Nation: KENNEDY'S SECRET ULTIMATUM

ROBERT Kennedy last week relayed to Lyndon Johnson a confidential set of terms whereby, if they were accepted by the President, the Senator would agree not to seek the Democratic nomination. Kennedy's message was, in effect, an ultimatum: If Johnson would publicly announce that he had decided to reevaluate the U.S. role in Viet Nam, Kennedy would stay out of the race.

The maneuver started the day before the New Hampshire vote. It occurred in the course of a twohour conversation between the Pres ident and Kennedy Aide Theodore Sorensen. Reviewing Kennedy's misgivings about...

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