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THE TWO PRESIDENTS JOHNSON

Two events of the pre-election period served to dramatize the true hopelessness of Johnson's position. One was the so-called National Union Convention, held in August in Philadelphia for the purpose of rallying support to the President's cause....The other event was Johnson's two-and-a-half-week speaking tour in defense of his policy, from August 22 to September 15, during which the President, face to face, as it were, with "the people," was showered with abuse and ridicule, to which he retorted with much indiscreet and foolhardy word-bandying. The few shreds of dignity which still clung to the presidency were thus torn away in the course of this disastrous "Swing around the Circle," and the bankruptcy of the President's role, insofar as it depended upon popular support, was made visible before the entire country. The November elections resulted in overwhelming majorities for the radicals.

...On February 24, 1868, the House of Representatives resolved to impeach him.

THE ABOVE QUOTATION concerning the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee is taken from a recent book on the subject by Columbia University Professor Eric McKitrick. It is at once apparent that very little change in language is necessary to make this descriptive comment relevant for 1966. One could perhaps effectively substitute for the "National Union Convention" the White House Conference held in June in Washington. The bellicose speech delivered there by Lyndon Johnson in Omaha that same month, in reply to critics of his Vietnam policy, could mildly be described as "indiscreet and foolhardy word-bandying." In retrospect it will also be remembered that Andrew Johnson of Tennessee and Lyndon Johnson of Texas each initially came to the presidency following the assassination of his predecessor (Lincoln and Kennedy, respectively.)

However, the more basic and substantial comparison to be mad is in the present crisis of public confidence in the integrity of the Government. Certainly for sheer duplicity and crude lying to the American people, the administration of Lyndon Johnson is without parallel in this century. Not only are the American people daily growing weary of the unanswered questions, confusion and moral bankruptcy in the Vietnam war but increasingly, even members

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---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 09:20:51