The original documents are located in Box 12, folder “Fourth Estate and Chief Executive (3)” of the Ron Nessen Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.

Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Ron Nessen donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Digitized from Box 12 of the Ron Nessen Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library

television, the reporters would not have :felt any urgent need to ''make 11 news themselves. Televising this conference would also have served to diminish,rather

than increase, public apprehension. The world would have seen the making his calm, dignified statement. Had some reporters persisted in

digging a story out of the statement, the world would have seen them hammer away at the President. The public would have noted that the actual

phrase "active consideration" was first employed, not by the President,

but by a reporter. They would have seen the President describe the bomb

as a terrible weapon which he did not want ·to see used. As often happens when an event transpires bereft ·of introductory and following anaJ.yses, they probabcy. would not have realized tha. t they were supposed to,,q be apprehensive--until the stark afternoon headlines told them so.

Embarrassing gaffes can also happen in domestic affairs, as Richard

Ni."Con painfully learned. Although trained in law, he proved himself on many occasions to be ignorant of the basic tenets of jurisprudence. Once,

he even did it in public. Nixon,lobb,ying for Congressional action on his anticrime bill,was · rambling on about John Wayne, Western movies, a.nd the "simple code of justice" of the old frontier, when his talk turned to press coverage of Charles Manson, the hippie cultist then on trial for the murders of Sharon

Tate and a number of her house guests. The United States Court Building in Denver, Colorado, sudden'cy' came alive as he assailed the apparent "glori­ fication of a man who was guUty,directly or indirectly, of eight murders without reason." Few newsmen paid much attention to the remaining :few "MANSON GUILTY, NIXON DECLARES 11 screamed the front page of the !Q§. I Angeles Times,which went to press soon after Nixon's remarks. The defen- I I l! dant held the paper aloft in court the next day, in hopes of getting a r i mistrial declared. The judge was satisfied that the jury had not been pre-1 I judiced by the demonstration, and allowed the trial to proceed. Manson was eventually convicted, and sentenced to a life behind bars.

The Nit'! ls!,k Times was less flamboyant, but very • disturbed by Mr.

Nixon 1 s "scant contribution to the elucidation of the serious issue" of press responsibility and domestic tranquility. They editorially cited the I I President for approaching most public issues 11not with the sensitivity to 1 the nuances of language and the habitual concern of an experienced lawyer, I but rather with the ''breezy metaphors and attention-getting if inexact I analogies of the politician. 11 Nixon 1 s "political intent was clear enough," I

('\, • ·- a l,.__.,,/ the ~s said,but "discernment and discrimination are everything•• in dis­ ' '2. ( cussing these issues; "loose talk (is) worse than nothing." Times Vice-President James Reston also devoted a column that day to I, ''Maldng Things Worse Than They Are." Protecting the President from ''unin- ~~ tended and potentially damaging blunders during extemporaneous news confer-tl enoes 11 has long been a pet topic of Reston's, md this incident enabled ~ to raise the question anew. Although finding it odd that the President, II

trained in law' should ha"/9 "violated the elemental presumption of innocem~rl t " by Reston was even mere puzzled the subsequent failure of his staff to prJ,I I"'·"l.. I' teet him in time to "keep the blunder from going out on national television l" li The Denver conference was being taped for later broadcast, and the !I blunder could "easily have been corrected before the damage was done. 11 Why •I\ . . d 1 11 - then, was Nixon s staff not "alert and confident enough to tell the Pres- l 1 _ 1 dent what had happened? Why were they "still trifling with it four hours i · ::::=: =:-.::::-::-_=:::-...==-· . ===:-:~·.-::::: :·==:::::::::-:-: ::::=:::.~====~==--".o::::::~ =:·=:-:c:·::O~.::-.:c·:..::o·==-·==:c.:::.::·:.:::::·.=::-_::=-=--=::::::::.::;·::::.:::.::.-_o::;:c:·::: ;;:::·:::::::::::;-.:::.::::::-.:::::.:.:=:.::-::o::.::::::::i QJll::::.:::::::::: ::::: ::·:·::: :·::::: . I - I I I i II . :~-=7::--=-::=::===f-eafter-'tfia ~~Id~~t?r• · · --- - i

\.. I It was not until .Air Force One lAnded in Washington at 11 p.m. that ~.I,' ,! night that a five paragraph "clarification" was issued to reporters, in

IIIJ which Nixon attempted to "sat the record straight." While riot admitting II II 'j his mistake, Nixon conceded a lack of Presidential omniscience: ''I do not ' II Jmow and did not intend to speculate as to whethar the Tate defendants

are in fact guilty." As all the facts had not yet been presented, the 1 . ,,1 II defendants should be "presumed to be innocent at this state in the trial.~ 1 ! As Ron Ziegler later reconstructed the scene, tha President was startle 11 by reports that his comments had created a stir. ''I said charged, u Ziagle · 123 quoted the "evidently surprised" Nixon as remarking. A tapa recording proved that the President's recollection was faulty

Although it was too lata to erase this gaffe, Nixon had within his I, I power the ability to negate such misshaps. Nixon frequently exercised

~s control over the Government Printing Office to doctor the official

transcripts of his press conferences. By this method he coulfl correct jl faulty syntax and improper grammar. "As for meeting with South Vietnamese I leaders are concerned" was printed with the appropriate,singular form of 1.~'\ the verb "to be." His reference to New York's"Sanator Goodwell,er,Sanator 1 'Z. $"' Goodall," was published minus the initial fluff. When these,and other discrepancies ware brought to his attention, Press Sacretar,y Ziegler

1 characterized the reporter's interest as '"nitpicking ,foolish and unaccep ' t~~ 1\ bla to me as criticism." . I . II There werecother,more substantive alterations. Describing the contr.J 1 ,• varsial incursion into Cambodia, Nixon proclaimad that 1:h had resulted in!. I . 1 ,-..:r I . (e 1! the capture of ''rockets by the thousands and small arms by the millions. 11 i cc~···:=c=JL=~-~~","~,;'~~c-~~~,;~~~ -~=~~-'f2-~J~~~l),~~;.J:g=~~-!l~~,~~,l ~~~=~ ll fo;11 II II I .i

:.===:::==:::=:::- arms ~tion": it was a minor slip of the memory bank. i~~~;~~~~ th·-J-4-:'---~- j official transcript reads "small arms[ammunition ]by the millions. " But I1 Iii the American public, wondering. whether the military operation was :·. !j· I . . I 'I worthwhile, distinctly heard the President say that millions of small a-ms l'

1 had beel'l captured. And they were impressed. j I "I totally disagree," Ziegler claimed," "that the transcript is for ~~~ l zcy a.rry other purpose than the purpose d. clarity and to be factual." Thus, 1

:: :::: :~:: :~·r:~~:~::: ::: ::.::::::·,-z., ~~~ I forces would be out of Vietnam by 1-fay 8,when he really meant Laos; or the I time he gave Laos a two-thousand mile border on the war zone, when the IJo II - I'I j Laotians thought they only had one thousand--his words were changed. I I II But the most significant aspect was that the censorship was secret-- 11 the G.P.O. printed the doctored transcript without mentioning that it was I Inot an "as delivered.-" That• s sneaky. I As President Kennedy used to say, "That's a great thing, that - 131 right of clearance."

I I il I I II lj l . I ==--=--===~:::::::...... d t==--==.::------==.:: ·I II - I! Although Harry Truman refrained from using the press conference as a I II Iway to exert strong leadership, he did realize the_ importance they held I fore Presidential communication with the people. 11I think it adds to the Iinformation of the public as to ~hat goes on," he said at the end of his , .-term. "And I think they are entitled to know what is in the President's I 1 t~'l..- . I!mind," he added. So he permitted limited technological growth--after takin~ certain precautions. j

1 Truman began having his press conferences recorded by the Signal j Corp~ in January 1951, to aid the reporters in checking their notes. In ! I late May of that year,Press Secretary Joseph Short recalls, the President \ I I "authorized direct quotation of certain remarks ••• and,upon request,we I I . I ~3 ·authorized broadcast of that portion.:.cof the recording. 11 The practice was I II to release only a few sentances;the remainder of the President's remarks 'I Iat the press conference ha~ to be reported in indirect discourse. I l James C. Hagerty, President Eisenhower's press secretary, was aware 11 jof the benefits the press conference held for Presidential image building. j

I I Truman • s failure to shape a clearer and better public image was due in II part to his avoidance of the broadcast~ess conference. Hagerty was deter-~~' 1 I . Imined that his boss would not· make the same mistake. But the press thought ! !he might. Press and President got a double object lesson in the primacy of

Presidential prerogatives and the power of popular pressure in the weeks I iprior to Eisenhower's inauguration. "Concern is Felt Over Reports That I ~Eisenhower l1ay Alter Conferences," the lli!!i ~ Times reported on January 1 e !17 ,1953. :sased on a "casual remark that the General might not have regular 1 \press conferences," wrote James Reston, "and sustained by the fact that he I :::::c:;;::.::=;~.:..::=:"...:::.j:r=::.::=:::::.:.::::::.====:=:-.:.:::::;::.:.=::::.:.:;.:::--'C:::.;:.c_-;:;=.:.::·=-~:::.;;;;;:::::.::.:·;::..-.::..::::==::.:·;;::·::=.::..-:.::::.:-.::::.:;::.=;:::;;:::::::;::.:::::::.:-.:..-::·.::.:::.:.c·.:.::t-::- II . tGSI: II . I. ==:-=.:::.::::::.=· :.=·=·:.::::.::::-==--=":.~ - .- ====It==-=--===-----= 11 has not actually had (one) since ·september 8, the assumption was that I ''he intends to abandon the weekly Whi.te House conference or change it

substantially." I .,I Disturbed by the implications, Reston declared that "this is a ques- I

tion that goes well beyond the world of ne1ispapering, "Themodern White 11 I House press conference, he wrote, "is the only direct and regular contact il I I 11 I between the people and their President. Not only does it "enable him I to make announcements, 11 but it is also a "means by which reporters can I . 13"( ·I bring questions direct from the people to the President. 11

11 Equally alarmed, other reporters turned to Harry Truman for a testi- !j monial to the practice's usefulness. At his final meeting he obliged, lI - I urging his_ successor to "never cut the direct line of communication" betweln

1600 PennslYvania Avenue and ~~n Street,U.S.A.'~ have been reading spec- ulation in the press that the press conference is going to be discontinued "

Truman 31-oted. ·~t•s hard to find out what's going on, and that's the best ,}\ 1 way." The amateur historian had earlier offered this advice to the pro-

fessional soldier: j I 'I I think they are a good thing. I think it's one institution in I this country that is entirely different from all other countries II I in the world, and I am sure he will continue them. ,-,w Presidential lobbying apparently was successful,for the following I week Eisenhower's press secretary James Hagerty announced that Ike would

i "definitely,. hold press conferences ,perhaps at the rate of once a week. I Hagerty, who was to win wide acclaim for his competance and integrity was I, grossly. erroneous . in this forecast;1953 saw only 23 Presidential press l conferences. He was also wrong in his assumption that "live radio and ! 11~ e II television would eventually be included." 1 Hagerty also told reporters that he was "disturbed by the deluge of I :.::::::-:; ;::.:::.:::::::::: ::: :.:.:.::.~~: .:....::.::~-:.... :::::.. ::::: :::::::::.:::::o:·:• .:;:~:.: ::.·.:.:=::·.:::-..::.:=:::.:::..:=-;:::.:::. :-.::.:::::::"::::.·=.:o:-.:::-.::~::: ·:::.:.::.~ ::_-:.::c..::.:-;.::.:.:::::::::::-.::::::.. =:::.::-_-:::.~::::.::::-::.::::"jJ'1 ' :.:..::-.:.:=.::=:.:=:::.

11 I I II . I I . I rumor stories and speculation" on the new administration's press policies.! e. "Never was ' . .; any thought of abandoning the Roosevelt-Truman practice of mass meetings with the press entertained," Hagerty asserted. He accoun

for his rash of 11no comments" on that subject prior to the inauguration i

I I I by saying he ''had to remain consistant with the President-elect's position t?l( of saying nothing official until. we take over in Washington." I ~~~ I Despite these assurances, there was "some grumbling" in the press ~about the administration's slowness in getting the press conferences I

i underway. (Ike did not meet the press until February 1 J Still, commentary 1

lwas for the most part optilll:l.stic. Grateful for his decision to meet with I

\ them, reporters were not about to alienate llr. Eisenhower. 80111<1 even I II tried to chea'r him up, painting rosy pictures of the success they assured !

11 him he would be. Shortly before his first conference, veteran analyst · 1 :Ernest K.· Lindley praised Ike for his "sound decision" in holding spontan-lj i · . · I eous news conferences.'~senhower is unusually well-fitted to conduct thati . tl..fl::) I type of conference," Lindley wrote. "He handles himself superbly." I I With advance notices like that, Eisenhower couldn't help but speak Ikindly of the press, when the time finally came for them to get together s I First of all[the President saidli want to assure the ladies and gentlemen present that I welcome this opportunity to meet with representatives of the radio and pt"ess,many of you old friends of mine, and to continue the kind of relationship that I have had had in the past with you. I look forward to many of these meetings during the ensuing four years. Now,one of the topics that made an interesting s~bject for specu­ lation during the last few months was a thought that I had developed j a good deal of antagonism to the press. I wouldn't know w)ly. I feel there is no individual who has been treated more fairly and square~ by the press over the past many years than I have. t"{ l j

1 That was certainly true.For most of his tEnure, Ike ~as not confron I lwith questioning even remotely hostile. Reporters, aware of the position I! • Eisenhower held in the affections of the American people, 10ere "disinclin~ '="'~'"===~,co~ ~,~.o·~==~"'='~~,,,~~·c •~•~"'"''·'' =~='"'"~"•==•=o"==o==~·'""'"'~=•=•==;•~ ~t=,=~,•~= ~~•~

. lj I :~ I II II ==Iii======-=-==:..-==::-:-:- - -- - ··-·· . -- =tl.f:"t.' __:====#======·e Ito court disfavor by saying harsh things about him. 11 This pOpular support, i I plus the· heavily Republican sympathies of publishers, ''made the White Hous 1 !.press conference a farce for th.. first two years under El.senhower.• ~3

1 . I I At the start of those two years, an immediate improvement was wroughtd

Iby Press Secretary Hagerty;he allowed n""""""' to\ure a professional steno-1 1

I graphic firm to produce accurate transcriptions· with a few hours after 1 Ithe close of a conference. These transcripts, with the questions quoted I I I Idirectly ani the President 1 s response still in the third person, were then~~

II printed in full in a few newspapers--the start of a new venture in publish~

.1 ing."""" But Hagerty and the General had an even greater advancement in store; Il I they would ~quea.th it as "a Christmas present." !I I Christmas came slightly earl.y to the press room, arriving on December I I i I·~16,1953. Hagerty, in a watershed ·stroke he termed only the "first step I Itoward broadening the coverage" of El.senhower 1 s press conferences, releas1

the full _recording of that day's press conference to radio and television Jl

!j networ~s. A slightly trimmed version was broadcast on all major radio !I ! chains, while two television newsshows used exerpts against a backdrop of ! I ~~5 I silent film from an earlier conference.

Naturally,this obviated any justification for the President to be

quoted in indirect discourse, and the newspapers were permitted toquote I· I Eisenhower directly,without any limitation. This was not yet set as a

constant policy; the new procedure was to be employed only at intervals,

based on Hagerty's judgment after each session 1 s close. Newsweek assumed II . 1that when a conference was ''wholly informative, it will be released in full u lotherwise, only that part of the proceedings will be released when the e IPresident "has a very important announcement to make to thepublic ... As ! . . ::·;::.:·.·.:::.:::·::=.:::.::=:=::::.::: . :·:::.:'.:::~;:::;"=.::::==-=~~~-:::.::=:..::.:.·.::.:::..·.~==:::::.::::..:=.::=::::::::-_·:::==.::..:::c=::'-:.:;~::::::·:.::--==::==::;:;;:.-:=:===..:::::=·~--ifi81 ====:::::-:::::.::::-~-=-= I ==ltiie,.-~p~~ it; this ''kee~the~~esS~Fattfi:Ude on llag.irty's~ e . I to insure that reporters don. t "ask a lot of questions just to get on the I L'ifc. I air. u I As ~magazine pointed out,this post-conference decision posed pro

lems for the wire services. Their initial stories paraphrasing the Presi- '1 dent would have to be revised into direct quotes "if Hagerty decides to II ., Iallow broadcasts of the conference, " a judgment the;r presU1118 llagerty would [i

li1 make after deciding "if direct quotation is advisable. u As he is "convinc1'

the administration should make better use of radio and TV, u Hagerty is 1'-fr I "likely to give permission often," in the considered opinion of ~. .

The new policy was greeted favorably,especially b,y electronic journal i 1 ists. The most eminent of their number, Edward R. Murrow, said the inno- 1· I . Ivation ''draws the Preside~t and the people closer together and increases Iinterest inpublic affairs." But casting his eye nervously toward the futur , I he wondered ''if tape Jecordings of press conferences are going to be broad- ! . ' i cast often, are they not going to force the President to put a curb on I I 1! himself?" ('f. y 'I p I The li2!i ~ Times was also thinking ahead. While commending the II I administration for seeking the 'twidest distribution of the news (which) is

1all to the good," they warned of the "danger that the participants will j Ibecome mere actors in a gigantic show." That warning was delivered ''both I I for newspapermen ..• and the President.". ''-~' I, I Thirteen months later Hagerty was to make another landmark innovation ! I. the authorization of television and newsreel cameramen to .Jaake mund movie f IThis was done, he said, so the "people of our country can not only read th · !reports of the conferences but can hear the discussions the President has I / e ,ro . . jwith you gentleman." To old newspaper hands who complained that television 11 c~:::.,::;;:;::·::.~::=::c:.::::-.:::-:c: t:::;::·.:::.:·;·;::;;;::::::::::;:::;:::.:.::::-::·;;;;:;:;;::·;:;·:·;.::::::::.:;;:::::::.::::..::::::::-..:::.:===-=-==::.:=::.:::o::::..::c::::::::-.::.:~==:c:.:.:.::;.::=::::::-.:::-.:c::-:::::::;:~:-.;:::::.._ .• ~-::-~t~:::::-.::..:::.:.==:= I . ....,11 =-=--=--=---·-=-..: :#====- -·-- -- =-====-=== would transmute the proceedings into a performar.ce,Hagerty had·a briefer I 15/ ~- rejoinder: ''We are in the 20th Century-the second part."

One Hagerty provision,however,was as old as government itsltf--the

exertion of influence to keep itself from loold.ng foolish. The press sec-

(etary reserved the right to edit the film before it was released, a move lhe denied was tantamount to censorship. ''It's not censorship at all," he !said, 11we want the White House to~remain in controllof the spoken word of I . I )Z, ~the President."

