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"It was tough," Connally says. "A damn tough re-evaluation and re-analysis." But, says another participant, "We all knew there had to be change." Nixon made it plain from; the beginning that the time had come to try a new strategy. When it was all over, when the draft of his Sunday television speech was finished, he gave each man a Camp David jacket, a blue windbreaker that bears the presidential seal. It was, said Nixon, "a weekend that would long be remembered."
Next day, speaking to a group of second-echelon Administration officials, Nixon was quick to pay tribute to Connally's forcefulness and expertise. "This kind of program doesn't come off the top of a President's head," he said. "It was developed by a great team quarterbacked by Secretary Connally. I was more like the coach. I learned as much from the quarterback as he learned from me." Two days after the President's television broadcast, vacationing congressional leaders, hastily rounded up and flown to Washington in five planes that had been dispatched by Nixon, filed into the White House for a briefing. Nixon nodded in Mills' direction. "We can all take credit for this program," Nixon said. "Wilbur, these are some of your ideas." Mills smiled wanly. The moment of glory was Nixon's, but Mills will have plenty to say about those parts of the program that require congressional assent.
Evangelical Fervor
At the briefing, Burns said of Nixon's proposals: "This has electrified the nation." It had obviously electrified Nixon too. Before settling into San Clemente for a rest, he spent the rest of the week barnstorming the U.S. with the fervor of a newly sawdusted evangelist. He had the Knights of Columbus standing on their chairs to applaud him in New York. In Springfield, Ill., Nixon invoked "Lincoln's legacy." America, said the President, needs sacrifice and competition: "We can at this point in our history nobly save, or meanly lose, man's last best hope." Nixon capped his week with a gesture of reconciliation toward the nation most aggrieved by his recent acts. He revealed that he will meet Emperor Hirohito in Anchorage, Alaska, on Sept. 26—the first U.S. visit of a Japanese emperor.
While the President was trumpeting his rhetorical ruffles and flourishes, his dramatic new plan left many Americans confused about just how it will affect them. The confusion began with the Government itself. At first the word was that state and local government employees who had pay raises in the works would be allowed to get them during the freeze; that decision was reversed. Most embarrassing to the Administration, the Pentagon announced that an Oct. 1 pay boost of $2.4 billion for the armed forces would go through despite the freeze; John Connally ruled that out too—vehemently.