If Little Is Good, More Is Better

THE PRESIDENCY

Perched on the edge of a rocking chair, with one ankle propped on a footstool, Lyndon Johnson twirled a pair of glasses and toyed with a Vicks inhaler. Nagged by newsmen, the President had agreed to talk--in a manner of speaking--with the press. Highlights:

Q.: Mr. President, in the past there has been a great stress on limited objectives in Viet Nam. Now, many people seem to have the opinion that you have changed it. A.: I would, hem, agree with the first statement.

Q.: Has there been any change? A.: The answer is no.

Was the U.S. planning any joint peace effort with the U.N.? "I don't have anything to announce on it now." Had the war in Viet Nam brought the world closer to World War III? "I don't think it would serve any purpose to speculate about that." Did that mean the President thought World War III was not very close? "Same answer." What about the intensification of fighting around the DMZ? "I wouldn't want to discuss that."

Some Southern Congressmen, one intrepid newsman (Erwin Knoll of Newhouse National News Service) reported, had said that the Administration was granting major concessions on desegregation guidelines in return for Southern support for its school aid bill. Was this kind of horse trading going on?

"What Southern Congressman said that?"

"I am sorry, sir, I have forgotten which one."

"Bring the Congressman's statement to me and let me see it. I never heard of it. I don't know anything about it. I doubt if a Congressman said it. I know it is not true."

If the President was hardly his usual loquacious self--at times his nonanswers were all but inaudible--the probable reason was his faith in Johnsonian axiom No. 1, which holds that if a little is good, more is better and most is best. In recent weeks, his public demeanor has been markedly subdued, and the low-posture ploy has apparently had results. For the first time since October, according to a Harris poll released last week, Johnson's popularity rating stands an even 50%-50% with Michigan's Governor George Romney, who only last March led the President 54% to 46%. Johnson may well conclude, by more-silence-is-better reckoning, that Presidents, like children, should be seen but not heard.

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