Former^ president^ passes away
Johnson eulogized by nation
WASHINGTON (UPI) — The
Washington people who worked with and
against Lyndon Johnson for 36 years ex
pressed a common feeling of shock and
sorrow at his death Monday. President
Nixon eulogized former President Lyndon
Johnson Monday as “a dynamic leader, a
unique personality and a man of great
ability and unshakable courage.”
‘To President Johnson, the ‘American
dream’ was not a catch phrase—it was a
reality of his own life,” Nixon said. “He
believed in America—in what America
could mean to all of its citizens and what
America could mean to the world. In the
service of that faith he gave himself
completely.”
Speaker Carl Albert, notified at his
Capitol office of the former President’s
death, said, “I have never been closer to
anyone in higher political office in my life.
I have lost a very dear friend, I am very
greatly shocked.”
Vice President Spiro Agnew called the
news, despite Johnson’s recent illnesses,
“somehow unbelievable.”
“I valued his counsel, admired his
courage, respected his integrity and was
privileged to be his friend,” the Vice
President said. “No President in our
history has tried harder to serve his
country well. His many accomplishments
speak for themselves. In time, his coun
trymen will come to fully appreciate
them.”
Sen. Jacob Javits, R-N.Y., paid tribute
to Johnson for his “initiative in the war on
poverty,” and said, “His responsibility in
the Vietnam War will be better un
derstood, especially by those who differed
with him, as an intense loyalty, according
to his lights, to the principle of self
determination of peoples, which he held
most dear.”
George Bush, former U.S. Ambassador
to the United Nations and chairman-elect
of the Republican National Committee,
spoke on behalf of the GOP, calling
Johnson “a man of great conviction, a
politician in the finest sense of the word
and a leader of men.”
Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., who lost
to Johnson in a landslide in 1964 as the
Republican presidential nominee, said:
“The country has lost a great political
leader, a dedicated American, and I have
lost a friend—the memory of whose
friendship I will ever cherish.”
Sen. James Eastland, D-Miss., president
pro tern of the Senate, said: “Only days
after we were deprived of Harry Truman,
we have lost Lyndon Johnson. President
Johnson gave a lifetime of faithful and
effective service to his state, this nation
and all the world.”
Other reaction:
Senate Democratic whip Robert Byrd,
W.Va.: “In domestic affairs he sought to
better the lives of all citizens. In Vietnam,
he pursued the course he thought and that
most Americans thought, at the time, was
in the best interests of our country. His
great desire was for peace.”
Former ambassador Averell Harriman:
‘‘He was one of our greatest presidents,
especially in the improvement of social
conditions in this country. . . He was
proudest of all for what he did for
education.”
Sen. Mike Mansfield, D-Mont., who
succeeded Johnson as Senate majority
leader: “He was the greatest President in
the area of social and domestic reform this
country has ever known. The Great
Society will be his monument to history.”
Senate Republican Leader Hugh Scott of
Pennsylvania. “He was a strong man. He
believed in everything he did and what he
did was with his utmost energy.”
House Democratic Leader Thomas
O’Neill Jr., of Massachusetts: “President
Johnson did more for minorities in this
country with his Great Society programs
that anyone else in the history of the
United States.”
Rep. Ogden Reid, D-N.Y.: “Our sym
pathy goes out to his family and the
hundreds of thousands of Americans who
will eat, read, and learn better, and take
more effective roles in society because of
President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s life
and efforts.”
Rep. Eligio De La Garza, D-Tex.: “He
was perhaps the greatest of Texas’ native
sons. A giant among men in every en
deavor he undertook; business, politics,
public office and love for his family and
friends.”
“America has lost a very great citizen, a
great president, and I’ve lost a very close
friend,” said Dean Rusk, Secretary of
State under Johnson.
“He gave himself completely to the task
to which he was committed, and did so
without regard to the effect upon himself.
We shall miss him, and we shall honor
him.” Rusk is a law professor at the
University of Georgia.
Although praising Johnson’s work for
minority groups, Ralph Abernathy, the
civil rights leader, said, “Had not it been
for the Vietnam conflict, it’s my earnest
belief that Lyndon Johnson would have
gone down in history as the greatest
president of this republic. He was sensitive
to the needs of all Americans, especially
the Black, the poor and the downtrodden.
Committed, and did so we shall honor
him.”
