Dying to Tell

Veep, Veep, who had the Veep? Hubert Humphrey wanted to know. His Minnesota senatorial colleague, Gene McCarthy, wanted to know. Majority Leader Mike Mansfield wanted to know.

Bobby Kennedy did not much care; by now he had other fry to fish. And apart from Hubert, Gene and Mike, and whatever other dark horse as yet unlit, there were roughly 190 million Americans who wanted to know too.

As of last week, the only fellow who had an inkling was the fellow in the White House, and like a kid bursting with a delicious secret, he was dying to tell--but would not. The mounting suspense over the vice-presidential choice was just the sort of emotion that Lyndon Johnson likes to provoke. It was clear that until recently, the President himself had not definitely made up his mind, but it was just as plain late last week that he had finally made his decision. He sent word round to the broadcasting people, asking them to hold three minutes of national radio-TV time right after the presidential nomination on Wednesday night. At that time, presumably, Lyndon would disclose his choice. By keeping mum until then, he will have succeeded also in keeping the spotlight on himself; he enjoys that sort of thing immensely.

Until it all comes out this week, the odds-on favorite for the presidential blessing was still Humphrey, who wanted the job badly, and who was trying to be as circumspect as possible under the circumstances. That was pretty hard to do, considering that his supporters turned the Minnesota delegation's Atlantic City headquarters into a virtual campaign command post, and considering also that somewhere, somebody must have had to get scores of signs and standards and balloons ready for the big spontaneous demonstration that might erupt on the convention floor.

So all this suspense was rather painful for Hubert. But what could he do about it? There was every likelihood that the President might pass him over and anoint someone else. An amiably placid, retiring man like Mike Mansfield might suit Lyndon much more than an extraverted bundle of action like Hubert, for example. If that happened. Humphrey, at Johnson's behest, would in all probability get as a consolation prize Mansfield's job as Democratic majority leader.

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