A lot of people think newsman Dan Rather's a bit of a kook. That's been true a long time and I remember that back when he published his first autobiography, a number of people thought that because of something he said in it. He was talking about the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago which, as you surely recall, had no incumbent running because then-President Lyndon Johnson had withdrawn as a candidate. So it came down to Hubert Humphrey versus anti-war candidates like Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern, and the entire party looked to be coming apart at the inseams.
In his 1977 book, The Camera Never Blinks, Rather insisted that L.B.J. had a plan he was unable to make work. It was to make a surprise appearance at the convention where some sort of carefully-engineered spontaneous outcry would insist that he accept the nomination for a second term after all. For the good of America and to bind the party together, he would accept and then sail to a landslide victory. Moreover, claimed Rather, Johnson would dump Humphrey from the ticket and replace him in a gesture of cross-party loyalty with the Republican (!) governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller. It all seemed so outrageous that no one believed Rather and I recall more than a few journalists and historians suggesting he was loco in the cabeza.
Well, Mr. Rather has been at least partially vindicated in the new release of some hitherto-classified tapes of L.B.J. phone calls. There appears to be no mention of the Rockfeller factor but there is conversation about the plan for President Johnson to make an unexpected appearance at the convention and to snatch back the nomination he had foregone. They say it didn't happen because Chicago Mayor Richard Daley couldn't assure L.B.J. he'd actually get that nomination and the Secret Service couldn't ensure Johnson's safety if he did plunge into that riot-filled, angry event. So there's an interesting twist in U.S. history that didn't happen.
This revelation is so far being ignored by the U.S. press because, you know, we care nothing about the past in this country except when we can use it against our enemies in the present. But the B.B.C. is doing stories about it and on this page, you can read the tale and hear excerpts from Johnson's recorded phone conversations. And the story I just told you isn't even the most shocking revelation.
It's the claim — supported by much evidence though I'd still like to see more — that Richard Nixon feared his '68 candidacy would be derailed if Johnson managed to end the Vietnam War so he secretly sabotaged the peace talks. Johnson thought Nixon had committed treason…and if he did what they say he did, that seems like a fair accusation. That was one of the amazing things about Nixon: Just when you thought your opinion of the man couldn't get any lower, he'd always surprise you. It's somehow comforting to see he's still at it.