.I Although~ magazine noted that "more reportel1 S than usual wore Itelevision-blue shirts and eager looks," the cameras 11did not seem to be a l -/)3 Idisturbing ~luence." Eisenhower had expressed a fear that that might not !be the case, but CBS correspondent Eric Sevareid assured him that the op.. leration was a success: "The experiment went well," Sevareid commented I . ~~~ Ilater ,and "there seems no real reason why it cannot continue to go well." 1 \But if everybody was satisfied with the reporters' performances, there I !remained lli\.greement aver the role. of Hagerty as i'ilm and sound tape editoxjl ·I' The Fair Dealing New York Post blasted the production as a "GOP pro- It • .....,__ ------I llpaganda project rather than a recording of history," thanks to Hagerty's I I - I I!"censorship." The careful editing had ''nothing to do with national securit~r"

but was "governed by consideration of Republican security." After consider-41 Iable deletions--Hagerty found eleven of the twenty-seven Presidentiai re- ~~~ i ! ponses unfit for home consumption--the electronic media were allowed to I' troadcast only a "deftly-selected fragment" of the press conference, a Iff"

situation the networks "supinely accepted." 1 I CBS Bureau Chief Sevareid found these arguments that journalists were jl ': I · . A \being used in official propagansa to be "stretching journalistic Calvinism i

1~• 't! bit too far." It would. ~ "too much. to expect" the. President's press I11 :::=.:::.:·;;:;.::::.:::;:::::.=== ::;;.:;~:::;:::::::::::=..:.:·::::·:·:::_c:c.::::::::~::::::=.::::·.::::c.·.o:~:c:::::.::c.:::::.::.:·::;:::::::::-..:.:;::c.":::::.:::~::=-:::::.::;:::;:::::.::.-_. --··-· -····-:;:~:~·:.·.::.=7::c::-.:.::.:::=~======-~==:::.:Jy=::::::;;·::::.=::.-..::= (t~ • II · II j_· . li . . ..·== -==---===:.:-_ -· . --- .. :::==-=-=-=-=---·+-·----= i secretary to release those "segments of Presidential speech in which the I j Chief: Executive does not perform at his best," but there is a safety mech-1 I I anism:journalists viewing the delayed broadcasts will feel perfectly free~ to "make news of the fact that other portions are held back when that see . I II a newswortey point." Although the telecasting will give the public a ''more II 'j intimate understanding of what goes on," it will not "by any means provide I I a complete understanding." Still, the first experience augers well for the ~~ encounters being ·:~:snefit, on balance, to both the President and the I American people." j ! Arthur Krock, pundit-in-residence for the ~ ~ Times, was less I

I concerned about-benefits accruing to the public or censorship infringing 1, on the press than he was about the political implications. He discussed th~lj "philosophic calm" with which Democratic Party leaders viewed this "legit-I 1 (·····-,_ ; imate extension of the publication of news conference transcripts," which I . } ·-...... _/.. l Iinevitably ·. resulted in "party propaganda." Aware that this method of publi1'I I communication is a "legitimate advantage of wbite House incumbency," they Iare nonetheless equall,y cognizant of the hazards of the new medium, which !i !could cause Eisenhower to "make an unfavorable appearance before the court! ; . I)'}- i Iof public opinion." Such a negative finding on the President's first per- I !formance was nowhere to be found;Ike had come over so well that one Demo• I 1 s-Y lllcratic Party leader quipped, ''We demand equal time." All these problems weighed heavily on the mind of Richard Strout,then

in his thirtieth year of attendance at rfuite House press conferences. That !''vital part of the American governmental system" requires a procedure

\\which is "dignified, responsible and as flexible as possible. 11 Releasing

the full transcript and airing the tape recording is "a serious mistake," f e !he wrote in The ~- ~epubli

I I i I I I -=::--=::..~==:-.:.::.lr-==-~===·==: :---. . .. 11 ·- ! ''theatrical performance, a show. What once was an "extremely handy,care-j!

...._~ 'I fully evolved semi-official and unique contrivance" has been perverted . If' I into a "self-conscious hald-hour broadcast." .

the past," and reporters will always be uneasy lOlowing that the world at

large is listening "to what he is about to say. 11

Strout, who attended his first press conference during the Coolidge

administration, is clearly partial to his accustomed ways;the old system

was fine as it was, with the ''regular tradition ••• of direct quotation

of limited portions" of the President's remarks. If the Chief Executive happened to flthrow off a vigorous phrase," a reporter usually asked if II II direct quotation were possible. ''More often than not, 11 thatpermission was !

granted-after reflection by the speaker. When paraphrased, the President 1. 1 is ''not held to the strict letter of what he has informally thrown off." 1II Another innovation which Strout objects to is the self-identificati1t with which reporters pre:fface their questions. 11Perhaps it helps block irr- il

esponsible questioners, " he concedes, ''but it is a step toward breaking 11 down the more comfortable,informal old relationships,wbere delicate mattei could be discussed easily." II I [Contrariwise,media critic and former Washington bureau chief for I~ 11 ! Providence Daily Register Ben Bagdikian saw just the opposite effect from ~~ I f{,O I I the rule under which reporters identified themselves.Pierre Salinger's li \ "new rules of non-identification of the questioners," he said, resulted ~~ f • lthe "smaller number of foolish questions." Salinger notes that there was !! '·'"''='''~"='~'T"''='==~======~"==~=o=~==~="'"====oco·o==·~====c=·coooooooo~~=~d===o.

1:, !I I II -··------·---·-· =====-·- . "general unanimity" on doing away with the identification rules;the resultT

. he claimed, was "very successful (in doing) away with a great deal of the I 1. . ~~~ I ! rambling type question· which was prevalent in prior press conferences." i !Russell Baker saw another benefit,one ... which accrued totally to the Presi- I! II dent. Kennedy was "clearly established as the star of the show" thanks to lj

Salinger's "brilliant stroke" of abolishing the identification rule. It was a "rending :blow to theatrical types" in the press corps who learned ! il ; . to their dismay that they would be appearing anonymously on the national \

i '" 'L- ' stage.J I Strout,who now author's !h,e N§!...Republic 1s TRB column, feared that I - I1 the President's "own self-protection" would necessitate the deletion of certain passages, or even some entire broadcasts. Paraphrasing haci served to correct Eisenhower's syntactical lapses:direct quotation would produce I t£3 Ia jarring effect. Strout feared. That fear proved to be groundless. Although Eisenhower was often I I lampooned for his grammatical and syntactical lapses--the !i§.!. I2!Ji Times . i I ft;, '-/ expressed bewilderment at "sentances and paragraphs which just don't parse~1-- I, I I I Ithe public reaction was extremely enthusiasticr. Sincerity, which Ike could! Inot help but exude, is a political virtue in the eyes of the electorate, 1 land the broadcasts helped add to Eisenhower's already sizeable font of I Ipublic. trust. "Although his sentances at press conferences wandered across ~~ I I the landscape without consideration for syntax," wrote Walter Johnson, 1'wha

did coma through was the fact that the President was a warm, kindly,decentl human being who said simple, friendly things." Ike could "communicate a be-l lief in homely virtues," Johnson said, "and to the public, at least during I the first term, this seemed more important than penetrating analyses or the~~ tbb"' i 1 ! development of far-seeing_ policies." ~·

:::.::::::·:~==•=:-;;::::.·· ·:::;::::;.;:c:·c::.:::::::::::c:·::~c-:::::::;::=::::.:.=::·::·::-.:::::c·.:::.:-::~"'::.:~::·::::=:::::-:=-...-:c.::::-:;:::-:.-.:::::c:::=.:::·:-::::::=:=:::c::.:.::=::.::::::::::...---.:::.::=;:;.:;:·::::::.:.::.:::::·-:ijii!.'i··=::.::.::=:::.:;:::=:: I . ll'b I! . - -===----=~------e.

! John F. Kennedy was elected with one of the least definitive mandates I in the history of AmeriCan Presidential elections; he outpolled Richard INixon by less than 120,000 vote~. Seventy per-cent of those newspapers !I

1 editorially supporting a candidate announced for the Republican Vice Pres-1 lident. Now Kennedy would have to govern in the face of their opposition, I I i iwhich was expected to be especially vociferous; his economic and civil .1 I II 1righ~s programs were certain to arouse the powerful opposition of the I 1 I I 11 predominantly Republican press. To counteract the attacks, the President- II !elect's press secretary, Pierre Salinger, proposed that Kennedy modernize 'I :the "fireside chats" which President Roosevelt had so skillfully employ~ !1 I . /tb lllin similar circumstances, m.d hold his press conferences on live televisiorll. II 11 I~ ''This is the right thing, Kennedy agreed. "We should be able to go 1 ,, 7- I l'around the newspapers." That decision, made in Palm Beach on December 27, I 11960, changed the course of Presidential press conferences--perhaps to thai

!detriment of all. The traditionalists in the Washington press'corps immediately howled

their disapproval. New I.QJ'..Js. Timesma.n \Yilliam H. Lawrence told Salinger II I he was "plunging deeper and deeper into matters about which you know ! 1 ! .. i J absolutely nothing." Veteran Washington 1:2§1 reporter Edward T. Folliard j ~. accus.ed the press secretary of "turning the Presidential press conference jl y I.into a sideshow."'" James Reston went public "torl.th his criticism, describing I Ithe proposal as ''the goofiest idea since tho hula-hoop."'"" Robert A. Hartman , i . j' lwho would later be Vice-President Gerald Ford's chief of staff, had opposeq

I I ;even the permission given by James Hagerty to quote President Eisenhower j

!directly. 11Direct quotes," he expiained, 11ha.va made the reporter shirk his j """'"~'''=~.-.-.-- '·='"'''''"'~-"'·'''''=·"'''·''''"'"=''==.-=.-o.-=.oo·=·.-.-.-~.-.-.-.-.-~.-=.-.-.-.- ..-.-.-=.-.-.-.-.-"'=''===.-.-=;~ ·"'"'=~~== I . I '·=-~ ::-::~~=::::~::::: ::s ~~:=er~::i::::~t Iis to pass your eonfusion along to the reader by feeding direet quotes and i !letting them wonder what he meant." The new system. he figured, would only I Iadd to the already existing eonfusiO.:.'~~thur Kroek was even more pronoune lid I in his opposition. "Live televised press confere.nces, 'are an irresponsible I

Iway to conduct the Presidency," he harrumphed. "The consequences ••• can be 1' I tA-l 1 i very serious • " 1 I I I Of course, there were those who favored the move."Kennedy is liberal-~1 Z- I izing the press conference in the right direction," said Robert A. DonovanT 9 i 1'4-3 : I''The live eonferenee is worth trying," agread Raymond "Pete" Brandt, II l · Reaction from around the country was also mixed. A Rhode Island edito~ I . . lJ !thought prime time press conferences would provide a ''valuable service tha~ I . It Iwould inform and educate the public." Contrariwise, an editor from upstate II

I New York bemoaned the "further mutilation of the press conference and the 1 I ' II substitution of' more theatrics for the serious business of probing the ~~~~ President's mind for the enlightenment of the public." Although the fough

llkeepsie Journal's editor feared the "grave harm to the national interest"

1 that could result from this "electronic misadventure," a California editor 1. scoffed at the "overstated arguments that television would greatly increas~ I I =I 'I II IIthe dangers ••• of a slip of the tongue. 11 l i Kennedy's performances were widely praised. The press conferences I I I themselves got mixed reviews.

Russel Baker saw in the President a 'new star with tremendous nationa

Iappeal and the skill of a consummate showman. 11 He was, said the T:yg,es i !eorrespondent, "a study in bronze skin and sandy hair (who) handled some I

!.. e . !exceedingly difficult questions with the controlled poise of a man who I kn~ I ·------·---·------=::::,=:::!'~'}-~{===:::il::::::===: ----.. ·-----·-- ·irl.;--b~ief, and who graci~~sly fine~ sed -~ ~~~tative --questi~~. ,- B~ker • s ~----·--- ... e I Times colleague,William Lawrence,agreed:"I thoug/~(,the first one went verylll well. Kennedy was on top of his· facts and figures." Across town,New _Y.2!:k I 1-:r--:r . 1 I News reporter Ted ~wis said that "Kennedy did a masterful job." Reviewing II the conference in its "TV and Radio" section, the Saturday Review said I It ::r 8'" 1 that "The President ••• met the heroic requirements. He triumphed connnendabzy~" IThe New Yorker noted that "the President's Wednesday-night performance on 1] I all major networks has been admired by just about everyone just about I I everywhere.-11 The President, said the journal, was "adroit,lucid,diploma.tic I /?~ I! Iand 'frequentzy informative." l 1 Despite his well-deserved reputation for charming artistry,however, j I Kennedy's performances were not always flawless. At his first conference !i Ihis tongue slipped as he discussed the Geneva negotiations for an atomic . [I II! test ban. After announcing that he would request a postponement of the I

lj 1 I talks, he said a panel of experts had been named to reconnnend ''what our II1 1 Ii . 1 Iposition would be in late March when he hope the tests will resume." Of ~~ 1 course, he meant"ta.lks." There were no noticeable international repercussi~s. I Twenty-six months later, the President made a slip of a much more ~ trivial nature. Asked about a compromise tariff negotiation formula reache I ' II at Geneva, the President said, ''I think we have a lOllg road to hoe." To J~ II soma of his listeners,reported the New York Times, the "!.d1 was distinct~ ''I· I' Further along, Kennedy got on the road: "Coming down to final negotiations, !I

• we will have a long road, but one that I think we can travel and should ~~~ 1. · trL 11 travel and must travel." I

III ll I .. :...... , :.:::":.:;:c=.:;;::;;::.:=::;;;:;.~:~:.·.::::::.:.:.::~::::·:::::.~=-i-·:::.;:::-:.:::::.=:::·;:;:~::.:.:::::.:::~::;:.:.~::::=::::::..~=::::.:..::=.::.::-.:·::.::.::c::.-==:::c.::::.::.::·:::;::.=~:::::::::.:::==:·::.:::.=~c:=:-.. ·--.. --."#/i'-· "":;::::;:::::===:.·.:::c::. I tlh !I i I I il! !laving th: weeJ<4' slaughter of syntax and grammar during fI - witness~ ·11 the Eisenhower years, Ha.nchester Guardian correspondent Y~ Fr~edman

1 found the Harvard-educated Kennedy a blessing. "I rejoice," he said, "that

the noble structure of the English : sen~ce is no longer left as a dis­ lt6"3 I honored casualty. " Still,Itennedy was not without his problems in this very regard. Asked

[whether the United States would forgo any further atmospheric tests of 1nuclear devices, in order to sign a formal treaty with the Soviet Union, lthe President replied: · I ! 1 l'-Tell, I've stated that our concern would be--we stated it before, ~- since,and, as I said, afterwards-that we would sign an agreement i which provided for adequate inspection system--that1 s correct. But <6 1 I adequate inspection in regards to preparations, as well as testing. !' I

II, Just as Kennedy's personal attractiveness was not always transerrable q I !1 1into political strength, so his popular appeal at press conferences was 11 lnot concommitant with mass reportorial approval for the conference fOl'lllat. ;

1There was, Time magazine noted just two months into the endeavor, "an 1 I . - li'S" 1 II increasing sense of dissatisfaction, "primarily with the conference. ''Mr. IKennedy has robbed the Presidential press conference of much of its best i. I lflavor," wrote Robert Donovan-who just a few months prior was praising jl :the liberalized structure. ''The intimacy between the President and the presj1 ! I"'- 1i ihas been diluted by distance." Held in the State Department AUditorium(caPj! i!acity:800), the press conferences were, in James Reston1s words,"like ~~ 'I ,~:r I !making love in Grand Central Station." The new arena, said Peter Lisagor, 1 I IffY I l''is making hog callers out of us." Actually, these perceptions were I 1 1 i iSomewhat jaundiced.Sliding partitions were used to halve the rooms size, 1 e i · II ~d Kennedy rarely called on anyone seated beyong the t.hhd row. This,no~ ::::"·::;:::·.:o::::::c::.::.::-.·:·=·t[':::::::."::.:..~::::::.::::::::::~.:::.::::-.·.:.~.~::;:-:c:::::::c:.::::.:::.::::::.;:;::::~c::.:::c::::::·:::::·:::::::::.-:::.::::::::.~:::=:===::.::::c.:::-:::::::::.:..:-:.::.:::.::.~·:::::::::-..:.·.::·::::: ··-·. ·-=::::..-::::.:c::::.:=:::::::~o: . . I (I ; I II I I' II =:=--===--t-p;~f;;~~~--=~;~~~il,-,1~--;~t, ~t--the m:;~ ~~ty of the affair was more ... II apparent than real. The actual participants represented a relatively I, \I limited and manageable group. ,/~f . . . I.'I l Walter Lippmann found fault with function, not form. Kennedy's pench-1' l I ant for announcements and the reporters• questing for scoops, he said,had 1

"demonstrated a false conception of why it is worthwhile to have the Pres­

ident submit himself to questions from the press. The real use of the

political genius, is not yet in full effective communication with the lifO j people."

11 The New Yorker worried that Kennedy was effective in his 1 ~ communi-~ cations. It was understandable, the magazine said, that the President wou~ l"judge an institution like the press conference b,y the value it has for I Ihim. " Thus. there is ''no reason why he should not seek to modify it in lways designed to serve his ends." I Neither is there reason, the journal continued, "why anyone should I I '!accept at face value his assertion that •more direct communication' is advantageous." Then this implied condemnation and prophetic warning: I ! A meeting in which the President attempts direct communication with several million onlookers through the medium of the press I corps cannot possibly have the same value and meaning for aQY­ one as a meeting in which the members of the press examine him on behalf of the millions, to whom the findings are presented in print or orally. Indeed, the whole press conference form that has developed over the years is inappropriate to the function that President Kennedy proposes to make it serve. 1q( I' I "II I I' I I =----=--==-::=-= r~a lights--ancl~liE(lreme~dous crowds--needs to be re-eXa.liiinecr:.::yt-rs I ~o'Z- I • · I satisfactory," he said."There'is no use.~etend.ing it is. It isn't."~ I \ magazine agreed:"The press conference simply ain't what it used to be. It I 1. - 1'13 I is now show biz. •• I •'·'-. form ·of show-biz-public affairs programming I But it was a peculiar I l'1'f· I i bereft of commercial sponsorship•. The possibility for holding a press 'I Iconference during the prime evening viewing hours was still in the future; I I . I 1 Kennedy generally scheduled his on \rlednesdays,alternating between 11 a.m. 1 land 3:30p.m. Some regional syndicates I I re-broadcast the conference, but at a very late hour. vlNli.W-TV carried the I conference tape at either 11:40 p.m. that night or 12:40 a.m. the next I fr f' morning ;\vOR-TV generally showed it at midnight. Both stations are in New I York City. Thus, one either had to stay up quite late, or arrange to view I I Ithe conference during the working day if one wanted to see the President. i Like any good citizen with a grievance, Pierre Salinger knew where I II Ito go--Congress. Meeting privately at the Capitol in February,1962, he !'I suggested to a group of Democratic legislative press aid~s that they could~~ help encourage fuller television coverage of the conferences.Referring to

j the many letters he said ·he was sure they were receiving asking why the

I conferences were not being carried by local stations, he recommended that I. the complaining citizens be told to write in protest to the networks and

local outlets.1lflo

Salinger found an even more potent . way of pressuring the networks ',·I and ·local stations--the New !.

