THE PRESIDENCY: South into Sunshine

For two nights and a day, the 17,000-ton missile cruiser Canberra cut through an uneasy sea in rain and fog that blotted out the destroyers Barton and Wood port and starboard. Finally, on the second day, after knifing through the Gulf Stream, Canberra moved into the Bahama Islands' 100-mile-long Exuma Sound to be welcomed by warm sun and blue sky. Behind, through the veil of rain, lay the ship's Norfolk pier and beyond that Ike's own pier, the White House. On the horizon: the ragged smudge of Cat Island. To the northeast...

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