ABSTRACT
With Congress about to recess for the 1964 Democratic National Convention, President and Lady Bird Johnson gave a lawn party at the White House to honor the Democratic members of Congress. Narrating the program were three prominent television news commentators of the period—Walter Cronkite, Nancy Dickerson, and Howard K. Smith—all favorites of the Johnsons. The more earthbound Democrats in Congress were following in Johnson’s wake, already tasting victory in the approaching elections. Johnson was nominated by acclamation, and tens of thousands of voices burst forth in a thunderous rendition of “Hello Lyndon” sung to the tune of “Hello Dolly.” Johnson was well aware that Mansfield possessed a visceral inhibition against doing anything that might seem designed to enhance his personal political status. The Democratic victory in the 1964 election was a signal for a sweeping change of personnel in the Johnson administration. The deteriorating situation in Vietnam prompted Mansfield to return to Indochina in late 1962.