, • [time." The conferences had become "excellent TV in their own right," but I :;;:::::::=·:C.=:.:;:.:;_;_· ~:.::C:::::·;:;::::.::·::::-::::~;.:·::.-:.:::::c::::;:=:::.::·~~=:::::~::.:::;:=::.:.:=::::::::::.:·.. :::::::c·;:;::;;·:::::::c:c::::.::::.:~:::.:.:;;:·;:;·::-:c:·::=·:::c:::::::;:::::.:.:.:·..::=::::·=:==:;::-.=~:::.::.:.::::=.:::::;.;:;:.:·~..:

1 i I, I 19 I I I ! I ·1 . II . I'

the medium itself had -,;not adequa-teiy--:ruuiu~rYit.-=~=y=a:s-sig~~;rt.-:-.-.-~-::not~ - - 11 carrying the full conferences "at an hour of greater convenience for the I! large majority of TV viewers,..- Gould contended, the medium had ''underestiro-1[ I fCI:r - I '[iated the extent of public interest in his incumbency." ., ~ The nature of the public interest, and the extent to which it was I I,1 jbeing stymied by the media, was evident in a survey taken a few months 11

1 later. Ninety-five per-cent of those polled by the Young and Rubicam !I I' researchers found the conferences " a worthwhile experience, "-but over

!sixty per-cent were unaware that a conference had been held

cent said they had seen or heard more than ten of Kennedy's thirty five 11

!conferences. Of those who watched·, the .attributes most often cited were th

informative content of the conference,the sense of participating in a dam

cracy, and the President 1 himself.- In speaking of ll..r. Kennedy, viewers note11

1his sk1:11 in expressing himself, his sense of humor, his fund of informa- ' 1 1 tion, his sincerity, and the fact that he gave all reporters a fair chance . "1 'f y a t aski ng ques t ~ons. I The!!!!" York ~ thought he was being :!:22 fair in recognizing reporll 1 lters. His press conferences,the paper said, "sometimes give the impression I . . ~that the President of the United States is in the dock, defending himself j !against political crimes." Taking the ''badgering with better nature than I . 11some of his predecessors," Kennedy usual~ answered "barbed,needling,d.is- 1 ~~agreeable questions good-naturedly";he was,the Times editorialized, ''more llcourteous to the press than soine gentlemen and,particular~,some ladies, /e I 1'1~ 1, are to him." 1 ''"'"""'"~"'"'"'''lt="'''·"==·=·-="~·=~~-"~''"''='·~·====·=,·-~··=··==·=~==,···=~lr,·=·-~=~·"·-'

I · . t '-0 1 I II II

______[____ . I ------~··------"vfarning the COl'respOndents that -i·ra question is not just a question;·i· II 1 I the I;Ynes wondered if they had "caught up with the technological advances~ • that television represent(ed)~" The give-and-take of the press conferencej was no longer confined to a small room and reduced to cold type, the Time~ I! reminded reporters; ''the emotional,sometimes accusatol'y tone of many jl I questions is now broadcast throughout the country and the world." There I is,all".tb.e'.difference, they pointed out, ''between asking a pointed questi~ · I impersonally and asking it in the manner of a prosecuting attol'ney--espe-~ 1 cially when the addressee is the President of the United States. 'What the l

1 press conferences need," the Times concluded, "are better questions and I

1 1 1 less emotion. "(Plus ca change. J 1 I To which Victor Lasky l'eplied: "I suggest that what they really need ! \1 is better answers." ;z.oo !I r-·-. I ,, \...._y/ Ii: The ten years between 1953-1963 saw tremendous technological growth II

jl of the press conference. Opponents of electronic media coverage warned !I ~~~~ that these advances would irrevoc~bly damage the press conference.Althougi'l

certain ills did result, the damage was neither permanent nor crippling. I

Instead, the most serious deterioration carr~ during the next decade,

a period of relatively minor technological development. Johnson's extl'eme

informality and Nixon's persistent avoidance wrought more havoc on the

once-proud institution than any battery of cameras could ever cause. But their conquests of the conference were indeed Fyrrhlc victories. J . . By the time Kennedy came to office, reporters had grown accustomed .I I meeting with the president two or three times a month. When JFK fell off I i that schedule, they reacted negatively. "I think the President is hurting M.l· ).0\ I ~~== I==== I . I ! but they pointedly ignored the lesson. 1Z I I I ~~ I I

II•I

I I Most of ~don Johnson's press perversions affected private I

. I • dealings; leaks,pique and the rest were outgrowths of his personality whic · bore most heavily on the labyrinthine maze of sub-rosa Presidential-press .. relations. But he also attempted to nullify a quasi-constitutional public

relationship which had been developed b,y eight Presidents over a span of I fifty years; he tried to destroy the press conference. In a way, he succeeded. I President Kenn~ had been criticized for some of the changes televi-1 sion wrought in the press conference. Although most of the active sinsc ' : were committed by the reporters(chaotic conditions, incoherent questioning,

~t cetera)_, Kenn~ was blamed for having brought the live camera into the li State Department Auditorium, a shift in locale some of the more nostalgic 1 I reporters also lamented. Still, his press conferences were dramatic dis- ~I plays of sparkling wit, and occasionally political courage;Kenn~ brought II I press conferences to their most developed state. I

''The only law which obliges the President to hold news conferences," 11 . IIq Arth.ur Krock wrote three weeks after Johnson's ascension,"is the political\i ~~ i law of self-preservation." Like all laws, this one was broken at the trans- \I II ressor 's peril-and to the detriment of us all. I! Krock reported that ''it is understood" that Johnson' would soon hold II ews conferences,scheduled in advance and available for delayed broadcast. I p until the writing of Krock's column, Johnson's chosen format was a mod­

rnization of the format first used by Woodrow Wilson, a reversion to lim- II

ting the attendees to reporters permanently assigned to White House duty. 11

e modernizing aspacts included partial silent film coverage:reportorial l1

-·---··--·--··------·-­ .• ...... ·---·-----···---·--· -·-·-·- ·-- =~=~~~~~"•~.?:-:='l~~;!::~.c~.h~•c•~~-~~~~.TI~.::4H'~.~=~~.-. ~~::~:~:-c~~~:-.9:'tF?:.~~~Pa1~, ~~J19R~.,J!F±9.;'1,11 ,J~.:·::.:·:·;::::::::·.:7;::::·:::: . II I I submission;the issuance of transcripts;and the summoning of the group ~ I •t t t• z-0 I WJ. hou advance no ~ce. J • It was that final point--no advance notice--which was to cause so mu.c dissatisfaction among newsmen. ''There is no time for the preparation which~·~~ is required of well-stated questions," Krock noted. The intimacy of the j setting--the President's private office--acts "as a restraint on inquiries l a:::::e:::: :::.:ti: ~=:o:~::::~=~~e:::~ ::::: ~~ ion of Robert G. Baker). Finally, the selective method "excludes the l rge majority of Washington correspondents," because it is available only

o the wire services and those newspapers which maintain a permanent White

ouse staff. Thus, experts in foreign policy,fiscal matters, military pro-

rams,et cetera, are unable to attend;this "precludes informed questioning . ~~ ( f the President on some of the most important actions of GoverllJ11Snt. 11 Johnson had held two press conferences up to that point in time,both

f them impromptu affairs. On Saturday, December 7,1963, reporters were denly whisked through Press Secretary Pierre Salinger's back door;they

was going to buy some coffee later in the day, "Johnson began his first

esidential press conference, "and I didn •t really know how much coffee I zo& going to buy.He has more friends than I had anticipated."

sa new administration,too, 11 another chimed in.

''If there is anything you would like to ask me I would be glad to

nswer, 11 the President offerred. I II would be the normal weanesaay morriirig !i briefing, they were suddenly led into the oval Office,where President II I I • Johnson stood behind the desk. "You mean I have that many friends out ther that I have been missing all these days?, ''he asked with a smile. He pro-

ceeded to answer seventeen questions ~sometimes at length and once or z,O~ twice off-the-record. Two days hence, the Associated Press sent these outlines: '1 . I President Johnson points out details of the Lincoln bedroom to re­ I I porters. The tour originated when several reporters covering the I, signing of a treaty with Mexico began chatting with the President II about the White House. He then invited them to come on a tour thattook in the private quarters. ~o 'is" I On Chris~s Eve foUl' women reporters were given a warm reception at ~~~ the White House. President Johnson led them on "an~ther of his impromptu ~~ goodwill tours," telling them along the way about his life a.s Chief Execu-11 tive, arrl discussing for the first time a longhand memorandum from former I·

President Eisenhower shortzy after President Kennedy's death. Johnson told : I the quartet that he thought women covering the White House were as good II as the men reporters and sometimes better;he wanted their bosses to know II II it. As the group was leaving (the session lasted two-and-a-half hours) he I I z.6~ gave them autographed pictures of the Johnson familY. I I The First Family was back at the I:.BJ Ranch for Christma.s,giving the I President another chance to entertain newsmen. Much to the First Lady's · I dismay, he called a news conference and took the contingent of more than II·I fifty reporters through every room in the ranch house. Entering the study, I!

the President called out to photographers: ''There are secret documents therJ ~lO . I so don 1t take pictures of the table." · Johnson still had not held a formal news conference after more than ~- an impromptu gathering, the President showed he was bitter: II Don •t run out of here if you have any questions.Ask them. I will 'I answer them. This is not a quickie news. conference.! don't know I what you call a formal news conference. I guess I ought to wear • a white. tie. I came to work this morning and I didn't think it was I formal. I just thought I was supposed to be here, and if you are I all here,Iwill give you anything !know at any time. Some of you, I I think, feel that I don't see enough of you individua.J.:cy. I will I be glad to do that. I have seen thirty or forty reporters who have li asked to come in onspecial. things they wanted to do. Some wanted I to write about Cousin Oriole. Some wanted to -write about my wife. ! I Some of them want to tell their editor that they saw me and here is I what they think will happen in the wild blue yon¢er. j I try to see all of them that I can with rrry schedule and I am very I I happy with them. I never enjoy anything more than polite,courteous, j I fair and judicious reporters, and I think you all qual.ify. I I am through, and if there are any questions you want to ask, I I will oo glad to try to answer them. ;.If I 'I Less than a. week later;Johnson held a. news conference for which ''re- I! porters were given for the first time a two-hour warning." About one-hundrf thirty newsmen and cameraman-Johnson 1 s largest audience to date-packed ll· the ninety seat White House theater;lines formed at the East Gate about I '~ I an hour before the conference began. It lasted twenty-six minutes.2-'2- I

"President Is Brining Individual Style to the News Conference, 11 was Ithe title of Tom Wicker 1 s analysis th~ second Sunday in February. The !!2:!

~ Ttmes White HOuse correspondent found the President and the press I

"still circling each"lother wari:cy, each apparent:cy wil.ling to make friends 1· 1.,l3 but not quite sure the other is sincere about it." Wicker said President Johnson had been "able tof',alter sharp:cy-11 the Kennedy and Eisenhower pattern of formal news conferences because ''nothing except custom and public pressure" required a President to submit to I

I questioning by the press; furthermore, ''nothing dictates to him the manner

in which he has to undergo the ordeal. 11 But tld.s very combination-not i I unlike Krock's "political law of self-preservation"--was enabling televi- l ~ . I . ' .., sion networks to ''urge upon him (with creeping success)that he return to a •I · ~-::::.:::-.: ::.:c:::.::::::7::::::::c:. :· :::::·~::.::::::::. :::. ::::::·::::::::::::.::.=-::-.::::c=:c::::::::::::.:.:::::.: :.:.:c:::::.=:.:·:.::.:::::::::::::::::::.:::::::.:·:::::::.::::::::·:.:.::::: .. :::::.:·:::::::: ::::::::: ::::::.::::::~:·;::-_-.::: ::::::::·:::::::::.::.:.::::-:::::. ::*t.'i ::::.:::: i1 ::·:.:.·.::: :::::::=::::: :::-.::.::.: 12'J II

\I II I I l ---·-·-·-- It ! news conference that they like, rather than one he likes." ; I I Already, their lobb,ying had had some effect. Notice was given for the

February 1 conference "partly beoause of pressure from reporters and the I networks for regularly announced and televised" news conferences. Wicker '

!relayed the word ham "White House sources• that Johnson 'IIOUl.d "sooner or II

\later" appear before live cameras. The"primary reason he has not done so, • !'.

these unnamed sources contended," is not that he is particu.l.arly afraid 1 1 1 f a fluff;" Rather, it was because he 11wishes to avoid situations in which\ I e can be directly compared to President Kennedy.And there was no situation! !I n which Mr. Kennedy appeared to better advantage than his news conferences 11 . I Wicker noted, "Mr. Johnson was uncomfortable before the cameras and there' ore liable to error and slipshod performance." I Finally, more than three months after asS\Uiling the Presidency, Johnsonj

eld. his first live televised press conference. James Reston reported that 11 e "achieved his major objective ••• he survived." Johnson was a "talker II ather than a performer, 11 more natural and impressive in smaller rooms. II owing he was "out of his element today," Johnson "approached this ordeal II z.t'f I e a man going to the gallows. " I Stalling for time, Johnson read a series of appointments and made a

~ announcements "in a drone as if he were determined to be slow and I.

asua.l about the whole affair. 11 Knowing that ''the more you talk in these I! ,I ournalistic inquisitions, the fewer questions you have to answer,he took - z._c( ·s time."

It was the same with his answers,Reston observed.When a man's name

·as mentioned, ''he gave you the fellow's biography.He didn't exactly fili- jl' A ter, but he managed to give a max:i.mum. ot background and a mininnnn of news j" ( i ~ - I

:::;__;_~:::.:_::_=-_:::::-_-:::::::::.:::~:::- :::.~.::;;;.:=:-:·. .:.c:=:-.:::.-::-:::-:::::.~:::-:::-:=:::::-:.::-.:::-::::':::-::_-::-_:::::-:-:-:c:::=::-.:::-:::=:=.:=-:':=:::::::=:.-::::c::·.:::·=~=~-::~:::~-==:::::·:::::::=·:::::~.::c:::.:::::::_-::::::.:::;:·:::c::.-~l-.-,::_::-=:::::.-.c::.:::::.::::· . £1-fP II . . II II Johnson appeared "pa.tient,courteous,cautious and verbose." Although I

he "concentrated on what everybody knew, he made a better iMpression on th~ • reporters in the room than he· apparently did on those who sa11 him on tele-j vision." I I Now that the "ordeal he dread" is over, Reston assumed, Johnson can I "return to his small spon~eOU's conferences, where he usualzy is more i

effective." ,I

Towards the end of the press conference, a reporter asked Johnson I !. how he planned to explain administration policy to the country. In a. :I;I lengthy statement of his press policy in general, Johnson answerod,in part~~

I go along with the view expressed by Jefferson that the collective !Iq judgment of the many is much to be preferred to the selective deci- li sions of the few. i I shall have nry press secretary••• make ava.iable all information that ! can be available to the press. From time to time I lit-ill see individual i members of the press about press business, and I may see some of my II old-time friends socially ,occasional:t;1, and I hope without too much criticism. 1 .And,a.t other times,I11l have them in rrry office,too--if I have :my l announcements that I think are worthy of their attention and of ta.ld.ngj their time. 1 other times, I'll have a maeting like this to reach the foL'I(s who the II press may not be able to reach through the ordinary rewspaper or jl magazine media, so that we can have radio and television coverage. I I lm.Q.ii ot -.notl;tw ill ~ ftes:1_d~nt..!.e .iQ.'Q. .t.lli'tt' s m.~ imeo.r~4 ~ beil'J,g held !£_coun;t.abl~ to !:hEl moole .~'tE, 112. ~ people ~ 1 reasons for }&~ actiol12., and telling the people something about the ·1 problems they confront him,because ~~ ~ a. ~~ ~derstanding 1 grouo,m they~~ facts.[italics addedJ 2..lb 11 I. A week later, two historical developments occured. March 7 was the II te of the first press conference ever held in the East Room;it was also ll

esident Johnson's first successful foray into live television. III I "A friendlier and more relaxed atmosphere prevailed today," ~ ~ I · esman Henry Raymont reported. Reacting to criticism of the previous l eek1 s effort,Johnson changed his performance as wall as the setting, I roducing his ''best news conference thus far. From a stylistic point of view J

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l 1--:t I that is. 11 At the State Department the week before,. Jolmson had "remained

1 • seated and looked uncomfortable";this time he stood behind a lectern. He now"spoke more rapidly than usual inclipped sentances that curbed his Taxa

drawl and made for a livlier meeting." in contrast to his earlier "genera· I long and apathetic answers." To forestall criticism that the President I ''might be deliberately taking up time with prepared statements 11 (he recited I, a long list of appointments and read a report on the E£OnOJ!IY for the first II nine minutes), Press Secretar,y Salinger announced tha~ the conference co~

go on well past the usual half-hour. Reston had said Johnson "almost slip1r

11 into the operating chamber ; this time he "entered at a brisk pace." One i I thing remained uncha.nged,however;at this, his seventh news conference," ll . liI "there was little advance notice,as with most of the othors." Salinger had I . 1.11- a.nnounced at 12:15p.m. that the meeting would begin at 3:15p.m. I

i II Ra.ymont concluded his analysis by quoting unnamed White House aides !\ \ 1 a.s saying that the President's news conferences were "still in the exper- II imantal stage ••• he might test ether rooms before he settles on a permanent~~~ · lhome for the meetings." This was certainly true;yet Douglas Kiker thought j 1 he discerned a. basic leitmotif to the Johnson gatherings: "Are President I Johnson's press co~erences all alike~" he asked in a report from Austin. ''His ninth one,held late and unexpectedly Saturday afternoon a.t the LBJ I • anch,seems to offer some confirmation of this conclusion. It was devoted I .1.\f(' I old,comfortable subjects." il

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I For Lyndon Johnson, April of 1964 was a. manic depressive month. I • I Back in Washington after having spent the Easter holiday down on the I . i ranch, Johnson and his staff were stunned by the April 6 issue of Time. II I'I

I l I

Now,he felt, it was time to challenge Kennedy on the late President's I own turf--a. televised press conference in the State Department Auditorium.

1 Imbued with self-confidence, ''Johnson was magnificent." He even started off

\with a. few Kennedy-style quips:"I did not drive myself over here, 11 he said1 in reference to the Texas joyride brouhaha, "but I did have to cancel an I ~~~= ~· l.:.:_:.~:::~::e::.. :~:g::~::~~=:::::~::A:~~~-c~c=•=•••c• . . m . I . t I I I But having demonstrated to the nation--and to the press corps--that I he could , successfully conduct the Kennedy-style press conference, LBJ I • abandoned the format. I I i I Johnson's success that April was definitely not the norm. Although l I l I i I Bill Mo.yers claimed the President preferred television for communicating 1 I to the people, Johnson-was a failure in his televised press conferences. II 'I ''He misuses the medium," Douglas Kiker wrote. "There is an argumentative ! undertone to all these appearances--an aggressive defensiveness ••• & pre- ! I ~-z.., I vailing sarcasm." Indeed, agreed James Reston. ''He seems to regard question rs I as challengers and inquiries ' as thrusts to be parried," the Timasman I i • I I wrote. Furthermore, Johnson was "seldom directly responsive ·to questions, "i I I 11 I I and had gone far toward removing the most essential element of the news 1 . z.:z. 3 conference--news." !"'~'-... I 1 '..:~.-/ Johnson thus faced a Hobson's choice;his television appearances were1 1 ' 1,j I disasters, but he was equally damned if he neglected the m~dium. Applying !i I the "let us reason together" maxim to his problem, Johnson held a "doub~ I header news conference, " on June 18,1967. II 1 As Newsweek reported, LBJ's varied meetings with the press had "nevelll

1. satisfied all his critics"[note use of value-laden term, implying that to II be dissatisfied with Johnson's press policies made one a critic of Johnso1~·

I, Newspaper reporters were said to "complain that his impromptu deskside II I conferences,called without advance notice,give them no time to prepare go~h,

II . . II searching questions." Since only seventeen of LBJ' s conferences had been !1 j announced far enough in advance to accomodate live television coverage, I ~~i l "electronic journalists maintain they have been frozen out." I

( e To restore tranquility in his house--and to please himself-- Johnson .

