The Presidency: Coonskins on The Wall

THE PRESIDENCY

Despite his preoccupation with Viet Nam, President Johnson was, as usual, busy with other matters.

In a Cabinet Room ceremony, he received a report from the President's Council on Aging, made a vigorous off-the-cuff plea for passage of his medicare bill. Recalling that he and John Kennedy talked about medicare in almost every state in the 1960 campaign, Johnson said that there had been "deafening applause" every time it was mentioned. "So make no mistake about it," he said. "The people are ahead of us in this field. They want this program. They will support this program. They are...

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