FOUR years ago, from the topmost balcony of Atlantic City's Convention Hall, a middle-echelon staffer from the Democratic National Committee watched Lyndon Johnson accept the nomination. Today John Criswell is hardly better known outside Democratic politics, but he has nonetheless managed to become the most powerful figure within the Democratic National Committee and the individual in complete control of arranging the Chicago convention.
Criswell's shadowy role is the surest sign that it will be a Johnson convention in form, if not in its decisions. The President posits his confidence in the Oklahoman on his ability to operate invisibly and with unquestioning loyaltyJohnson's...
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