· mat with reporters in 'tt·70 shifts on the 18th. After getting two hours 1 :.::::.:::o~:-.. :::-::-·:::: ..::· .. _,_ ::: .:.:· .. .:::.:;;.. :: ...... ,_, :.;.::. .:.:.::c·--=-...::.:·~=--:_;_--'.0.:..: --'~ .:..-.: ~-- =-.::·~--:.. :::... .::.:.:.: .::..-~·::.:: -=-= ~- .. :..: :;;_::. ....:::.:.:.:.~_.:::::::.::.::=·-~r- .:::.:-:..::.::::=::.:..::_

,oo 1 II I I .I II notice, newsmen were brought into the President's office, where he fielded! l twenty questions; cameras were barred.· Then, bowing to the wishes of the ll • \ three networks, LBJ appeared in the White House basement theater:there he II II faced the cameras and "repeated his views on the three news conference \ subjects network newsmen adjudged the 11Dst importanto 11 I According to Newsweek, '~he double-header experiment left some news- I II men still unsatisfied." William Snu!.ll,CBS's Washington Bureau chief, was II II quoted as saying, "This is no substitute for a fully televised news confer-:1 II . . . I ]I ence." Deputy Press Secretary Robert Fleming agreed, saying, '11.-ie're still j !I studying alternatives." j I other technological modifications were employed to improve the Johnso

style. The most beneficial was the lavaliere microphone he wore 1:n January 1967. Fne~ from the podium nd.erophone,Johnson moved about forcefully, I often gesticulating as he strode. Exhibiting the energy largely missing Ifrom his earlier conferences, Johnson scored a success with this technique ~~s , But it was too little, too late. I 1 I A failure at twentieth century mass media, Johnson tried to go back I - \to Nature. His walking news conferences were good exercise--but not for I . I !Presidential press relations. i On May 4,1964, the AP's Sterling F. Green filed this dispatch: ! i President Johnson held a seven-lap neus conference today, with 20 reporters trailing him 'round and 'round the lfuite House grounds. He discussed golf,politics,poverty,dogs,fa~ly,news coverage and , I the President's safety--part of it off the record. t. z.<, i I Less than a year later, the novelty had worn off'--and some of the l!:l [tlawsI were becoming apparent. "President Johnson is the greatest walking 1,1, jiPresident since Harry Truman, 11 the ~ ~ Times reported. . a I . 1 1 .,. I Fellow walkers have lost count by now on hot-7 many times the President ; t • ; has taken them around a..'f'ld around the White House circular drive.One i ,=~,:::::::::::C===-='=":::== t:·=-~~~:P:I:~:~~=::~::~:9:~~,~~~2Pc:l~J?2.~~2:r'"'~~n~~";~.. ?"'*'~m~,~~.2Q9,.:~~~g§"''~~~-'-~:.:~c:~.c?.~::jj"·----··c::·:..c::·::::::;.-.:c

I l e;! :II

I !I II I

:=:::==--===.. 1::~.~::.-=:::..-:=::::::c~=::-::-.=:~.:·.:::.=.::.=:-=--=::::=.:.:;::=:-.:=:-:=====--::=c.:=:=-.:- _ -. ·-======J1F==== I of five miles--is the most }~~ Johnson ever made. Another remembers a recent walk on which just sevenreporters were invited that lasted • almost two and one-half hours. Virtu.alzy all of these walld.ng conferences--during which the reporter ask questions and Johnson an~~ers or evades at length--are off-the- record by Presidential decree. Sometimes he embarks on long,rambling 1 monologues about everything from the state of hishealth or his fatherJ s stand against the Ku IUux Klan to the war in Vietnam. 1.:z.. :r I Peter Lisagor, who smashed his forehead on a metal lamppost while

trying to keep pace with the softspoken President, takes a less tolerant 1 1 I view of the ambulatory press conference. "I was agains those in particular, 1 i I 1 he told me. Then he told me why: 1 I Because you never knew where we stood, we never know what was fact I and what was fiction. It's a little bit like a somewhat captive ) press. I think of it in terms of the phrase I use about the people I i with fd.ssingor, and I use it more frivilously than seriously. He felt like journalistic groupies,P.acing behind this powerful man, jotting down everything he said,much of it nonesense,much of it trivia,much of it wouldn't even make a footnote in our memoirs, i I much less history. And there we were, being herded and shepherded , around that South Lawn--I had a feeling it was Johnson's perverse and way of putting us down, making us clamor scramble. I think he 1 just felt,"I'll show those bastards,I1 ll make thera act like a. bunch ! I of goddam cub reporters." Sometimes I wonder if Johnson didn't get !i I the last word on us,loading us around lL~e that. Showing what kind 1 11 of cravem--well,c:raven 1s the wrong word--showing us what kind of ! ravenous people we were,hangin on eve!Y burp and belch. But we did 1 !1 it. Because he t-1as the President. l. ~Yr" ( II The accuracy of Lisagor's sentiment was demonstrated one spring day I

I! back in the Great Society. The lovezy Mary :t-'1cGroey plaintively asked the \I

we I!I President, ''\columnist if she knew the Baptist! l I I' hynm, 1'1-lho:re he leads I will follow." In an off-key voice, he began singing ! the song softly,almost to himself. He sang it several times, the reporters l

following him all tho while;ho was still singing when he rea~~ed to door

It to his office. -z;z."f

, • ~~ ''The President " Johnson said in 1965," should have some leeway when =o~~,-~~=o•·i .lle.. ,~~~~,es,~,~;'~ R;'_",~.~~~,~~;'."~:"-"~: ! ... !:o~.1.o-~~';:~.~~1;e~~~,o~~'~';~lf··~'"'''=••••• t32-l II II II !:'I ==-=--=--=--=-.:·;-_t~~rthe:=-~side~t~lldete;mi~e--;hen they are held~ ;h;re ·-they a.r~ held; • II and what subjects he discusses~~: week later, Johnson dropped the third Ill I person facade, ''How and where I do that[make information availableJ is a. I

Idecision that I reserve for ~self and shall continue to reserve for ~­ ~~self," LBJ declared."! will continue seeing the press at different times, I ~'!II I' different places and in different ways of ~ own choosing." Not only was I I that policy f~ulty--it was also fatal. "Johnson, 11 one national correspondent stated in 1966, 11 has destroyed 1 I the intent and purpose of the Presidential press conference and has becomei1 't. ~'Z..! a master at manipulating and controlling the news to his own advantage." I I But for all his manipulation, Johnson himself was the ultimate loser ·I IPolitical scientists and media analysts had warned that tampering with I Ithe press conference was an enterprise fraught with hazards. They were I /·- ...... r right. . I· . I It was clear, wrote William McGaffin, that "Johnson's downgrading , I . ~3~ 1of the press conference has helped to bring on ••• the Credibility Gap." I Assessing the situation from his vantage point of forty years exper- ~~ ience, Richard Strout urged Johnson to "accept the normal discipline of a. I, II formal press conference." It was, he said, " a. perfect tool for him to II fill the credibility gap, if he wereprepared to use it." 'L ~ "'/ .III He wasn't. It didn 1t. I I I fO

~. I I Richard Nixon continued the subversion of the press conference begun I

by Lyndon Johnson. During the 1968 post-election interregnum, Nixon's 11 23"" II chief press aides had promised "taquent b!lt not regular" meetings-but I this was not to be. Richard Nixon held only 31 press conferences in his

first four years, fewer than any other President in the modern era; only 16 times did he face questioning on television;

''It isn't that I'm afraid to do it," the President once declared. 11I i have .to determine the best way to communicate •••• Every President has got 1'2-l~

to make a decision when he enters office about his relations with the pre ~."

But Nixon had made up his m:L"ld .about the press long beforehe final.ly 1 ~ I reached the OVal Office. He might have momentarily reconsidered, but his 1 judgxnent was firm:"The press is -the enemy~·,. Subverting the press conferen+1 II was one of the many tactics Nixon used to r frustrate. and humiliate the 1! media;rut it meant abandoning a powerful forum in which he clear]Jr held l! I' I the upper hand: To desta-oy the piess, lli=n sacrificed himself, II

"The press is armed and waiting," conservative columnist Crosby Noyes II warned Nixon shortly before the inauguration. Noyes further explained that!\ II the press, havi~ assumed the "God-given right to destroy our national I I ~)-=1- I leaders," had singlehandedly caused 4'ndon Johnson 1 s ret.irement(Vietna.m, I i domestic rioting, and the other ephexneral issues had nothing to do with 11 the ruination of the Texan's reputation--it was the Eastern Liberal Press)~ •I i' Nixon was advised to avoid the mistakes of his predecessor, advice he only !I II took to a limited extent. 'I A Had Nixon strenuously sought to avoid creating his own credibility gapJ: ,. :i . . . had he refrained from t~e zealous advertising of Plastic M.an as carried on !l :::::=:::.:::.:.. :.::;:::=c--=.:.=.:=-: 1:.:::.:::·::::::-__:::::.c:-::-:::-.:~:c:.c·:c::c:::::·:::.::-.:::.-_:::.::c::c::::::::::·::: . ::=::.::::::::::.:::::·.. ::::::::::::::::.::::-.:-::.:.:·:.::·:·.::.:::-::.::.:·:.:::c.·::-:-.:::::.::.::::.::::.::.::·~:•. :::.::::.:.:::::::·:.::.:.:.:::::::.:·:::c:8:_·;~t·'·:::::::::::::::·:-::·::::.::::.:: . (,y ; II . \I

1 by his public relations advisers; had he allowed the machinery of .goveion-11-

nt to opi9rate in :flJ.ll view of the people to whom it belonged-had he doneii .. I' hese things, the tale o:r his press relations might have been diffe:rent. ~

e tackled; these major problems of the Johnson style, Nixon's record might 1! va been a su~_cessful one.- But instead he o~ tinkered with some super- II icial changes, reaping immediate gains of a passing sort, sowing the seeds!! or his eventual., final downfall. . ll

Everything Nixon did as his early press conferences was designed to· 11 ·I lj ovide contrast to his immediate predecessor. Jol:mson had waited four . onths after asswtting office before he:·held a live telsvised press confer- I nce;Nixon opened six days after his inauguration.(Kennedy still holds the I

ecord for promptness:five days. Given Nixon's well-kno~m desire to better J ll Kennedy deeds, it is somewhat surprising that this easy opportunity II I I l as passed over] lfuereas Jol:mson had belabored the patriarchal plural, i ( i Nixon spoke in tha first person singular. The seat that had always been I I! eserved for Lady Bird was there, but vacant. II A change of a more substantial nature was the removal of the large I I rodium that ~ boen standard fare for his two immediate predecessors. :rn..l! tead, NU:on's "prop of informality," a single, unadorned microphone was tl nstalled. This was to highlight the fact that Nixon spoke without notes, "II 1: td had few announcements to make. Tom Wicker noted that the removal of li II e lectern made Nixon's "every movement and attitude singularly visible •• I! !I ' .. it emphasized that he was worldng without notes or props." Perhaps Nixon i;,, ealized that with visibility came vulnerability, for he''kept his hands !I

lutched together at the wai~t •••• in order that the Presidential de~anor II II hould not lapse into the candidate • s assortment of campaign gestures."

,e 11 !I ~ixon loosened this ''iron control of himself only on the :fiual query, I .:::.::c:::.~-:-::::-.:~.c::::==--::-:::::::.c·:·.:c:-..:::~-::: c-:·:-;:-.::::-.:·:.::-:::.: :::~·:-_:_:-_:·:::.:·.::::::::-:c:.-: ::-::::=:::-=:-:.:::::::·::::: -.-;:c::.:.::::::::::::.:-.:.~-·::::·:"~=--:::::::::.:.-;c·: ::.:::::·:.: :::~·-::.::::.: :·.::: ::::::.! :: :"~::·.::::::.::.:::: :: ::·: ~~ I ~)l I i tha ''luxury of sane vigorous pounding of the fist.~>To prove Justice I Frankfurter 1 s ma.:x:im about six men in a room telling six different stories • [I Timasman Max Frankel places Nixon's hands behind his back,not clutched l at his waist. He also differs from his· brother Wicker in that he records I I Nixon's hands coming free mid-way through the half-hour session, about 1 -z.3Cf . the same time his smile relaxed. · 1I The disastrous television images of the 1960 Nixon still in the natiol al psyche, Wicker congratulates (in an off-handed way) Nixon for having II II ·~aged a cosmetic triumph over his celebrated case of five-o'clock jl shadow. " The visual image of the President ~'as ''marred only on the long I shots, when his eyes became dark sockets." I Like \vicker, Frankel also discerned some nervousness on Nixon's part, ( which gradually faded as the conference wore on. Due to a "special tensio (which) reporters seem to rouse in Mr. Nixon"--an obvious reality which .. ,

aides would unsuccessfully attempt to refute--the President i'began ner-

vO'lisly, his hands locked••• his voice cracldng." I1 Yet it soon became clear that this conference was at best (or worst) I I a ''deferential inquisition 11 in which Nixon would ''make virtually all the j

points" he wished. At one point, Nixon "evan joined happily in the laugh- ,i I ter"--over the memory of Lyndon Johnson's "lights-off" economy drive. ALt l in all, wrote Frankel, it was a "sufficientu Presidential appearance. I i j· Although the ~ ~ !L~as asserts a distinct separation between •I !I editorial and reportorial staffs, functions and policies, its lead editol'1i I' ial mirrored the themes enunciated by the correspondents. Hr. Nixon spoke il !' "crisply and clearly"(Frankel: ''responsive ••• lxL'ief but never curt ••• clear~\

(e II and coherently")' at times interjecting a "touch of humor. II Though reali- \ = ::;::~:=:c:_c::::::.:::;:::::.::: :::~:::::;::c..::·::.. =:-·:..::::·:::::.::c:::·==:=::::::::::·::-.::::=:.::.::::c;~ ::.::.:.::::.:.::.:::·.::::::"C".:.:::: :.:::::-:·::c:::;::::::.::.::::·::;:;·::::.::.:::::·::::::::::::: ::::::-:.:.:;::-::.=::::.::·:::::::: :::.:::.:.:::::::::~ ~· ::::.:-:::.::: :::::::.:.::::::· :.:. t3b I i zmg was · kely that ill his interrogators would be fully -sat- .. I· isfied with his replies," the Times commended him for giving "every evidete

he was well informed on cu:rrent developments," and the understanding he 1 displayed ''without notes." Granting that Nixon did not yet ha.ve a fully I

developed program to explain. and could not be pressed ~rd on sensitive II

lll&tters, the ~es concluded that he ''met the challenges well (and) passed the first test competantly. 11 Certainly not eftus~e praise, but I I ~'10 complimentary nonetheless.

Apparently the Nixonites were pleased with the uay their man was re- III - - I ceived and revie~ed. Harbert G. IO.ein, Director of Communications for the I

Executive Branch, breakfasted with reporters the morning after the Times 11

I editorial and analyses. He told them that l-1r Nixon 1 s 11air of confidence' 1 I I' and calmness" had reasS'Ul'ed the American people. Those qualities, he a.verJ, d I I had been displayed in the ''tone· of his Inaugural and the command he had t.'{/ over things at his press conference." Because he was"satisfied with Monday's initial effort, 11 Klein said I

the President "plans to hold news conferences every week or two, u inter- ~~ spersing the televised affairs (held in the East Room) 'With smaller,

informal sessions in the Oval Office.

The l';i.m~ editorialized that ''The President will be well advised to 1 . ~4~-

use this important means of communication often in the days to come. ''1-K..ore !I point9dly, the dispatch on Klein concluded with the reminder that both of I Nixon's predecessors had "been criticized for long lapses between news ! ~~l . I conferences." Whether in the form of an urgi~ or a warning, it was advi~l I that :Hr. Nixon would disregard-to his ultimate perill. i II ,e I . I co-::=-::-...:=.·:::o::-~c:...:·=::::.:::l ... -=::.::::::::::.::.=::::=:::==--=,;:::::.:::~:-=-::c=:c::.::::~::-:=::·.:==-=:::::::::::=:.:::::.c::::-.-::::::-:;:.:.::.:::;.:c-c::::::::::::::·.::"·c:::·::c.:::;::::::::::::::::.::::::.:::.:::·::::::~-::~· ·:::.::.::::·:.:-...::::::::·.=.:::.

I~ ?-I I For a while, things continued to go smoothly. Fl-ankel1 s piece on the •• first conference was headlined "A Defel!ential Inquisition-Nixon,After A II Nervous Start, Is Clear / and Responsive at News Conference": the second ,I II analysis "t-Jas called "Nixon In Charge:A 1New Boy' In Town No Longer." As 11

Robert B. Semple viewed the scene, the "occasior:aally nervous, vaguezy def-\1'• ,j erential new-boy-in-town" who met the press a. fortnight hence had been re-I' I placed by a "genuinel,y assured and assertive" 1'ixon. Where there had pre- I

viously been mere competance, there now emerged a "sense of apparent au- j I thority•••• not on~ in the carefully controlled syntax and brisk responses! •.• but in the substance as well. "t, '1 ~ I ' Although the President apparent~ made two minor fluffs, and disappoin I ed some newshawks with his lack of specificity ("some of his answer recall 1

the cautious rhetoric of the campaign") , overall it was a "smooth perfor- 'I~~~ ( mance."

