Along Friendship Walk

THE PRESIDENCY

Around the L.B.J. ranch, folks stroll along "Friendship Walks." They are paths of cement squares inscribed with the signatures of the rich and the famous who have caught the President's fancy on visits to the 400-acre spread. The walk, a sort of presidential version of Grauman's Chinese Theater forecourt, already includes the names of John Kennedy, all seven original U.S. astronauts, and Germany's Chancellor Ludwig Erhard. Last week, in a favorite ranch ritual, Lyndon added two new ones as Mexico's President-elect Gustavo Diaz Ordaz and Wife Guadalupe stooped to etch their signatures with nails in the fresh cement.

The purpose of the Diaz Ordaz visit was a round of private talks with Johnson on trade, migrant labor, the Alliance for Progress, and the like. But before they began, the Mexicans found out how extensive L.B.J. hospitality can be. Lyndon jockeyed out to meet the Diaz Ordaz plane on the asphalt runway behind the ranch house in his electric golf cart, the same one in which he gave Lady Bird a few anxious moments careening around the grounds the next day (see cut). Diaz Ordaz was ready for him, and with a grin even broader than the President's own, wrapped Lyndon in a bear-hug Mexican abrazo, while his wife planted a kiss on Lady Bird's cheek.

Through dinner and showtime, President Johnson was in one of his most ebullient moods. He cringed in mock terror as Spanish Dancer Mary Moore cracked a bull whip over his head. When Star Attraction Eddie Fisher got fouled up in his microphone while crooning his way among the tables, it was Lyndon who rushed to the rescue and untangled him. Then, just in case someone might think that Rancher Johnson had gone too citified in his ways, the show wound up with a demonstration of sheepherding by a band of hill-country collies.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.