SEVERAL paragraphs of TIME'S lead story in the March 17 issue caused much attention last week in the press, on TV and among politicians. The passage concerned the now celebrated encounter between Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy at the White House on Feb. 6, following reports that Kennedy had been involved in peace feelers from Hanoi. The nature and tone of that meeting are not at issue; previous stories made clear that it was hostile and bitter. Since the tension between the President and the Senator kept growing--and is of national political significance--we tried to reconstruct the details of the meeting via many conversations that White House Correspondent Hugh Sidey had with sources close to the Johnson and Kennedy camps.

Kennedy at first denied our story partially, in two instances replying to reporters' questions: "I don't want to talk about that." Then, in a letter to TIME, he described the report as "almost wholly inaccurate." Wrote Kennedy: "It is one thing to give an account of a discussion between public figures concerning a public matter which was, as I have said, 'not without friction'; it is quite another to ascribe fictitious profanity or threats to the participants. I did not --nor would I--use the kind of lan guage you attributed to me in speaking to the President of the United States." Under Secretary of State Nicholas Katzenbach, who witnessed the meeting, also described our account as "seriously inaccurate."

Precisely what was said will probably remain in dispute, unless, as New York Daily News Columnist Ted Lewis suggests, a transcript is eventually published. Both Johnson and Kennedy are known for using strong language in private, not forgetting vulgarisms; Kennedy, once part of the White House power center, is less awed in presidential surroundings than most men.

Kennedy treated his differences with the President in a lighter vein at the dinner given by the Gridiron Club. It is supposedly off the record, but its better lines quickly circulate through Washington. The Senator said he could not understand all the reports about disagreements between him and Johnson that date back to John Kennedy's Administration. Why, protested Bobby, he and Lyndon had been very friendly during the first part of the Administration. But then, as they left the inaugural stand . . .

At week's end in New York, getting ready for the St. Patrick's Day parade, Kennedy expressed "great respect" for Johnson and declared: "He has been an outstanding President, and I look forward to campaigning for him in 1968."

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