Assuming that General Eisenhower was again reading onl:y the Sunday l,j

sections, Semple repeated the fav()rable review of his former VP in11fhe

Week in Review." Mr. Nixon was described as "syntactically precise,brisk

but not brusque,deferential but not obsequious ••• a man (who) is capable of 1I self-criticism and self-analysis." He ''may not know all the answers," Semp~ said, ''but (he) is at least well informed about the questions." Frankel's j earlier assessment of the news conference as "competant theatre" was upgra~

ded to "good theatre (that has) done lllUCh to establish the image he clearJ, -z.'i( lj wants." As the headline proclaimed, "A good Start on His New Image." The dual theme of Nixon the isolated, mechanical man emerged in Walter I ! Rugaber's account of the President's pre-conference preparations. "Alone, I 'j ' e he pores over the measured opinions in his briefing books. II Rugaber wrote I · on April 18,1969, referring to large notebooks filled with information il :-::::::::.:.:::c:::.-:::::::::::::c:::-:.' . __ :....:::. ::.::::.::.-::-.:_:-::-..:: c: ::.::.:.:::-:::: :::::"·:::::::::::::::.:c.:·:::.:::::::.- . c:::: :c::::::.:: ~.·::. ::c:·:.:·:o·:..·:c.-::·::·::::::.:::: ·:::.:: :. :.:·:::::::·: :.: :.::·.:::.:: :="-""· ·. ::::::.::.:: ::::::·::.::c.. :::·.::: :·:.:::::.c ::.::1'A" :::.:·:::·}t::;-; .I :.:.::-::::::::::::.::::-.::.:: . ~~~ I I culled from the various Executive Departments. When Nixon finally appears 1

before the cameras he is "typicall.;v precise and organized," the I!!!!! York ~~

Timesman noted. "The listener can almost see him ticld.ng off the points ~~

on a big yellow legal pad in his brain. " t '-i(9 . JlI . I Although more than a month had passed since Nixon's last press confer i ence(on ¥.arch 14 )-"presumably to avoid questions on domestic points that II

had not jelled "--unnamed suurces said the President "generally Likes his 1\ I I· encounters with the press, despite his apparent nervousness." Rugaber re- \\ II ported that Nixon had rejected a proposal to present that week's budget I! I changes in a situation unencumbered by reporters. Again quoting unnamed i I sources, Rugaber relayed the feeling that ''He (Nixon) does his best if he I has a feeling of being close to the people he's talking to.'' ~~~ The President next felt like getting close to reporters on May 22, \ when he held an informal and non-quotable briefing in his office to expl~ ( il his choice of Warren E. Burger for the Supreme Court. He next answerad ll ! question's f~om the nation's press on July 26, when he held another infor

non~otable gathering on Guam to discuss his new Asian policy. His only I televised press conference durir.g the entire summer was on June 19. \, Nixon's avoidame of the press conference was as mystifying as it was II

frustrating. "tfuat is odd about this, 11 wrote Max Frankel at a time (Septe~ I bar 24) when Nixon hadn't met the press for three months, "is that Mr. Nixl' on's early news conferences iiere widely regarded as successful, useful and ~~~ politically profitablee "performances." · I I The President's friends made note of his preference for being judged II on his deeds rather than his words; but ''many people around here are co~- j

! (usedtt by his actions, Frankel averred. 11J.nd out of this confusion arise : ~=~~~~~~~~=~~=~~=~~=== 13? II .I victim of Mr. Nixon's mystifying inaccessibility," hypothesized Frankel, II ''may be the President himself. 11 N:bcon' s critics were .at the tiliJe complain~~ • ing that he was drifting and postponing issues. "A public exchange might I not dispel the doubts," Frankel said, ''but the absence of such an excha.ng

may well be contributing to them. u I Frankel returned to his theme of how Nixon was damaging his case by I I shunning the press. He wrote in late October that Nixon was not providing I guidance on ''how to interpret the incredibly contradictory tales that I I emerge from the many mouths" of his advisers. More frequent access would I

not merely serve the press, Frankel suggests. "The point is that it would !1 serve the1·President, whose attempts to lead the country have not been 'I t,'{'{" i served, in the view of some of his critics, by his aloofness." ! 1,! Nixon took an even longer hiatus in 1970, thereby opening himself to !I ( further charges of deliberately· avoiding public questioning. His use of il the press confef'ence, said the Freedom of Information Coimnittee of the 1\ Society of Professional Journalists, "provides little to inspire confidenc~ . z,'l1 !I that ~e actually believes in full and free accounta.bility to the public. 11 [ 1 il The ever-helpful ~ !2lls. ~ urged him to seek refuge from the "crushin · burdenM of the. Presidency in open press conferences. 11It is difficult I enough for any President to overcome the isolation from the public ••• and I the tendency of aides to try to shield him from unpleasant news, criticism 1~~

and challenge, " the Times editorializad , ''but with the example of Preside~t

Johnson fresh in memory, the dangers of such isolation are apparent enough~!" I When the President "tends increasingly to see only those ••• who will tell I him what he wants to hear," the Times concluded, ''neither (ne) no:b the j, . 1. ~"0 country benefits."

Senator Jacob Javits (R-NY) stressed the same themes, urging Nixon to

··:::.·::~:~::c:-.-;::;::=-.:===:.:.:::.-:::.::.::.:c:.:-.:·~:::::c:=:::=:::":~=·;;:::::.:::.::=:::::·.·:o: :::::.=::::::-_-:-:.:::::=::::c..:::.:·.:::::.:-.:.::::::::::::c.::::::o:.::.. :::·.:~::·.:::::::::::::·.::·:::::co::::c·.:·.:::·::~::~.~-::·.:::-:.::.-::::: :·.:::::.".

. . t'-(6 ll ! I' I

hold more press conferences to ttpu.t him in closer touch with what the.

~. people are saying and what the people warrt." The , lesson to be learned from the 1970 elections, said the liberal Republican, ''is that the Presi-

dent must be on guard against those who would isolate him to use the Presidency not for projecting moral leadership, 11 but for "pursuing parti­ san goals." Nixon, "he said, ''runs the risk of being too closely insulated I

from the country, with his reading material screened, and with his perso1 tfl I meetings limited. u \ The reason for outspoken comments on Nixon's isolation was his extra- .I j . ordinary five month gap between press conferences. After meeting with re- I

porters in Los· Angeles on June 30, he allowed 19 weeks to pass before his 1 I - I next conference, on December 11. Not since Eisenhower had a President gone! so long wlthout public interrogation; it was a full 20 "to."eeks between Wash-\ I ( I ington press conferences. nThis interval might seem less significant in a ...... d more tranquil period," Newsweek noted, ''but the last four 1110nths have li , . II been anything but that for the President. Indeed, 11 the magazine said, ~th~e1: Administration has been struggling though a troubled mid-passage punctua. z,l'l.. I by a series of setbacks and controversies. 11 Atiiong them: the firin.g of In- 1\

terior Secretary Walter Hickel, the controversial Son Tay raid, a misguide~ attempt to forcibly freePOW 1s, a ballooning budget deficit, rising unem­

ployment and inflation, the bombing of North Vietnam, the GOP1 s mid-term 1 i election defeats, the arrival of a l1a.rxist Government in Chile, suspected I' SoViet military buildups in the l-liddle East, a potentially crippling rail-\ road strike. The accumulation of these issues, plus an unusual pre-press I conference meeting by reporters, combined to make the President's seven·- I teenth press conference "an unusual psychic event. 11 There -was an ''uncommon I I i ' I ,e electricity in the air and an even :more unco:m:mon bite to soma of the ! ·

·----·------··-·----·------~--··-­ c.::c:~:::cc.c.::::c:: -.:::. :;::::::o:·:.. :=_:.::=:·.::::·:·_::.-::.c::c:c.:cc.:·::·.::::.:=:::.:: :::::·:::=::::-c_:::::: ..,:c.:::: ·.c..-::·: .::::c:::::: :::.:·: :: :c:.- :.::c~ ~=: cc.:::::::::.:::.c..:.::c:·:. :;:::::·.:·:.:::.:·.::c::::~::.:::;::·.:::·:: :::.:::.:·::! ::.::..:::::::·::.c:.:c. ::: ::·:c:.::-:::: ~i tlf( II reporter's questions; same, in fact, were as audacious as any put to a jl President in recent years." Nixon, the newsweekzy reported , "seemed I • unusually tense at first and in general conducted hilllself with a kind of 1 clenched forebea.rance." To the viewers at home, however, 11he probabzy camel

off as well as he ever had. He handled most questions deftly, and sometime; put himself on the record with .flat, unequivocal .replies." I Robert Semple speculated in late November, 1970, that "Mr. Nixon will i I begin to meet with newsmen more regularly when the memories of the bitter 1, t.S"3 . 1 campaign have faded." Although the number of Nixon's televised press con- l ferences dropped even further in 1971--onl.y three were broadcast, one

I fewe~ than in the prerlou.s year-he did raise his total to nine(up from I six). The big increase, though, came in exclusive personal interviews that the President granted to a number of reporters.

Noting that Nixon had been quite reticent for two years, l1.ax Frankel : assumed that his series of interviews was ~ "interesting clue to his mood!l" . ~ I He suggested that this"new willingness to diwlge some of his irmer f.eelin~s Ibespeaks either a sense of confidence-or of political vulnerability, " I Whatever Nixon's motives, Frankel was satisfied that he was ''moving out in! li front of the carefully honed policy d~clarations and inviting the country [i . z '~ . II to see him and debate him as he is • ., 1. William Safire, who would eventually be Frankel's colleague at the li~ II

1 York Times, was also pleased that the "dam happily burst." Saf:lre was one ! of the proponents of greater accessibility by ·the President, and he

interpreted the spate of priva.te interviews as a ''happy augury for a more t.f( open administration and a less-isolated President. 11 He was soon disabused of that notion. II II · II ======~======~====~IIF=====- openness.' "Don't get in that trap. They only want to show how isolated wel were before. It is ~ true that we 1re any more 'open' now." H.R."Bob" I Haldeman produced evidence to-prove that claim to Safire, a twenty-page _I . II report entitled "The President and the Medti.." It was, says Safire, "one 1il, of those asinine documents prepared to enable the President to justify il

11 his feelings of being picked on ••• that showed he was not 'isolated' but 1

had in fact "wasted a lot of valuable time with an unappreciative press.u 1

Safire analy-zed the data, and reported back to Haldeman that there

was indeed a new opanne~: Press Conferences: 1969--12 ; 1970-7 ; 1971 --2(2 months) I Phone Calls: 20 23 7 Appointments: 21 18 8

Haldeman agreed with Safire r s findings that the President had tripled !I

his accessibility. He reported this to the President, who reacted by I1 promptly cancelling his next press conference. "He was prepared to be II more accassible ___if it did not ~ as if he were being more aocesible, 11 II Safire explains, "and if it did not admit that he had been less accessible:! - 1 before." Nixon was, says his long-time associate, 11extraordinarily sensi- 1

tive ~ the charge that his new openness was 1image-maldng, 1 and, sure I enough, when the press started calling it that, he clammed up as never be- : fore.-11 The anti-accessibility crowd could net have been pleaser)by the New I . . ---- !' XQ!k Timos dispatch :referring to Nixon's "quantum jump in public -~posure 1 z.~~ (being) designed to smooth the edges of the Nixon image •••• 11

. I I =====-=::::::::=::::--==.------=-==-----=--·=:.:======.- =~=-==-----=------=-- I 11 • The election year of 1972 opened with another attack on Nixon's news policies--or lack of them. He had,cha.rged a committee of the Associated !·Press 1-la.naging Editors Association, "come closer< to killing off the Pres­ !I idential press. conference as a public institution during his term of ,: II ! office. 11 Noting that Nixon had held only nine conferences the previous I i I year, while recent Presidents averaged 24 to 36 yearly, the \'la.shington i Comm..i. ttee said, ''it is obvious that the .President's relations w:i. th the,rr ,_ press are more restricted than those of any modern-day President."

Ma.x Frankel renewed this theme eaJ.'~ that summer. "The Presidential I press conference is dying, without ceremony," he wrote, "and reporters who I

j moan about it are being put-down by the Nixon staff as self-serving whiner.' ~~who merely miss the chance to kick the President around or to bask in'"ch:i.S i

1 glory." Nixon's statistics certain~ were bleak: three :months since a I '· / I conference of any type, over a year since a forrr~l~ scheduled one. But, I

1 as Frankel hopefully notes, "articles such as this often produce a quick z.C"~ I news conference.n I The President took the hint, and inVited the press in to the Oval I Office four days later, on June 23, 1972. In an opening sta.tement,Nixon

I 1lsaid he had noted several commentators indicate that not enough time was 'I l, 1 given to d0111&stic matters. This conference, therefore, was to be limited Ji

1!sole~ to that area. The first question concerned crime in the District i 'I I\ of Columbia.--specifica.l~, a. recent third-rate burglary. I II

All Presidents enjoy the upper hand at press conferences, simp~ by I !virtue of their office. ''Here, 11 said Daniel P. Moynihan, "as in most I I! essential encounters between the President and the press, the advantage is i (- rI . I c--.:cc·::::::·.::::·:::c:·:c-:-:"::.:.:·.::-.,:·:::·:.::c::::.o:=::::"::-:..=::-:.:::~~-::::.:.::.:::::·.:.:::::::.:.·.::::::::=.::.:::::.:·.:.·..:.·=·.:.·.::.=::··=:.::·::::~:c::::::::::::::::.::.c.:.~:::.:::.::::.~:..::.c:·.-:=:-..:::::.:::::::::::·:·.

il tyJ II f II .... ---- -=====- ·-·---·· with the formar.·11 Press conferences, one reporter toid me, 11~a-~;ric~ived~&Et for and dedicated to one _pUrpose--the preservation of Presidential power ·i,' • The President can humiliate raporters(tha two Roosavalts ware master~ at this), finesse their way out of sticky situations with a quip(as JFK II

I often did), fitibustar instead of anSl>Jar(LBJ's press conferences ware I '2..E7l "grandstand.·, with non-answers"). They enjoy the power to carefully II I I select their interrogators, having a good idea where the least antagon- \ istic questions will coma from;raporters who ask probing questions may ! !1 be blackballed and never recognized again. As Pierre Salinger says, "The i !i z"'l- i , President is in control. 11 ! Finalzy, there is t.l!a simple ma.gistry of the office. "He's the Pres- II idant of the United States," one veteran correspondent reminded me."It's 1 z..~3 1 not easy to be aggressive to the President--whoever he is." E.'Ven the 1 I Washington. fus~ agrees: "There is little the press can do about the I President's behavior," lamented Howard Simons,its Managing Editor."He has ! . u~ ! had, he now has, and will have the high ground."

1 Nixon enjoyed all these advantages, and more. His long career in I i politics had prepared him well for what he fraternally liked to call "Q-

I i and-A. 11 There was ''no politicia.n more experienced than YJ.r. Nixon, 11 wrote I 1./1) I biographer Jules i'iitcover, ''in handling the press conference." Clark I I I Mollenhoff, the prize-winning investigative repo1•ter ~ho briefly worked j in t,."J.e Nixon \fuite House, agrees: nr think he handles the press conference~ ~~~ i extremely l·,ell." Edwar P. 11organ is even more explicit: "Nixon is so good, 1 ~~r ~~I he said, "he is the master of the news conference." Some reporters complained that Nixon had merezy mastered his well­ researched answers, and dio~•t really address himself to the question at I hand.'~ixon is excellent--he doesn't answer the questions that are put il c ~-""""-"'··""' ···'·"~'"·"==· ·. .-.." -~-~ ,~.-~.-. '""'·"'·'=-··· :.-=~~0~-'' cc~==c= ~ .-,,, '::==-~-'""·"'·'·;If t'=-·..-:.-' .-c= t~1 =;==--I :y::::: ::::~:~;·:::::: ·:f ::::-:::::f::t::: I 1 ~r I , add.l."esses itsel:f. tc). the particular question." As one wire service reporter,! ! . ~~

, question remains:To whom does the press conference belong?

Nixon insisted he was not afraid of meeting the press; the record II \clearly indicates he was very wary. Two Hhite House aides said it was be- \ 1 i 'I I cause he felt the exercise wasn't fruitful, or challening enough. As one !I I ~, staffer told Jul.es Witcover, the President 1 ~ould prefer sharper quest~ons~ ?,:::ro . l Ibecause they elicit his best anSi·1ers. 11 John Ehrlichman expressed the same (. 11 1 dissatisfaction when h_e accused the press of asking a lot of flabb,y and i

I1 fairly dumb questions."

1 Nixon explained one extensive hiatus-thirteen months without a 11 I televised conference-in a conflicting manner. Again facing cameras on Jun~ 129,1972, he said: ' I I concluded that in the verysensitive period leading up to the Peking trip and the period thereafter, and in the even more sen- I sitive period, as it turned out to be, leading up to the Noscow I trip and the period thereafter, that the press conference, even I no-commenting questions, was not a useful thing for the President of the United States to engage in. '2-"Tf

The obvious implication is that the questions were too astute and

incisive, not that they were dumb and flabb,y. But thirteen months--even

lin a ''very sensitive period"-- is far too long for, the leader of a demo .. , ! \cracy to go unquestioned in view of the people. To postpone an exami.na- jl • lltion of the President's views on pressing domestic matters because of two 1 · "''::::::::=:::.:::::~:::::·.·:: :·A~,;'~~-~~f>. .J;l~!-..::.9.?.:l!l.P!i.tg~,.,g~p~ ... :~·-·~El.XS~!_?:'?:!J.1~;a~::t.h.e.:ye~Y:,~.1!~~"tl~9-l'!c,Rb.Q~J::,.,=,===::.:c::..1 I r~lII I I. I 'I =-~~ rha,;e. b.; en ~~=t;;;'di:Scu;;s···the ecoliO!l\V; ·un.,;;j,i~-t. civil. rights. A I 1 simple agreement fram reporters that they would ask no folleign policy .

I questions would have removed the thin cloak of raspectability ir"·· which 1 i Nixon's explanation was garbed. I' I If news conferences were regarded as an interpellative device, like 11 Ithe Question Period to which it -was once compared, it would still be part ~~ I of the President's regular schedule. But a noxious impression per~ists I Ithat the conference belongs, not to the 'P<>Ople or the press, but to the I

! President. The raw power to subvert the conference has always been in the I I ! 1 I President's hands; this notion appears to give him the right. I . . ~~ Nixon dealt with this issue on June 29,1972. His answer contained one

itriviA~e li~e:e:::T:~::~ :~::~o:~ould make is that I!mow 11 that many members of the press have been discussing the press jl conference a.nd they feel that perhaps the President, this Pres- ·-. ident, is tempted to do-vmgra.de the press or to downgrade the I 1 press conference. -~ \, I am not trying to do that.~ 71- I

1 11 Of course he l-1asn t trying to downgrade the press conference. He alreky i! Ji lihad done so. As vlilliam Safire, a long-time associate of Nixon's explains ji

llit, "pressu conferences were once again called "news" conferences because 1 I"Nixon wanted to leave the impression that the conference was the :?rosi•· I I 'l.-4- 3 :I jdent 's to make news and not the press's conference with the President. 11 \ lI . . II Ill' The Preside.nt:It isn't that I 1m af[raid to do it. I have to determine I the best way of communication· and also--and this will sound self- '! 1 1 .serving and it's intended to be--I have to usa the press conference. I don't mean usa the reporters, but use the press conferel'lcc when I . believe that it is the best way to co~cate or to inform the people. z. ~ y He then enumerated the ways this could be done.Press conferences, tela- I lvision inter.:..riows and speeches, he said, are "all useful ways to inform :

- lthe American people." But in only one--the press conference--is he held :

II . !C( II . . I I'

I ::::=--===t-·--·1_·::::-.·.=-::====:==-=--=.==--=-~::=--====-=::·- ======--==-======~===== 1 4lt Because Presidents are under no ob~tgation to hold press conferences, I the press's only recourse is to stimulate public outcry, in hopes that thJ I President will bend to pOpular dGl>!a!ld. But even that traditional avenUe-~~ I taking the case to the people--is under attack both from without and wi the press.