Coretta Scott King, wife of slain civil
rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. also
said the Vietnam war clouded Johnson’s
work in achieving domestic reforms. “It
would be hypocritical to pretend that one
can forget a war that still goes an.”
But she did say the “most com
prehensive and effective legislation on
civil rights was enacted” during the
Johnson years in the White House.
UPI Roundup
Navy prepares claims
WASHINGTON — Rep. Les Aspin, D-Wis., says the Navy
is preparing $16 million worth of counter claims against
Litton Industries Inc., for overcharges. Aspin said Sunday
officials of the Armed Services Contract Control and Appeals
Board had told him that the Navy already has submitted $11
million in counter claims and will probably submit at least
another $5 million. “If the Navy’s allegations are true, then
Litton Industries has consciously cheated the government
out of at least $16 million,” Aspin said. Roy Ash, Litton’s
head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Ash has
faced hard questioning at congressional hearings over some
of Litton’s defense contracts. The contract board arbitrates
disputes between the military services and private con
tractors working on defense equipment.
Five slain in shotgun attack
TOPEKA, Kan — A man ran from door to door in a
suburban area Monday night pumping shotgun blasts at
persons who answered his knocks. Police said at least five
persons were killed, including the assailant who apparently
took his own life. “He apparently went from door to door and
wherever a door was opened he walked in, fired a few rounds
and then went to the next house,” said a police spokesman.
Police said the shootings occurred in a North Topeka neigh
borhood near a railroad.
New York gunmen surrender
NEW YORK — When their nine hostages slipped up a
hidden stairway and escaped, the four heavily armed
members of a militant Muslim sect were faced with how to
end their deadly 47-hour siege: back up their “victory and
paradise” death vow, or surrender and go to prison. They
chose to live because a Black policeman told them dead men
have no forum. Hie Black gunmen, accused of killing one
policeman and wounding two others when the drama began
Friday in an abortive robbery attempt, decided to surrender,
and authorities Monday attributed it in a large part to
William Johnson, a special civilian assistant to the police
commissioner.
Supreme Court rules abortion
decision to be up to doctors
WASHINGTON (UPI) — Hie
Supreme Court voted 7 to 2
Monday to prohibit the states
from interfering with a doctor’s
medical decision to perform an
abortion during a woman’s first
three months of pregnancy.
Hie decision by Justice Harry
Blackmun did not completely bar
the states from having abortion
laws but it was certain to compel
most of them to liberalize their
present statutes.
Blackmun’s majority opinion
striking down abortion laws in
Texas and Georgia set up three
constitutional stages of state
authority.
— For approximately the first
three months, or trimester of
pregnancy, the doctor shall be
the only decision maker as to the
medical need for an abortion.
— From that point on, the state
“in promoting its interests in the
health of the mother” may
legally regulate procedures in
ways “that are reasonably
related to maternal health.”
— Only until the fetus reaches
the “viability stage,” which
medical authorities have placed
between six and seven months,
can a state forbid abortion
outright. Even then, exceptions
must be allowed “where it is
necessary in appropriate medical
judgment for the preservation of
the life or health of the mother.”
The viability stage is generally
defined as when a fetus begins
kicking, moving or showing signs
of recognizable activity within
the womb. Hie court suggested
that viability would be achieved
when an unborn child could exist
outside the womb, through
premature birth or a Caesarian
section.
Justices Byron White and
William Rehnquist cast the two
dissenting votes.
The Texas anti-abortion law
made it a crime to perform an
abortion except when the life of
the prospective mother was at
stake. Twenty-nine other states
have similar statutes on the
books.
Georgia allowed three ex
ceptions—one of them when
pregnancy resulted because of
rape—and set forth a strict set of
procedural steps before an
abortion could take place. Fifteen
other states follow a similar
pattern to varying degrees.
Blackmun declared that both
Texas and Georgia laws violated
the 14th amendment to the
Constitution which prohibits the
states from abridging a person’s
privileges or immunities as a
citizen of the United States. He
emphasized that the guidelines
leave “the state free to place
increasing restrictions on
abortion as the period of
pregnancy lengthens, so long as
those restrictions are tailored to
the recognized state interests.”
• and “Coal*'
IN CONCERT
Sunday, Jan. 28
j EMU Ballroom, U of O
Two shows: 7:30 &
Tickets: S-.ftO. Sun Shop. Chrystalship and Kmu Main Desk
• presented b> ASIO Cultural Forum