JOHNSON'S NEW SECRET WEAPON -- "WIRED FOR SOUND"
Johnson has predicted that before the tide turns, his popularity may decline to "1%." The prediction will, no doubt, prove to be one of his more popular efforts at prophesying the future.
To help turn the tide, he decided to open a counteroffensive against his critics. A requisite for this was to determine what went wrong after he won the biggest majority for the presidency in the history of the country. The flaw has been discovered. It turns out that Johnson has been projecting the wrong image of himself all this time.
His friends, fans and admirers will be pleased to learn that the remedy has already been found; and, at the very first try, Johnson made spectacular progress on the comeback trail.
His error was not that of projecting a Goldwater image. It was simply that he had, inadvertently, projected himself as “pious, melancholy and grandfatherly"; and that's all wrong for the American public. No wonder people soured on the war in Vietnan.
As graphically described by James Reston of The New York Times, Johnson became genuinely worried. “He is trying desperately now to carry his case on the war to the nation. Watching him these days is like observing a great character actor in a repertory theater. One week he is withdrawn and silent. Another, he is the melancholy Lincoln. Again, he is the avenging angel.
"He is experimenting a great deal now with new techniques. After avoiding preannounced television news conferences for three months, he held one this week and demonstrated what all his intimates kmew all along, namely, that his problem is not his personality or his inability to communicate ideas forcefully through the modern means of communication."
The solution turned out to be sinplicity itself. At his November 17 press conference, "he had himself wired for sound, and thus liberated from the podium and able to wander around talking informally, he put on as effective a performance as has been seen at a White House news conference in years."
Old friends of the great man were delighted. They said that "the real Johnson" had finally come through.
Roy Reed described the historic occasion for readers of The New York Times:
"Wearing a portable microphone under his coat, the President stepped out from behind the podium and walked up and down in front of the camera like a revival preacher.
"He waved his arms, chopped the air, drew imaginary lines with his fingers, clutched his glasses, scowled, laughed and ran his voice through a range of sound from high-volume anger to quiet, self-deprecating gentleness. Beyond the theatrics, he enlivened the content of the news conference with historical comparisons, scriptural quotations, jokes and a bit of sarcasm."
For the sake of future historians, Roy Reed described in detail the exact moment of qualitative change between the old and the new Johnson:
"The new technique became apparent about eight minutes into the news conference. A reporter noted that Mr. Johnson would complete four years in office next Wednesday and asked him to assess his satisfactions and disappointments.
"Mr. Johnson removed his glasses and stepped casually to the right of the podium. As he did, a soldier quietly pushed a plug into an electrical outlet in the east wall of the East Room. The plug was at the end of a cord that ran to the President's waist and connected with the hidden microphone."
On the key question of Vietnan, the Times man was equally observant: "The next questioner wanted an estimate of the Vietnam situation, and that brought a flush of interest to his face." That the reporter noted the flush that came to Johnson's face shows how well a working reporter can observe details. That it was a flush “of interest," shows that in interpreting the fact, he may be less accurate. However, perhaps the editor of the Times fixed up the original sentence.
Roy Reed continues: "He turned slightly to the side to face the questioner and exposed to the camera a profile that has become a little fuller in recent weeks."
Reed explains how Johnson's profile became fuller behind the ears: "He has begun to wear his hair fuller in the back and, reportedly, has stopped using a heavy hair tonic that he described to a friend recently as 'that greasy kid stuff.' His hair appeared much whiter."
Reed does not indicate what happened to the color of Johnson's hair. Perhaps he stopped us the rinse that kills tattletale gray. the other hand he may have begun using something more
glamorous, say like the "Silver Gleam" put out by Loving Care or Helena Rubenstein.
As for the fullness in the forepart of his profile, this was probably not the result of something as drastic as plastic surgery. More likely it was a strategic bit of putty applied by the White House makeup men for those key moments when the president exposes to the camera the profile of his nose.
In presenting the positive achievements of his administration in Vietnan, the president glowed. In criticizing his critics, he glowered.
"His voice became harsh and he seemed angry as he accused some dissent-— ers of 'storm trooper bullying, throwing yourself down in the road, smashing windows, rowdyism.'"
It was a memorable performance in all respects. "Only once did he slip noticeably in his grammar. That was when he said Southeast Asians thought it ‘absolutely essential that Uncle Sam keep her word' in Vietnam."
This didn't matter too much, however. Uncle Sam's sex is so well known that speculation was unlikely to follow from the president's slip of the tongue. In any case, "'her' was changed to ‘'his' in the official transcript made public afterward."
It was a great day for the Johnsonites, from Cao Ky to Harold Wilson, a day all of them could be proud of.
"The House majority whip, Hale Boggs of Louisiana, waselated. 'The President did an excellent job of stating our objectives in Vietnam and answering his critics,' he said.
"Representative Jack Brooks, a Democrat from Texas, rubbed his hands together and said: 'They ain't heard nothing yet.'
"'He can't be Ronald Reagan,' said Representative Richard Bolling, Democrat of Missouri. 'The only way is to be hinself. And he was himself today.'"
The repercussions were nationwide. "A number of persons telephoned the White House from other cities to congratulate the President on his improved television delivery."
And the Republicans began to quake a little at the sight of the new secret weapon which Johnson had uncorked.
"One Republican Congressman, who asked not to be quoted by name, called Mr. Johnson's performance at the news conference 'pretty darned effective.'
"'T keep telling our boys,' he said, 'not to count the chickens before they're hatched.'"
Best of all, however, is what it signified for the country. In 1965 Jack Valenti, one of Johnson's intimates, said, "The President, thank the good Lord, has extra glands." Another crony revealed later that he is also equipped with an "antenna," making him extra sensitive to the consensus. Now that this remarkable individual has been wired for sound, it can be said that America at last has in the White House a finished politician.