I Here, Nixon's debasement of the press conference was more offensive

11 than Johnson's. The Texan at least met with th~press, albeit under con- ' I I siderably stacked conditions. Nixon not only sedulously avoided the press-1 ·I he challenged their right to object. I l Following N:txon' s press conference of December 11,1971, Herb Klein II

i charges, reporters "spun out 'news' stories ••• in which they voiced their 11

I own professional grievances about the infrequency of their meetings with \I

i the President. 11 This, says th!i' former administration 1 s communications 11 ldirector, raises "an interesting question or ethics and public practice. I Should the newsmen, " he asks, ''be using their positions in the connnunica- 11 ! . li l tions media to advance their P.Q.,rSOI.l~'t_ £.9.m.2.l~:!:.,l}1§. ~ ihe,:Z m !.l.Q1 g~t:_ti,pgll j QD.Q.ll£.1]. ~1 at ;the .P!E_~~nt? [italics added] 'L :J ~ jll I - I I THAT IS NOT THE POINT, HR. KLEIN. The reporters did not t-:ant to take :1

l1 "shots" at l!r. ll:l.xon. They only wanted to ask the President of tbe United II I! States about dissension in his Cabinet, failed commando raids in Vietnam, j I' Soviet military build-ups, a falling economy--all petty,personal matters

on 't~hich he had been silent for four months. Reporters calling for more

press conferences weren't registering selfish, egocentric complaints. They!l1

1were concerned citizons protesting against their Governr.1ent-in-hiding. 1 ' It 'Has just this Klein article that Peter Lisagor was referring to l e I when he declared, "I resent t-Jhon the Nixon people say tho conference serves! I I the press. I resent this separation of the press from the public,"he told .:..:..: :·: :.:~:.:;·:::.:.::.::::..::::::: ; •.::=.::.:- :..::· :.·~- ::: :.:..::·.:..: :..·_:::.::.:::::-:. ·;::~ :.·.:. ::.:.:.. ~·.:: : ..:-: .:..:-::..::~: ::.:: .. _ :.·..:.·; :·.:. ~=- :.. :~: ::-.:::: :..::;.: :.:.:~.:::::.::. :.:..::·..:.· ::.:..:.: :.:::. :.:.:.:.::::_-::::::~::-:-_:.::. :· ::-._:-::.:·~-.: ::::::·. :..-.:.. ::~::::-:.:::::.~. ::.:·.::-~:· :::.-:-.-·:-: :=::.-.: :.:::ty ;::. ::::.:::·.:..:-:..:.:...:::.- :.: :::::;;: .::.::..·:: ==--:..-::::::..:~::-:·: ::: ..::. I ,I II II II . II

~~ =~l~··::~d~~·:~:::c::-li-~-cw-, ::~:~:s::~:::::sac~? ~rhaJ ------

1 not. ''The public as a whole isri1t very particularly interested in the l

·j' number of news conferences, "said Edward P. Horgan. "Only a thoughtful I ~7~ . I fringe care. 11 But even though they might not be activezy interested, the I I public does have a tremendous stake in the Presidential press conference. I I O:ldly, even reporters l-1ho· profess to be engaged in serving the I I public find this one question that is out of bounds. "Has the press done j , I I its job in ·keeping the public alerted ·to the decline of the press confer-

. 1 ence ~ 11 Don Bacon asked Lisagor. "I think the public is very dimly inter- [ ested in our problems, 11 Lisagor replied. ''I don't think "'-7e should foist 1 z::t8" our problems off on th~nn. 11 · ·

That is the crucial issue: is it the press's problem, or is it a

public problem. The pressmen miss an oportunit,y to interrogate the Pres-

' ident of the United States. The People of the United States miss the 1 l I I ans't-7ers. It is a problem for both--and we are all the loser. I As might ha expected, certain legal scholars a,oree with the Nixon ! thesis. ''I think the President is going to reil"...ain in control and. as a II constitutional matter, it ought to be that way, " said Yale Law Professor I! Charles Black. fiThe office was meant to have that edge. The greates power I! of the Presidential office," he contended, 11is the power of having the

11initiative of when to speak,whether to .speak, and how to lead. !low the .J r~

1\ President communicates with the people has to be ••• in his control and powe : '1 1 1! But the late professor ignores the critical distinction between ii1 I! I. ~~communication and accountability. The press conference, said B:l.ll!1oyers, 'i

~!==f;~~~~L===1! ~il I t'f1 il .I II I II I II I II II 1:

\1 confrontation:''! agree with llerb Klein thAt the President's right to choos.l

1l his own format is indisputable.There•s no constitutional obligation or 11 .. I II imposition for him to have press conferences," he told me. ''He has them ~~ I because he thinks they will serve his own interest. 11 ~~

I disagree with }~ssrs. Lisagor,Klein,Black,Nixon,Krock, et al~-that I is not the way it ought to be. The press conference must not be allowed tol 1 J blend into the vast bag of Presidential comnru.nications; it must regain I ! its vitality ~-as a public forum in which the President is questioned on I I his words and deeds, and on the actions of the-government which he heads.

It must become a time for the President to explain his policies, not in I I the secluded safety of the Oval Office, but surrounded by well-prepared 11 I ~~~ \ 'reporters who can explore the implications and inconsistencies of his I '-;.' I . I I argtir.lent. He can no longer permit the rrpolitical law of self-preservation"!! Ito be the only motivating factor compelling the President to face the I I nation.and to meet the press.

It is our government, not his.

·II ll ,e I!! \, .I . I I . . -.. ----==·-· \I u II II jl ,I "There is, " saith the Preaehsr, ''no new thing under the sun," In the II \recent ·history of Presidential press relations, this i_s certa.ifllJ' the case '! It was John F. Kennedy whom James Reston .described as being "psycho- I . 1II . pathically concerned" with his image;and it was John F. ,Kennec~;v,:.not ·.· .:' ii

Richard Nixon, who

for a study of press responsibility while Ronald Ziegler was still Pilo~ · the Jungle Cruise Boat at Disney World. II

When Walter Jenkins was arrested for sodo~ in the bathroom of _the

YMCA, it was lqndon Johnson who enlisted Abe Fortas and Clark I owntown I I I ~~Clifford to pressure newspapers_ into ignoring the matter. The newspapers il lj bomplied w1 th the President 1 s wishes. . li II Richard Nixon was not an aberration, but a culmination. Repression II It d suppression were first attempted by his Democratic predecessors. One il ot away with it because he was a char~ Bostonian. The other failed mis-\\ d rab~ because he was a coarse Texan. While Nixon was supreme, his policies 1 anscended his personality. Under savage assault from the opinion-makers,

e proclaimed them out of touch with the people.He called forth the demon-­ \ d the demon came. Its name was Silent Majority. The media's assaults were i trong, but they did not still his spirit:SNor did they repulse his attacks. I

1e Nixon was on the mountaintop,his aggressi.ons against the press were II 11 too successful, as the media's defenses buckled beneath the force of hiiJ rti-prongod incursion. He pressured CBS into dropping~ of his tpeeches,and established a precedent for prior :restraint of newsp-:rs • ...... - ...... -...... ····•· t• .. !, ...... • / 't 'f I • jl tf-'51 I II I ,, I' !i !t -.---~~-~tg;;-~~~;_,;;~"~~:~~::;;; ;;~·tt;;~~=~~- a~~.- -~""U:~"~-~~::;::;;t=~--= . ~~ it was us. i1 - i .lnd the gTeates tragedy of aJ.l was that it was all unnecessary. Wh"".li

~I ! i Nixon's policies ""re popular, he o:lneedn't have worried about press repor,. I A President respected and trusted by the people has nothing to fear from ' ·

11• 'negative' media coverage;his particular prestige, and that of the presi-~1 1 - II dency as an ideal, are far more powerful in co111lllB.nding the people's atten I . . . lI I tion and loyalty than any group of reporters could ever dream of being. I

\1"1 Furthermore, the press is just that--groups- of individual reporters. l:i.. 1

j' The notion that there exists a monolithic "Press" capable of directing its 1 1 I ! energies lin ·a unified _direction is totalzy without factual basi:.''I hate !I ' I' I that word, 'P-ress,' 11 Peter Lisagor told me, 11 because it lumps everybody in li I the same bag. And we're talking about specific elements." To be used c: ,co..- 1 rrect:cy, the term 11j:,he :press" should onzy refer to the entire class of I I constitutionalzy protected private enterprise engaged in the commercial l sale of contemporary information. As su~h, it encompasses all shades of I 1 I belief and disbelief, and any notion that "it" can act in a unified fashio I I' 'I must crumble. · i · 1 lj *[Although it is true that the Easter seaboard is physical and intellectua I j home for the major print and electronic news media, the_re are over 1700

! ne-wspapers not centered in that area. Interestingzy, it is among these . 1\ [i non-Establishment neuspapors that a monolithic interpretation has at leas~ i a statistical plausability--a monolith soli

J dailies endorsing presidential candidates, 84% endoresed Nixon in 1960;80%11

I j did the same in 1968. By 1972, that figu:re had grown to 93%] I ) II I. I 'I. !:::::::,c.:::~-:::=:==::::.:::··= ...... :.-.-.:.::::·~: ... ::-.:::.::- ..... :.: .:c·~ .-; .c:·:::::. :::.: ... ·.:·.::.:--~:::·.:::c.:..:::::.:::..:.::=.·'"·"'",,._::.;::·:;::.:.::::::·=::.:.:..:::..:: :·c:·:.:.-, :;·:=· .,_ ,,, "::.. :. , ._,_ ·.:: ::·::::;:::·:::;;:::::o.·:~L:=.::..=-: ! . r / 7 l/ !! • .. . .. ' IIil !I . - . il c.• c.~o" oo.o· ••II""· 'o·.o• "'"· c.•.~ "" ". " '" " . "" ' , •. c '- ·.-. " c.o.·o·o " ••~·-===••• ~=• ... ~~= --=• =---. =::±l=~~=====

·. II Although the press controls the means of production in the marketplac[ · II ,I . . I !l of cur_?:"ent events, the President control-s the events. _In terms o. f.·definingl'l'

1\ the Presidential image, it is That Man in the \-lhite House who holds the ,

iJ upper hand. · · . I! .· · 1 The press did not create Camelot--John F. Kennedy did. The press mere~ · tl spread the glad tidings.

The press did not force lundon Johnson's abdication--the War did.

The press merely published the casualty figures.

The press did not destroy Richard Nixon--Richard Milhous NiXon did. il The press merely informed America·that its President was a crook. I I I ! An accurate understanding of the. relative strengths of the press l and President was expressed b,y Dwight Eisenhower a.t his final news confer­

it ence. Asked whether he felt that reporters had ''been fair in their ques..

'I . • . 11 I 1 tions, the President replied:"Well, when you come down to it, I don't seel; I I l what a reporter could do much to a. President, do you?" Although the . I!

J reporters laughed, the fact remains--the;·Presicient was right. 1j I 1;j I 1j Yet however powerless reporters may be before the emotive force of Jl

ilI executive action, it is a foolish President who totally disregards the I

I press. I shall return to this ~tter shortly, after a. brief analysis of I II !I I the impact of electronic media. coverage upon the press conference. i I i I I I I ~ . ! .

.j.:.::·:::.c:::.·:.;::::. :::.;: ,;i:.:.;: ::.: · .::::::: ...... ::· -. ;c:;·• .:c·::. _. c:::; --.:::·:.·.· :.:.:· ...... :.··:::c: :c:.: :.:--. ·· ... · ...... · · .... :--· .. --·-· · -----·-··------·.· :~c::~:.c:::c::::-:.:~::·c·:..:::·.:::· :.·::c:.~.:·::.= ------~--~---;.;--~~- --~-~----·--··- ! ~( ~ s lj II . . . . ~~II . . . I . . ! . ;c··----:::-=:._::-:.:::_ ~---·:::-:::::::·:::::.-:.:-:-::-:""·:-_-::·: ...:·: - --~ :.. :::~_::-__;_:; ·..:_:::~.. :-=--::.-:::::".=::-.:c.=::-:::.·.:.::-::-.:-~~:·===-::.:::.:-:_·-::::: .::=::-:-::::-::::.. -c.~·::.:=-::=·---'1_-==-- : _.:·

- I II . j What have been the effects of fifte.m years of telev:tsiont Appal'ent].y1! some of the early fears and warnings were justified. "You're turning the · I

Presidential press conference into a. sidewhow," Eddie Foll:i.a.rd told Pierre i I ~~~ . I !Salinger in 1960. "Press conferences have become extravaganzas in the East 1 I I \Room, show business," Hugh Sidey told me fifteen years later. ''It became l

!totally distorted •.• because of television•••• there are hugh lights ••• everyJ· ~~3 . 1 !l thing::, is timed to the cameras. 11 · . · · · !I Sig Mickelson helped Salinger arrange that first televised confe~ence IJfrom the State Department Auditorium. ~oking back, he ruefulzy admits, ''I I' II II jl· .. succeeded in killing the press conference as a viable institution. The i!fact that the conference went on television has effect:tve:cy ldlled i:. ~~ .Clearly, television has caused some of the major problems of the odern press conference. Expert testimony has been offered to the chaotic ll11 !I I! I. iconditions it inspired, and the cautious nervousness it induced. \\ 1 II And yet, I strongly disagree with those who advocate binning televisit ifrom the press conference. C:W,es to the problems '' of 1975 cannot be found~~ 1 1by revert:iJ>g to the conditions of 1955. Rather, teclmology--which got us I jinto this mess in the first place--nmst become more advanced, until a !system is developed which does away with distracting lights. and cameras. .

jsuch a system is already being tested, and will soon be in connuon use. A I Iphoto cell contained in a small box transmits pictures electronically, and I

idoes not require cables. It can also do away with extensive lighting, i z~ !needing candlepower of only 100 watts--the same as a well-lit living room. !By removing lights and ·cameras, attention can once again be placed solely ~~ !on the action. · ! __ .

I. . . . ~I . . . -.:.::.::::::::::·.::o::~::::.. ::.:·:: :·.: ::.: r:: :::·.:.:·.::::·::·:.:'". ::·.;.:.: ':::c:::..-.-c;::·.:: ;·:..::· _. :::::·;:.:::::.:.: ;;·::.:: ::: _._. ·:·.:;::::.~.·;·;-~:.:::.:...: :;·; .. : ·;:c'::.;.· ::c· ·:·:.:·::·.. : ::.:·:.:.;.·.·: ._ _.__.__ :.:::.. ::·.::.:.·.-:.:·.: ·c·.: -.·.:::. ;:; ·,;:c::.:::·:· .:.:::.:~:--. -- ~:::::.::=:::::.:-... • ~I S""Jd :l I . . I I _ . - l ::::c·.·:.":::::.::... : ·:. ·. ::c::-. ·:. ... : ·::. ::· . .. : .:C" _._ •• ·::. . --. --.:·: .- • :-:-_:--- .::·:::-::..=·: :.-:--:.. --::-c:::::.·:::::=-..-=::c-:::. - - .. ---=11-- :-:-:·:·t~:::-c~·-.-::c -~---~.- ~ ---=---.- :..:-.... :. =:.·-"::.:::.-. -.·-:: r • lj Also, I find the contention that switching back and forth between j

i topics necessarizy entails incomplete inquil'y to be somewhat spurious. 1 ! Certainzy the questioning in unrehearsed and somewhat tense situations I I 1 is less ordered than that which a prosecutor would present--but reporters I j are not supposed to be prosecutors. Furthermore, a related question does I I ji not lose its effectiveness just because it does not immediately follow I . I the original evasive answer. !

I 'l'h~_cure_~o_reporters',laqk of _responsiveness can come.onzy from I I \ 1 the press itsalf. Now that the venomous atmosphere of the Nixon era ~s I, '\dissipated, perhaps it is time to reconvene the Washington Hotel meeting.

\ Surely there is nothing wrong with the pressmen agreeing amongst them-

I \selves that certain crucial topics will be broached early in the conferenc; ,

I and that evasive answers will be vigorously pursued. Close attention and i I I' I cooperation are not the signs of a conspiracy--they are rules taught in ! ~-1 i I Ibasic reporting class. ! I' il ! Surprisingly, studies show that the level of follow-ups actually II I I!

I_ increased when television was introduced~ The percentage of related ques- I I ~~~ . l!tions during 1953 and 19.54 was about 23%; after January 19,1955 it jumped !I z..~=r il to 34%. Even during the Nixon administration, 53% of the questions posed ;I 1 , at televised press conferences were related to questions that had alre~ !I 1 2.. ~<('" been asked. [I II President Ford has recentcy relinquished most of the power of cutting I Ioff his answer and recognizing another reporter. Thanks to the system i

1 I suggessted by Press Secretary Ron Nessen, reporters may now remain standin1

while Mr. Ford answers their questions. If they are unsatisfied with the response, they are permitted to follow-up with another question. Although I -1 jthis.practice does occasionalzy come in for some abuse--reporters asking t'· , . -'.:·:.;.:.::.::::~.::.:=:::..::::::.:.-,:.=::· : .. ::c:o::::·.::;:·.·:::·:: ::.:·:.·:...... :.: :·:::.:.:: ::::::.:·c: :·:::: :·.::·.:::=~- :::::·:.:::.:.:.:..::::·..: .:::::::: :·:: :: ::·.:::.:·::·::···:·::·:·:::. : .. ·::::.·::·:~:.:o·o:.::::.·:. ·:;-:/'.. -==:·--::~::.--:.::-::::.:.:: :

I I

11 · 11 i. . it_ I :1 l 1 ·-~a--:==,~~'-iht~o~p~;t,=q_~~stio~-s,-,o~'\~~htgth;=-foii~::.~p---tc;'c-g~,_,l.z~ii't,'~y~~d.-th~~scoJ;--o:f~l .• , . . . I !! their original inquiry--it bas been a valuable throwback to the days when ~~

1 a reporter assumed that such determined inquiry was his natural right. : I S~ll, it is no match for the atmosphere that pr.;,ul.ed in the era ·II before live television. Ny examination of Eisenhower press conference i I transcripts revealed how commonplace it was for a reporter to ask more -1·. ·. one question. One colloquy between the President and Raymond Brandt faa- I tured eleven successive questions by that reporter. Also, it was not un- ·

usual for a reporter to be recognized two separate times in one conference . . I But now there are over 1400 reporters accredited to the lfu.ite House, of I I whom rough~ 400 jam into a press conf~rence. The press corps has doubled I since the Eisenhower era·l, and those days of casual individualism are gonej 1 forever. !I

