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As Under Secretary of the Interior and later as Puerto Rico's paid counsel in Washington, Fortas had long and intimate connections with the island, which he has called "my second home." Johnson dispatched him to Puerto Rico in April 1965 as a secret go-between to the exile government of the Dominican Republic. Under the assumed name of J. B. Davidson, Fortas established an office in the Governor's summer home and set up a liaison between Johnson and Juan Bosch, the Dominican ex-President. Later, J. B. Davidson helped arrange the Republic's free elections. As one of Johnson's personal lawyers, Fortas also drew up the trust arrangement that regulates the Johnson fortune.
It probably never even occurred to Johnson that his friend's elevation to the high court would make him any less a presidential adviser. And, to date, it has not. Though the full extent of Fortas' influence will probably never be known—he vows never to write memoirs or leave important papers for nosy historians—he has been witness to nearly every great decision that Johnson has made. "Abe was usually called in on the real knotty problems," says one former White House aide, "the ones to which there are no hard answers."
One achievement for which Fortas can claim no laurels was Johnson's response to last summer's Detroit riots. Fortas wrote the President's message ordering federal troops into the city. It was an unfortunate speech, blatantly political and overly technical in a time that called for reassurance and sympathy. Johnson, however, was shocked that anybody would dare to criticize it. "Why," he told a visitor, "I had the best constitutional lawyer in the United States right here, and he wrote that."
Unlike most of the other men who have served Johnson, Fortas has never been abused or even nagged by him. The President, as much as his aides, seems almost intimidated by the man.
Where gifted men such as Robert McNamara and McGeorge Bundy have been discarded by the President, Fortas has endured. He has never put himself under Johnson's complete control.
A Secret Life. To most people, including the President no doubt, Fortas is a puzzling, enigmatic, even mysterious man. "I wouldn't be surprised," says one of his former law clerks, "if tomorrow I were to find out that Abe Fortas leads a secret life as a published poet in South America." Questioning counsel from the bench, he can be determined, abrupt, relentless in his search for the heart of a case. He can tear a poorly reasoned argument to tatters.
Off the bench, some say, he is no more agreeable. "Abe Fortas," declares one acquaintance, "is arrogant and abrasive." Says another: "He's cold, distant and cryptic." Others describe him as shy, reticent with people. "Well," allows Thurman Arnold, his former partner and a good friend, "he doesn't go around kissing babies."