"Restrained Optimism"

The helicopter bearing Hubert Humphrey eased deliberately through the chill twilight so as not to reach the White House lawn ahead of the TV cameras. It was the only leisurely part of his homecoming. The Vice President stepped from the chopper into Lyndon Johnson's capacious abrazo, then plunged into a hectic round of briefings and appearances. Having stumped nine Far Eastern countries to solicit support for the Johnson Administration's Viet Nam policy, his task last week was to convert the critics back home.

After giving the President an immediate "quick porthole look" of his impressions, Humphrey was back at 8 a.m. next day to address members of Congress. His listeners found Humphrey unwontedly militant, particularly since his mission had been to emphasize that the U.S. is as deeply committed to the struggle for a better life in Asia as it is to the defeat of Red aggression.

Talking "Win." In each of the "two wars," said Humphrey, "we have a right to have restrained optimism and confidence." Then, paraphrasing South Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, he declared: "The National Liberation Front is neither national nor liberating, but it is a front. Communism is one thing as a theory for discussion in this country, but it is quite another in those small countries of Asia where its teeth are bared and its appetite consuming. Its creed is terror, murder, assassination." To make sure that the Administration's congressional critics got the point, Humphrey wondered aloud why some of them "always suggest what we might give up" in order to bring about negotiations. "Why not ask what Hanoi might give up?"

One listener who agreed went away saying: "He was talking 'Win.' He was much tougher than McNamara ever was before our committee, and tougher than Rusk." Senator Wayne Morse, who likes weak talk, grumped: "I think he has lost all his persuasiveness among people who think. I never expected my Vice President to make this plea for war."

Summoned back next day to brief a second group of lawmakers, Humphrey assured them: "We have now reached the stage where our military forces can sustain a planned, methodical forward movement." Though he was doubtful about the efficacy of B-52 raids on South Viet Nam when he left for the Far East, the Vice President added, he is now convinced they are useful.

Chums with Peking. Humphrey's handling of his trip and the subsequent briefings won him more attention than have come his way since his nomination in 1964. He also had his troubles. From Pakistan, where he had met the coolest reception of his tour, came a chorus of protest over a story distributed by the United States Information Service after he had left. It quoted him as saying that Pakistan was "fully aware of the threat of Communist China," whereas the regime is as eager as ever to stay chums with Peking. Humphrey subsequently denied making the statement. In India,

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was more polite, but still found it necessary to remind the U.S. publicly that Humphrey's visit had not changed her government's nonaligned foreign policy.

At home, Senator J. William Fulbright, on whose Foreign Relations Committee Humphrey once sat, embarrassed the Vice President by again inviting him to appear before the committee--even though he had already reported lengthily to the Congressmen (Fulbright left the Vice President's briefing 45 minutes early) and had turned down one invitation from the chairman the previous week. Fulbright's explanation for sending another was that he had found the White House presentation inadequate. "I really don't see the necessity for any further discussions," snapped Humphrey. "I suggest Congressmen should be looking for new issues and new copy and not having replays." Fulbright had reminded Humphrey that a vice-presidential appearance before his committee would not be unprecedented. Lyndon Johnson, while Vice President, actually asked to testify when he returned from an Asian trip in 1961. "That was his privilege." retorted Johnson's successor. "My name is Hubert Humphrey."

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