There is no justifiable reason for :':discontinuing telecasts, and ther~

are several good reasons for expa.ild.;ng them. Press conferences are held .jj I for the benefit of the people;the system which provides for the fullest I communication to the most people is the most valuable. As Marshall HcLuhan

noted a decade ago, that system is no longer the linear media;to be tru~

1 mass,med.ia IIIUst now be electronic. Final~, a television reporter is just II II as much a professional as a newspaperman; to exclude him and his equipmen~ ~~ from the conference is to say he is a second-class journalist. I :\ One possiblecure for the hectic conditions that arise when fifty or

~~~- so reporters seek the President's attention would be to pre-determine the l1 ;I II order of questioners. This would also serve totake some of the initiative I

in 1 ~~away from the President; he could no longer seek refuge the question of 1 I I i a friendly newsman. ! I ... -

:.; ;:: ::::::=c.-;:·:·;;;:-_~-: ;::.:::.:.c:c:.:::::.·.; :.. ::.:·::.:.:: c:·;___• c: :·.:·:.::. ·:c: : .. ::··: .:::·:..::.·.'::;:-_:_ c.:·:;:_;_:::.::::·::::;·:;::.:.-:c::.:.".::::: 1::-.:::::.::::~:::=:::::.::c:: ~ t 56-il'I I, II - . ! ' i submit their questions in advance, identified by number only, to a jury ofi . I senior-correspondents, who could then engage in coordinated questioning I I on a few topics. The second half of the conference could then be thrown I Or, I open. a lottery drawing could be held, with each news organization I j I lr I limited to one questioner.Here too the conference could be split between 'Iij

ordered and not. jl

CUrrently, the biggest stumbling :block is set up by the reporters I! j 'I themselves. Proud in their independence, they appreciate the press confer;j

I ence for its spontaneity--even if those. two qualities result in drastic 11

i cuts in the value of the endeavor. "Any-discipline that the press has must j I be with the individual reporter," Clark Mollenhof.f declared. ''It cannot i I ' I, \1 be on the basis of any ld.nd of group meeting. Arty effort to institutional-!!

fl ize the press conference would be thoroughly destruct;.ve to the present i

'I! uncontrolled questioning by individual reporters. tt Hollenhoff, a lone wold j ' I J never very popular with the rest of the ~ess corps, continued his attacklJ

1 1" I don't want any panel sitting up there and deciding who can ask what :1 . II ,question. I would look with a great deal of alarm," he said, "on the creati~~·~ I I ,!of any group of reporters with the authority to screen questions to be \1

11 !submitted. 1!1

\ Pater Lisagor, White House Correspondents Association President-emer-11

!ktus, would be one of the logical "jurors" charged with c selecting ques- \ II 1 J~oners--but he doesn't want the job. "I ""Jould refuse to play the role," I il . I 1re flatly states. il There was a recent demonstration of the press corps's unwillingness ! >· I r.lt ~~experiment with new forms-an instance when the 1

"";~~=,cc·.~ '., .,.. , .. ~V,~!7;:e, ~~2. ~h<> ... re:\""'~.s.:.,l!'~"'~~~~i': ·.~o;~ •.~s.~e.J:l, ...:'; •. n~!'.~! :;~~a.r~~ =••=.

1 It · II I I •·.fio• c.-.. ,- ·~~~::2::~:::::• ::::.~::::t:~: ~~~::::::·· ::~l~~~=~••·

1 I 1 reporters and those travelling with the President, a lottery system was 1!

worked out. Nessen selects the Whit& House list,picking nUlllbers out of a !I

\hat while being watched by eager reporters. The regional list is chosen by 11 ithe host stato's press association. The system has provided for. calm and ' I . jdignified proceedll1gs, although it has not measurably improved the level 1 ~~of questions or · answers. I At one of Nessen's daily briefings a few months ago, someone suggeste1

1 that the same system be tried at a Washington press conference. Nessen 1 ~ promptly agreed-when voices from the room bade him to reconsider. "Just I : because there are no objections, 11 one newsman said, "let 1 s not just try it J 1

!Nesseni bowed to this somewhat confusing show of disapproval, and the idea I i I!was dropped. li The press conference thus suffered some self-:i.nf1icted bruises.·.from I !a press corps Ul1able--or unwilling-- to adapt to technological advances.

iiBut the deepest wounds came .from Presidential·.abuses. Refusing to accept \the press conference as an autonomous, ~ssential institution, Presidents ' 1Johnson and Nixon both sought to nullify its worthy heritage, and to II 'lvillify those who dared to protest that perversion. , I I' 1 The press conference, as John F. Kennedy said, serves to "put the i

liP:resident in the bull's-eye. 11 A number of things can happen once he is \

1

l1! there, all of them valuable to a certain degree. But it is absolutely 1 i !essential that he be there,· to place his answers on the public record. I

•I In this encounter, reporters act as the public's representatives, I

•~=~= ';:;;;:~:-~::; ;;:e:~:n;e7::e:::;s ;o:::y~:,.~;:;: .•. ,~~=~=•· /ff:JD I . i . I I; . . II .. . .~ ~·-·~ ·tl ::-:ak::~.f:~~:.~:~::r:~::~::::::.·::~i:~:~::. 1-- -- 1 "the q~estion is there. And the answer is the thing." Thus, face to face i I

j with independent newsmen motivated by a desire to protect the public in- 1 I I I terest, the President is called to account before the court of public lf I II opinion.* J'fl' II l: 11 For various historical and psychological reasons, Johnson and Nixon ij

. ~~ both decided to ignore the summons from the people. Johnson subverted the !1

1 1 press 1 s inquisitive nature by smothering it with a unique personal approa4 I which was both overwhelming and overbearing. Nixon's perversion went to tJ ~~ other extreme of absolute avoidance, secure in his command of direct-acces~ ilI• I lines::~s e~:o::~ suffered from their conspj.cuous disregard for the il I . I !1 press conference. Johnson might well have nipped the spreading' .9l'e

Jj gap had he appeared for questioning before cameras. As Richard Strout 1 1 I II i noted, it was a golden opportunity--but he passed it by. Nixon's admin- ji 1

!I istration, long adrift on a sea of contradictory words and deeds, was 11·

!! forced to sail rudderless, bereft of public explanations by, and examina- III I I 1 tions of, the President. Its course uncharted, his government was finally, i\

inevitably sucked into the eddies of ~vatergate, in which it sank. 1 "The essential purpose of the news conference is to transmit informa- l tion from the President to the people," declared Herb IG.ein. "These confer

ences, " Klein claimed," are only one of .the many ways in which tl:e Presi- I dent conmrunicates to the people." I This is a perfidious doctrine, wholly lacking in redeeming social I value. j

·~··=···· f····=············'····· ·~ '" .. ',,...... '"' ,...... ''' ·=·=·· "'" ...... ···•····· ..... '"'~'(bl'~ .. ~-~~-· ·I! II II ::. :·. -":c.:c:::: ·:::::._·_-: i·: c::.::....::c· :· -_, -·.•.. : :.··~ -: _·· ·.:::: c --_-:__ -=--·-·=::-:c ==-::-::-:::.·-:.. ·_-...:::-:-.:.::.-:c.:.=·::.:-- ::.-:cc .:·----·:-·.::·-· .. :-: : ... ::-:.·.-:c· .-;:·::.. c... c.: :::-:-.·c.-:-:-.:-:.:c--ccc:.. ~-===..:::-c: ·· ~ ! Press conferences are for explanation. Information and conmnn1ication 1

I are merely eupehemisms for propaganda--and there is no shatage of that. .! I . II ! The President gets all the free television time he needs and wants;commun-': 1 - · · I l ication is no problem for him.

! Accountability is-... for us. The President is given a four-year, no- ll . i cut contract. Freed from frequent examinations of his administration, the l, - I li President often forgets that the government itself belongs not to him, but!j !! to the feople. Incisive inquiry into his handling of the public trust is il I j essential for the national interest.

1! ~ elders tell 100 of a time, not long ago, when the President of 'I !: the United States appeared each week to publicly answer questions. His j, ~~ .I li name was Eisenhower, and he was the most admired human on earth. Although i, I; his answers were often somewhat garbled, the American People saw that he il

respected them so much that he met each week with their representatives, 11- !1 the press. The people a.ppreci~ted that, as did the reporters. After the il . I , 1 initia.l adjustment period, they asked incisive but not belligerent questions'. I placing the issues squarely before the people and their President. Then ! I 1 1 it was up to him, and he didn't let them down. _ Perhaps the world has gotten too complicated, and the problems of I II Jl governing have become too demanding to expect the President to return to I I weekly press conferences. II But it would be nice. !I I The President controls the press conference by might--not by right. I lve must force him to be free. II

--30--

.:c.::·:c::c-::::.:::::.·=:~·.-.::. :·.::·.:::::c: 1::::.:.::.:·::::: :·:::::..::c:::::·.:· :::::.::.::::::: :.::.:.: ... ------..._ .. _;::::· .. ·::::.~: -- ::·:.:::.: ...... ::- :.:·::.: ....: .. :---_::·:: ·;:;:.: .... -. ----- __ :_ :·;:;..:_:c·:--;:.:::·;6;_'2...... :::: r·:.::=--·-----·:::;c __ i I = II. Chapter One e . 1."You People," Editor !.nS! Publisher ( 21 January 1961), p.1S. I 2. James E. Pollard, 11Eisenhower and the Press:The Final Phase," Journalism li Qtylrterg (Spring ,1962), p.183. 1 3. "President and Press," New X2!:k Times, 26 Jul.y 1959. 1 4.Merriman Smith, Meet Mr. Eisenhower(New York:Harper,19.54),p.71. I 5.TranscriD~ of the PreSident's News Conference, 3 February 19.54. 6. J'President Tries Out New Press Technique," New l2!ls, Times, 26 Jul.y 1959. 1 ?.Editor !.!l! Publisher, (21 Jan.1961),p.15. 11 8.ibid. 1 9.Elmer E. Cornwell,Jr. Presidential leadership gi Public Opiniml(Bloom- l ington:Indiana University Press,1965),p.218. I 10.ibid. I 11. Robert A. Rutland, "President Eisenhower and his Press Secretary, " Journalism Quarter!;I (Fall,1968) ,pp.45.5-6. .._ 12. Cabell Phillips, "Speaker of the White House," N!'!! York Times MagazJ.ne, 12 August 1956, pp. 12ff. · 13 •. Stan Optowsky,''Eisenhower,Inc. ,Adams and Hagerty,Mgrs."!!!!. ~Post 4 April 1958. 14.James E. Pollard,''Eisenhower and the Press:The Partial News Vacuum," Journalism Quarterly (Winter,1956), p.3 !I 15.ibid. ! 16. "President Trie~ Out New Press Technique," !f!!. .!s?J:k Times, 26 July .1959~ 17.fB.itor and .&ll!if!.l!tt,(21 January 1961), p.15 jl 18.Worth Bingham and Ward s. Just, "The President and the Press," The ,I ( ·. Reporter (12 April 1962), p.19. II \..__./ 19. Theodore H. White, :!h!. Making g! Jb!. President:i22Q,(New York:Atheneum, i! 1961)pp.335-338. 11 20.Joeeph and Stewart Alsop, The Reporter's Trade (New York:Reynal,1958)p.9. 21.James E. Pollard,"The 'Kennedy Administration and the Press, "Journalism !I Quarterly (Winter,1964),p.3. I· 22.Editor !n9. Publisher,(12 November 1960),p.7. · 11 23.Editor !Ds! Publisher,(4 February 1961),p.6. q 24.Robert Manning, "The Nan Who Comes to Dinner," Saturday Review (11 March~ 1961) ,p. 88. 25. Arthur Krock, "Mr. Kennedy's Management of the News, " Fortune (March,196 ) 26.Editor !lli! Publisher, 12 November 1960. II . 27.Editor !D!! Publisher, 23 Jul.y 1960. ~· 28.Benjamin c. Bradlee, Conversations H!!;h Kenned;r,(New York:Norton,1975), .105. 29.Joseph Kraft,"The Politics of the Washington Press Corps," Harm's I (August,1965),p. 98. II 30. Pollard, ''Kennedy Administration•••• ," p.11. · 31.J8.119s Reston,''The New Rule:No Rules,"~~ Times, 29 November 1961.j 32.Ben H. Bagdildan, IS!!. Effete Conspiracy, (New York:Harper&Row,1974)p.99~ 33. David 1Ha.lberstam, "Press and Prejudice," Esquire (April,1974) ,p.113. 34.ibid. -· 35. Victor Lasky,IJFK:The Man !OS~ ~(New York:Macmillian,1962),p.3. 36.Arthur Krock,"The President Discusses His Political Philosophy,'~ Ygrk Times, 28 February 1937 37 .1-!arquis Childs, "JFK !4oks Back On His First Year," Washington ~. 22 January 1962. ( A 38.Bradlee,p.136. I .

=:.::-::.oW:-:::.c:::-..=:~~.-::-· ·--""~·-·.::":.=::::==:==.:~:::-.:.::::-:::::.::c:::::::=:=:::.~=.::...-:::::=.=:::.=:.:::.c::::::-..:::~.::c":::::::=·===--:=::::::·:c:.:::-=.:·~:.7.:~~..::::-.:::-.:::-..::~:::::::.::-.::-::o7.::.:.:::::.:::.:. t=-==:::::.::-.=-..=::::::=:.: I I 39. "The Columnists JFK Reads Every Morning," Newsweek (18 November 1960)p. ~0 40.Bradlee,p.136. 141. ibid •. • p.141. I 42.ibid. 1 I 143.Halberstam,p.114. 44. Ted lewis, "TV Press Conference," ~...2!1 (11 February 1961),p.112. ! I 45.Cornwell,p.197. I 46. Transcript of the President's News Conference, 21 April 1961. 47.Bingham and Just,p.20. II 48.Saturday Evening Post(2 December 1962) 49.~ ~ Tiffie.s ,4 December 1962. I 50.Stewart Alsop,The Center:People ~ Powet in Political Washington(New York:Harper&Row,1968)p.191. 51.Transcript of the President's News Conference, 12 December 1962. I' 52.Alsop,191. 53.Transcript of the President's News Conference,12 December 1962. I 54. Personal interview with Peter Li.sagor. 55. Bingham and Just,p.21. I 56.James Reston,"Kennedy and the Press," E!J!1sk Times, 14 July 1962. , 57 .Rep.William E. Miller, ''GOP Chairman Hits Kennedy News Management," '!I Editor !!!!..Managing the News But Accuses Editors, " New I2!:!s. TimEtf3 23 March 1963. ' 70.Knebel,p.70. 71.Transcript of the President's News Conference, 9 May 1962. 72. Pollard, "Kennedy Administration ••• 11 p. 9. 73.Cornwell,p.220. 74.Allen otten, "The Kennedy 1Image 1-How It's Built," .Y, •.§,.New§_ !D5! World ReJ?9rt,9 April 1962,p.56. 75.Cornwell,p.221. 76.1-H.ller ,p. 7. 77.ibid. 1 78. Cornwell,p.221. ~~I 79.Miller,p. 7. 80. Bingham• and Just, p. 22. 81.Miller,p.7. I 82.Pierre Salinger,~ Kennedy(Garden City:Doubleday,1966),pp.129-130. 83.Salinger,p.315. j

84. "How Much Management of the Newsf" Newsweek (8 April 1963) p.6o. 1 185.Salinger,p.246. I ( -- 11 86. Cornwell,p.214. 1 ,e 87.ibid. ,p.227. ~ =~:-=.::=:-·--=~.::=.:: a~"!-~-~-g_~t_~a •. -::==~=:-::-:..=::::~::.=.;:---==:.:::-.:-=.::-::.-::=::-.:.::·======:==::--...::-:::::::::=:::..:::-:...-=::::::=::::-..:::::-::::.:-.:=.:.::.~::==---=--:o-t:::::::::.:~::-_::::~.::::::::::1 89. "Authentic Voice," ll!!!1 (27 January 1958) ,p.17 90.Cornwell,p.229. i 91.ibid. 92.Salinger,p.136. I 93.ibid. 94.ibid. 95.ibid. I 96.ibid. ·I 97.Earl R. Hutchinson, "Kennedy and the Press:The First Six Months,"' I Journalism Q,;arterly (Fall, 1961), p.457. 98.Salinger,p.58. 99.ibid.,59.

100.Bingham and Just,p.18. 1 101. "The Columnists JFK Reads Every Morning," Newsweek (18 November 1962)pH65. 102. Clinton Rossiter .and James Lare,eds.h Essential Lippmann(New York: II Random House,1963),p.410. l 103.Manning,p.88. 1 104. Personal Interview with Hugh Sidey. I 105·. Personal Interview with Martin Nolan 1 106.Alsop,p.192. 1 I 108. Personal Interview with Peter Lisagor. II 107.14anning,p.87. 1 109.Bradlee,p.22. I 110.Harold \'1. Case and Allen H. l.erman,eds.Kennedl: and :Y!2, Press:.!h2 News I Conferences,with an Introduction by Pierre Salinger(New York:Thomas Y. 'j Crownwell,1965)~p.429. 111.Bagdikian,p.1~9. c 112. David Halberstam, ''I.jyndon," ~squire 113. James Reston, "President Iundon Johnson," N!!J! York Times 27 November 19 3. 114.Rowland Evans and Robert Novak,~ g. J9hnson:~ Exercise gt Power (New York:New American Library,1966),p.410. 115.ibid. 116.Salinger,p.)40. 117.Tony Brenna, 11Moyers Gives Views On 1 Po~c Fever 1 , 11 Editor and Publi er ( 2 December 1967) p.13. 118.Evans and Novak,p.410. 119.ibid. 120.ibid.p.411. 121. William McGaf'fin ,Anything Bu.t !b!, Truth 122. ibid, p.1.54.- 123. Halberstam, ''I.jyndon," 124.McGaffin,p.146. 125.ibid.,146. I 126.Bagdikian,p.111. 127.McGaffin,p.142. · I 128. 1'White House Denies Anger At Herblock," Editor .!!ld Publisher(31 July 1965),p.16. . j, 129. George Fowler, ''It's Almost a Year Since LBJ Had a Formal News Conferen~e," Editor !!'19. Publisher (16 July 1966)p.14. · !j .130. "Johns~ Calls on Lippmann, 11 New .!9l:k Times, 2 December 1963 I 131. Bagdikian,p.110. • ( 132.Evans and Novak,p.411. . ~- 13J.Bagdikian,p.1J1. .

