Music to His Ears

THE PRESIDENCY

Few things in this world appeal more to Lyndon Johnson than driving around his Texas ranch in an air-conditioned car with a sheaf of favorable public-opinion polls in his pocket. Last week the President was really living.

It has been some time since Johnson has been able to whip out a poll, thrust it under the nose of some startled diplomat or newsman and brandish it as evidence of his popularity. Down at the ranch, he was able to savor two samplings, one taken by Gallup before the President's Glassboro summit meetings, another by Louis Harris afterward, which showed a sharp increase in his ratings. Gallup gave him a 1% edge over Michigan's Republican Governor George Romney--though he trailed Romney by 9% less than four months ago. Harris showed him leading both Romney and former Vice President Richard Nixon by a 56-to-44 margin. His renewed popularity unquestionably reflected approval of his low-keyed handling of the Mideast crisis and of his meeting with Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin.

Equally encouraging to the President were the nice things being said about him by many of the same Democratic Governors who seemed ready to disown him only six months ago. Making a brief appearance at a meeting of 17 of the nation's 25 Democratic Governors a fortnight ago in St. Louis, Johnson heard assurances of party harmony and political support in '68. "What they said was music to my ears," he declared. Of the 17 Governors, only Georgia's Lester Maddox and Louisiana's John J. McKeithen declined to pledge their support for next year. The others were clearly convinced that Johnson is trying to do something about their problems; they like his assignment of Florida's former Governor Farris Bryant to formulate ways of improving federal-state relations.

Cruel & Inhuman. In a buoyant mood, Johnson wheeled a brown and white Ford station wagon around the ranch, and an 18-ft. speedboat around Lake Lyndon B. Johnson. At the July 4 christening of his grandson Patrick Lyndon in St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church near the ranch, the President watched the boy being passed from one relative to another during a picture-taking session, quipped: "This is unconstitutional. It's cruel and inhuman treatment." Afterward, the President and Lady Bird flew to Texarkana for the funeral of Representative Wright Patman's wife, then made a sentimental journey to Lady Bird's birthplace at Karnack, 50 miles to the south.

Back at the ranch, the President registered a complaint about his grandson. Often, while driving around, he radioed the guest house where Luci and Son-in-Law Pat were tending the baby. When Lyn was awake, Johnson would drop by for a visit--but usually the baby was asleep. Grumbled the President: "I can't remember Luci and Lynda sleeping that much."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.