Texas to deliver the commencement address for 30 graduates of Lyndon B. Johnson High School in Johnson City. When Lyndon graduated as president of the six-member class of 1924, it was known simply as Johnson City High.

The return put Johnson in a reminiscent mood. Said he: "Forty years ago almost to this very night, I left my high school diploma at home and headed west to seek the fame and fortune I knew America offered. I came back because I realized that the place to really begin was the place I had been all the time. I cannot tell you what the future will be, any more than I could have predicted, when I sat in your place, that I would be standing here tonight. But I know it can be a place in which, in a thousand towns like Johnson City, a boy, young in years, but deep in dreams, can hope to come forth and take his place among the leaders of the world."

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