DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION Johnson Intervenes On Vietnam Issue

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31769, 28 August 1968, Page 17

DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION Johnson Intervenes On Vietnam Issue

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright)

CHICAGO, August 27.

The Democratic Party’s platform committee, responding to pressure from the White House, has adopted a proAdministration Vietnam plank calling for a bombing halt, but on conditional terms, writes John Finney, of the New York Times News Service.

The plank was included in a 12,000w o r d platform approved last night by the committee and to be presented to the convention tonight. A bitter fight on the floor of Convention Hall Is expected over the Vietnam issue as the outnumbered “doves” challenge the Administration’s policy. The battle is expected to be aggravated by the disclosure that President Johnson played a direct role in dictating the terms of the plank, giving it a harder tone than had been desired either by Vice-President Hubert Humphrey or the leaders of the platform committee. Reflecting the Administration’s position, the key provision in the Vietnam plank calls for a halt in the bombing of North Vietnam, but only when this action would not “endanger the lives of our troops in the field.” As a second condition, the plank says that any bombing cessation “should take into account the response from Hanoi.” 62-35 Vote Within the platform committee, the “doves" were defeated by a 62-35 vote in an attempt to incorporate in the platform a plank calling for an unconditional halt in the bombing The “doves” immediately pledged themselves to carry the issue 'to the floor in a direct test of whether the party wanted to support the Johnson administration’s Vietnam policy. It was a test Mr Humphrey had hoped to avoid, but one which was forced upon him by President Johnson's be-hind-the-scenes intervention in the drafting of the plank. McCarthy Reaction In anticipation of the action by the majority of the platform committee, Senator Eugene McCarthy said, shortly after the Administration’s plank had been disclosed Ly Mr Humphrey: “This plank asks the convention to offer to the people four more years like the last

three. Now the lines are clearly drawn.”

The original Vietnam plank had tried to strike a propeace stance that differed sufficiently from Administration policy to appeal to the rebellious “doves" in the party. Thus, on the bombing issue, for example, the original draft had put no conditions on a bombing halt, except to say that the Administration should take into account the military situation and the likely political response of Hanoi. But these military and political considerations were not laid down as a condition for a bombing halt, as they were in the plank finally approved on Presidential insistence. When,, according to informed sources. President Johnson learned of what he considered the "dovish,” antiAdministration tone in the original draft plank, he made strenuous objections and' threatened to repudiate the plank if it were not drafted more in line with Administration policy. ‘Technical Denial’

Representative Hale Boggs, of Louisiana, the committee's chairman, denied as “100 per cent untrue” reports that the President had directed him, or the committee staff, to rewrite the Vietnam plank to conform to Administration policy. The denial, however, appeared to be a technical one, since the President did not give his instructions directly to Mr Boggs or the committee staff, but rather relayed

them through Mr Charles Murphy, former chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board. Mr Murphy was temporarily placed on the White House staff last month as a special counsel, and has been serving as the White House liaison man with the platform committee.

Mr Murphy is reported to have objected to the original bombing cessation provision, with its absence of a requirement of reciprocity by Hanoi. He suggested in the discussions with Mr Humphrey’s and the platform committee staff that it be re-drafted to place conditions on a bombing cessation. In addition, Mr Murphy is reported to have suggested significant changes in the tone of the plank, which, in its original form, placed considerable emphasis on the necessity for achieving peace in Vietnam, and went so far as to hint that the United States could be more flexible in the Paris peace talks. The President’s move to influence the Vietnam plank apparently began last Friday, when two members of the platform committee, Mr Boggs and Senator Jennings Randolph, of West Virginia, were called back to Washington, ostensibly for a White House briefing of Congressional leaders on the crisis in Czechoslovakia.

The final irony was that the plank presented to the platform committee yesterday did not bear a White House imprint but was rather offered as a Humphrey proposal, written in conjunction with the committee staff.