===--.:.:::~:.==-.:;:-..:;::::-__ ===.:.::-.::::::;:-.:·::::::.::::.:::::::-.:-.:::-::::-~·:.::::.:::~=.:===--===-...::=.==-======-::::::===-::=::.::~:==:=:::-...::=:::::::.c:::.:::::::::::::::=:=-::-::::::·:::::::: .. r=-7.:·:::::-:;.c:;:,;:::::::.:::::: ------·-·----·.. ·--·-·-- 134. :i"bid:~~i>-:-14()': 135. Charles Roberts, 11Fearsome Antagonist," Nation (24 October 1966) 406. 11 r 1 136.Richard Rovere, letter From Washington, 11 New Yorker (19 December 1964 .157 137.McGaffin,p.149. 1 1 i 138.Rovere,p.158. I I 139. Arthur Krock, "Lip Control as a Major Official Policy, 11 !!m! .I2E,k Times II 1~ 7 March 1965. j jl 140.Arthur Krock, "Inhibiting Press Coverage," lf!m .I2E,k Times,23 January 1165. 11 141. Krock, "Id.. p Control••• 1 1 142.Roberts,p.408. I 1 143.Evans and Novak,p.504. 1 1 144.ibid. 1 145.Roberts,p.409. I 146.ibid. 147. ''End of the Honeymoon," Newsweek,(15 February 1965). 1148.Ba.gdikian,p.140. : 149.Krock, "Inhibiting Press ••• " !150. Personal Interview with Carroll Kilpatrick. 151. Personal Interview with Hugh Sidey. I 1 1.52. Personal Interview with Martin Nolan. ! 153. Personal Interview with Peter Lisagor. I I 154.Mc.Ga.f'fin,p.134. 1 I,l 155.M.L.Stern,When Presidents Meet~ Press (New York:Julian Messner,196 p.156. I 156.ibid.,p.157. 1157. ~'Vice-President'In Charge of Anything,"' Newsweek (29 October 1965)p. ~. , 158.J.bid.,p.27. . . . I 1 159.ibid. ,p.25. · 160.Stern,p.164. ~ I 161.Editor and Publisher (2 December 1967). ! ,· 162. ''Vice-President 1In Charge of Anything, 111 Newsweek (29 October,1969)p. 7.

1 163.1-fartin Arnold,"A President's Troubled Spokesman,"~ .I2E,k Times 6 A~t 1973. 1 164.YJ.&X. Frankel, "Johnson's Press Secretary is 'Unflappable• as Ever" E.2!. !I I York Times 1 January 1968. r 165.Stern,p.168. . 166 •. ib:\.d.c,p.172. 167.Arnold,"A President's Troubled ••• " 168. !I II I I I. -··--- .:.:=:::-1f==---:::::::~--=.:. -· ' ~r ter Two ~ Cater, !he l,Q,~g-th. .Rr..~r.~ll !J1 Government, (BostonzHoughton,:t-:iffli~~ ) , Pr .1 .,-~"f. !I • · L. Rivu~ nnd 1ich 1 J. l\yhan, ~Notebook 2n Government al!i'l 1ia, (' · J.ork:Pra r:er ,197J)pp.J5-J6. ~ ·ston, "Press and President," llilli York Times, 12 March 19.56...... Truman , "Hy View of the Presidency," ~ (11 November 1958),ci l.ur M. Schelsinger,Jr. ,:rJJ2. T =perial Presidency(Boston:Houghton, ! · lin,1973),p.220. ,· ·~anscript of the President's News Conference, 14 March 1956. ~ Clinton Rossiter, ~American Presidency,2nd ed.(New York:Mentor,1960)p. f13 . (. id. 8 . .ax Frankel, "Presidential News Conferences Quie~~· Dying of Nixon Disus~~" }!aw Iol"_k Times, 19 .June 1972 i o. ·aston, ''Press and President." !J 4 • Cater, p. 28. 1 1 .Transcript of the President's News Conference, 28 July 1965. 1 .Elmer E. Cornwell,Presidential Leadership gt Public Opinion, (Blooming Indiana University Press,t965),p.171. 11. John Hersey, "The Wayward Press :Conference in Room 474," New Yorker (16 i J)ecember, 1950), p. 86. i. 14. Transcript of the President's News Conference, 17 February 1953. j' Cor~well ,pp.18J-185. 1 6. James J. Butler, "Ike Meets the Press for One-Half Hour," Editor and Pu -~~her,(21 February 1953),p.11. ·· -- 1 -7 .1b1d. ,., ~ bid . "Ike's First,ttT:ime,(23 February.195J),p.57• • "Thank You,l1r.President,u Time, (9 March 195J),p.20. I • .~heodore Sorenson, Kennegy:-\:New York:Harper&Row,1965),pp.J24-J25 • . ibid,p.325. ~.Transcript of the President's News Conference, 25 January 1961. I 24. \1. H. La:t-ll'ence, "Moscow Frees 2 RB-47 Survivors; Kennedy Calls Khrushchev I• Hove A Step Toward Better Relations," New 12!:k Times, 26 January 1961. 1 25. David tvise, The Politics .2!:, Jqim;:Government Deception,Secrecy ~ I, Lying, (New York:Random. House,1973) ,p.J26. 26. Allen L. otten, "Changing Presidency, " Wall Street Journal, 15 March, 1961) 1~ cited b,y Cornwell,p.196. I27.Pierre Salinger, With Kennedz,(Garden CitysDoubleday,1965)p. 141. 1 1;28. The Kennedy 1§.!.~:-

I II II 1'I

_::-::-;-;:-_-_-· ll,pp.l96::.{q?·.- _-.. .:.:·=-··- .. 1I . ra1 script of the President's. News Conference, 22 August 1962 • i r :;cript of the President's News Conference, 30 September 1967. icker, "The President 'Heats the Press," N9w I2!:k Times, 27 January . 969. • ibid. I •. X2,tk !i.tn.~f!, 14 Ha.r ch 1969. 44.Haytnond Brandt,"The President's Press Conference," ~uryev Graphic,(Jul.y- 1' 1939),p.448, cited by Cornwell,p.1.58. ¥ .Cornwell,p.158. ~ :>id . . ibid. ~ ;bid • . ibid.' p.170. 50.ibid,p.JJ2n82. ~1.Transcript of the President's News Conference, 29 April 1959. ~?.Cornwell,p.184. "The Show-Biz Conference," .Ii!:2 (17 November 1961),p. 39 .jalinger, p.141. ?.ibid. . 1 '·Joseph Loftus, "President Prepares for Press with Care," ~ I9Ik Times I 17 '~,uch 1961. I 's6J·lilliam r-:cGaffin and Edwin Knoll, Anzthing ~ lh!, Truthzl!2Ji .Ym, ~ 1§.. V:tnaged !n, \-lashington,(New York:Putnam•s Son 1s,1967),p.60. II ' .ibid. ,o.61. , 1 8. lise,p. 321. '>9.ibid. 1 60.ibid.,p.322. I 161. Transcript of the President's News Conference, 30 July 1970 • p2. Jules \-litcover, "Salvaging the Presidential Press Conference, 11 Columbia I l1 Journalism R~ (Fall 1970)p.29. • 163. "Ike Praises News Parleys," NeH I2!:k Times, 14 March 1956. I 64. Transcript of the President's News Conference, 5 October 1972. 11 p5.Witcover ,p.J1. 66.~:ew IC1.t.li Times, 15 June 1972. I P7.Transcript of the President's News Conference, 22 June 1972. v ~7.I))lbert EcGnire, ''Democracy's Confrontation:The Presidential Press I ! Conference,!:(, "Journalism Qugterl.;[, (Spr1ng,1966) ,p.38. I I~8. Personal Interview with Peter Lisagor. 1!1 ~9.Cater ,p.J1. ~ t'?O.Herbert G. Klein,''No Thank You,Mr. President," Ea. .I2!k 'l'i.mes 29 Decembe 1971 • . Personal Interview with Hugh Side,y• . Richard Strout, "The President and the Press, 11 Hew R§eublic, (11 January 1954),p.1J • I~ • Personal Interview with Peter Lisagor. · 'r?4.vlitcover,p.29. ~5. Edward P. Morgan ,et al, I.!:!§. Presidencx !n5! the Pre~s Conference, (Washingt n: I American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research,1971 ),p. 13. j 76.ibid.,p.J2. 77. Timothy Crouse, 11.12. Boys mlh! ~(New York:Random House,1972)pp.246-24 ,. tVB. Klein, ''No Thank You,Mr. President," l!m! ~ Times 29 December,1971. I p9.Allen Drur,y and Fred Maroon, Courage anJ! Hesitation:Notes ~ Photograph~ j, .f!.m!! ~Nixon Administration(Garden City:Doubleday,19715,p.1J8. J' I . . :.:. _ :·~-;.: ::.:·;:.::c.:.:::::;:-::==:::::.-..:=:.:;_-::-:=..:::::::::~:.=:7:::::~::-.-::-::.c-::.::.:;:=:_ -- ·· ...... --~·:..:.::.:. :. t.:.... ::-=:·.:~ .:..:=-.:: ,. ·I !t !I ;I il il " li

. . - . - -- -·------~'---- - ;~~~~~tt~;~:d:.:::: Conference, 22 Mq 1969.------,~.~~-·----·--- -- ·an ,et al., p. 31. ibir-l., o.:n. 1 ~ c. t . • 30. i1 I 8? Co ll,p.185. ~ . r scl'ipt of the President's 1-!ews Conference, 13 May 1959. r. ., 11 Phil lios, "Tho ' lTe-w Look' of the President," New Yor}S Times az e {1/. August 19 }) , p. ?6. 'f-r ~ script of the Presi dent's News Conference 5 November 1956. · ranscri ~ of the President's News Conference 13 May 195e. il .Transcript of the President's News Conference 2 April 1958. I 93.Allen L.otten, "Presidential Pressmanship," Wall Street Journal, 29 I !Jovember 1961,p.18, cited in Cornwell,p.197. 94.Walter Rugaber,"News Parley Takes Homework," !!mt X2!:k Times 19 AprU 19 9. ,95.Frank Manld.ewicz, l[.S. ,:t. Richard !1· Nixon:~ Final Ct:isis (New York: Quadrangle,1975),p.143. t·.m~ XQ!.l£ Times, 18 November 1973. 11 1 . "I'm Hot a Crook, Newm1eek (26 November 1973) , R.Transcript of the President's News Conference,17 November 1973. 99.§1. I..ouis ~Dispatch, 20 November 1973. cited in Evan Drossman and Edw11rd W. Knappmann, \-latergate ~~White House (New York:Facts on ! 11 File, 1974 )p. 253. I ::100. Transcript of the President's News Conference 26 October 1973. ~1 , 1101. Richard L. Strout, ''LBJ Should Resume Formal Conferences," Editor !!lSi .· ~ .!J!E..li.sher, (2 April 1966) ,p.15• 1 .:102.George Christian, ~President Steps ~.(New York:Macndllan,1970)p. ~1. 103 .Salinger,p.52. · I • 1tOl~ . ibi.d. II .105.Personal Interview with Martin Nolan. . •' to6.Ja.mes E. Pollard,"Eisenhower and the P.resssThe Final Fhase," Journa;t;ts~ 9Y!.rter]J, (Spring 1961),p.184. ij 1107. Butler ,p.11. . j 108. ''Ike's First," Newsweek (23 February 1953),p.57.' :1 109.Cornwell.P.177. I o. Butlel' ,p.1t: ·I '111.ibid.p.79. 1 112. "Thank You,Mr. President,"~ (9March 1953),

ll r I. ..., - --- =:::.: 1 ~-=-- ·------.- -~--- --=-= .=:-::. =-=------=--·=···======'• 121 ~~~. taxon's Loose Talk," N~ IQ!k Times 6 August 1970. I ~· 1??.Jnmos B. Roston,''t-1ald.ng Things \·Jorse Than '1b.ey Are, 11 !!m! I2!:k Times I 6 August 1970. , 1 123. Semple, ''\Vhy a President••• " 1~4. II I 125. 1. 126. James Naughton II ' 127. I, I 128. }!auehton 1 0. ,,'I . -tamin c. Bradlee, Cgnve:rsati.ons l!!.!Jl Keoom. (New York:W.W.Norton,1r:S) p.224• 1 . TranscTiot. of the President's !Jews Conference, 15 January 1953. I 11.Corn·Hell,174. 1 . James Reston, "Concern is Felt Owr Reports that Eisenhower May Alter 11 Conferences," !lQ.li IQ!k !im.~. 17 January 1953. i . Tr'B.nscript of the President's News Conference, 15 Janaary 1953. ~· 1 .Transcriot of the President's News Conference 4 December 1952. 1 ..., Je.rry Walker, ''Hagerty Aims to Improve White House News System," f-di.tor l 1d ,!1tbli~(24 January 1953),p.7. ' "' , ''Ike Heats the Press ••• " "' ..t K. Lindley, ''Eisenhower and t..'lle Press, " N,ewsweek (2 February 195 ) , p.19. 1script of the Presi 'ant's News Conference, 17 February 1953. m:ell, p.178. ,rt L. Riggs, "St. George(Hum.phrey )Frees the Press," ?rogressive ( Jun , · ),p.14, cited in Cornwell,p.3J4n10. I' ·nwell, p.187. · ."?resident on the Air," .N!m.~S (28 December 1953),p.61 • . ib:id. 1 1 ·7. '""'' "' from the Presidont," !!. (28 December 1953),p.45. 14 .Rtt to-Television News Directors • :sociation Bulletin, VIII,No.1,Janu.aryj 1 1 199 ,cited in James E. Pollard, ''Eisenhower and the Press aThe First Two I V'e:.rrs, 11 Joul"nalism ~~l"t ·£! (Summer,1955),p.293. I; /.cited in "Direct from President," .:tY!!!, (28 December 1953),p.45. I . Pollard, ''Eisenhower and the Press ••• ",p.299• • ''New Channel, "lll'!!2. (31 January 1955),p.1J. I 52.Pollard,p.299. ' 153. "New Channel," ~(31 January 1955),p.13. I 154. "Judgments and Prophecies," ~ (31 January 1955),·p.18. 155.ibid. 156.ibid. 111 '57. ibid. · '> "Now Channel " Time · 59.Strout,p. .15-17.' --· 160.Aroorican Society of Newspaper Editors,Problems ~Journalism (Washingt : ASI\E, 1961), p. 24. ·161.ibid,p.J2. I 1 162.Baker,"Presidential Press Conference a Hit••• " 1 16J.Strout,p.16. :164. "Press and President," Em! .!gils. f'imes, 16 March 1956. I

,'. !I :t65~~ff.J'~!.,~i:~~~g~~~snla A!W''t~stonilitUS;Brown;I96ilj, p. t-·--- 1166.salinger,p.56. 1 7. ibid. I bid. , p. 58. ·- ~: Xa!Js. ~.§.., 29 December 1960. · I ·, v. "• 14.ve • Press Conferenoes Stir Pro and Con Vi911s • " Ed:!,tor .!!!!!!. !Jlblisjtol (7 January 1961),p.10. ' •. ibid. bid. ,ibid. 1 (~.ibid. ~ • . Russell Baker, "Presidential Press Conference a Hit;Star Shows Sld.ll as how.n11n, " J:l.

~obo;t Iowis Shayon, "I ~ t Them Be Live, 11 Saturday Review (22 February 1 2),p.45. ; l!l'd Rovare, ''Isttar from \-lashington," N~ Yorker (4 February 1961) 11 • 1cs' Has the \lord, 2 !.Qr.k 'J'ill!as, 26 January 1961. I '.'.)sident's'lcng Row• Has a Citified 'furning," ~ I2.r..ls. X!Jpes 23 May~ 63. nseript of the President's l\ews Conference, 22 ~ 1963. I rroblems in Journ3lism,p.29 • .,, Transcriptof the President's Net.zs Conference, 7 February 1962. I 1 5. "J. "· .. and the Conference," ~ (24 March 1961),p.44. lj ··1 , . ibi t. ! ' .. r • Jru s Reston, "How to Dissect Kennedy in Comfort,,~ 1sW£ Times, 17 l· I ch 1961. . Prol;>l2!!l!?..in. lQ.urnali~.p.26. 1 .Cor :ell,p.193. , ). "J.W.K. and the Conference," Time (24 March 1961),p.~. I 1.Rovere. - i ~ . "l.A>nr, Time lJo See," Newsweek (13 'December 1961),p.93. 1193."The Show-Biz Conference," Time (17 November 1961),p.39. '194. Problems ,.n Journalism,p.39:-- 195.Jack Gould,"Kennedy Press Conferences," .lli!!, I.2IJs. Times, 20 May 1962. ~~196 . '~·iore TV Coverage of President Urged," !!a!. York Times, 10 February 196 r 1197. Gould, ''Kennedy Press Conferences. " 1 •'1 o . "Kennedy Praised on News Parlays," New .!.2Ik Times, 23 July 1962, - '9. ''The Press Conferences," lim! 1m:k Times, 13 September 1962. l 1,200. "Answers at Press Conferences, 11 ,Nmi 12tls, ~ 16 September 1962. 1 201. ''long Time No See," Newsweek (13 December196f),p.93. J 1202. Arthur Krock, "President and the Press," ~ .Io.,tk Times, 20 December 1 ~ • l201.lbid. . li20I~ :ibid. : -- 1,___, ,::- os. Transcript of the President's News Conference, 7 December 1963. ; 1207. Transcript of the President's News Conference, 18 December 1963. .1 · 208.~li York TimEl,~. 21 December, 1963. II ' 1209. !Jow York Times, 24 December 1963. · 210. IT;;h~o~ Post, 26 December 1963. 11 1!211 . Tra:"lscript of the President's News Conference, 25 January 1964. I q212 .fulli. York Times , 2 February 1964. j213. Tom \·Iicker, ''President is Bringing Individual Style to News Conference,' I l~ew ~ Times, 10 February 1964.-

't ·-.:·:~::::.::·::•.• :.::.:;:.:::::::·.:.::::.::·:.:r::-...:_ :,:: :·.:. : ..:== ::=~::;::::::.::= :..:.:::.;: ::::::-..;:·::..-..:::.======:=:=:::·...:.::·-:.::::::-::-::-:-:::: :.:.::;:::.:.:.:: := ~-· --=== ,, I I II :-- :. ::."'.. -:;;.. --. ~.. -;-:-_ '";.':. ·_-:-,: - . --. - - -·· ·-- . 1 ·.James Reston,~ X2.!:Ji Times, 1 1-la.rch 1964. II ,~ "!5.ibid. . II 1 .Tr· nscript of the President's News Conference, 29 February 1964. 17. Henry Raymont, "1-Iore Style ,Less ~!ews at Johnson's Conference," li2Ji .!.Let Us Continue:llill LBJ Change Style of News Parley," Editor 1 !rd Publisher, (23 January 1965),p.13. . ! 227.Nan Robertson, "President Takes a Foreseen Walk,"!!!!. IW, Times, 22 April 1965. · 228. Personal Interview with Peter Lisagor. 229.Wise,p.297. . 230.Transcript of the President's News Conference 13 March 1965. ! 231.Transcript of the President's News Conference 21 March 1965. II 2'"' .GeorBe Fowler, .. It1s Almost a Year Since LBJ Had a Formal News Conferenr,e," Ed~· ~ Times, 29 January 1969. . ot ;rt B. Semple, ''Nixon in Charge :A 'New Boy' in Town No !Qnger," !fe. , 'Jimes, 7 February 1969. ' ort B. Semple, "A Good Start on His New Image, 11 1:!!!! York Times, ';I • 'ebruary 1969. · 6. Walter Rugaber, .lli!!i J9Ik Times, 27 April 1969. 247.;~ ~ankel , llil."LYork 'I~mas, 24 September 1969. 11 1 248. -. 'rankel, N~w York 1::.!!!..2l>. 26 October 1969. ~~ " • "Journalism Unit Critical of Nixon, 11 !mi York Times, 8 November 1970• . Ne11. Yot_k Times, 14 November 1970 • . . Irving Spiegel, fiJavits Bids Nixon Meet Press More Often," .lim!~ Tim 1s 6 December 1970. i2. "Thank You,Mr. President," Newsweek (21 December 1970),p.22. /).Robert Semple, New York Times, 22 !~ovember 1970. 254.Ma.x Frankel, "TheN~Outlook:Internationalism and Commitment," E.m!, York Times, 11 March 1971. : I - J:.. • .. - ::.. .. _ ...... ';;. .; =::..: .. ·;. ....:: .::.:::.:~:.:.-:.::-==~ ::: ::=.:.::::==::~:.::::..-:.:·.::.:.:.:. :.: ·:.=-:::: .;::~..::::.:.:: :.:::.=.:-:=.:::::===::--.-::=:.:=.::=:..-:=.=-.;=.:..-=.---k- - - --·--·--::-...=.=..::: -·------: ... .:::.::: .. ~:..:...--. !• ------==== -- -=--=--=-=-:-:=-.::::==:---==--====--===--==---- I== =-:=-.:::- ---= · " 5.' lilliam Safire, Before ~ .E.ill=.&l Inside .Y1mt s1 ~ !Z§.-Watergate ~ P.ou~e(Garden City:Doubleday&Co.,1975),p.J48.351. • ·ax Frankel, "The President's Image:Increase in Public Appearances Calle4. Attempt to Improve Relations," ~ I2!k Times, 22 March 1971. I 57 .~ IQ!.k Times, 20 April 1972. 1 1 258. Nax Frankel, "Presidential News Conference Quietl;y Dying o! Nixon Disua " , ~~ ow York Timee, 19 June 1972. , 259. Winston H. Taylor, "The White House Press Conferenoe," Nieman Reports ! (Hinter, 1971 ) , p.13. ,?t,O.Personal Interview with Network Correspondent. i261.Witcover,p.)2. 262. Taylor, p.12. 263.Personal Intview with Correspondent from Large Bureau. 264. "Presidential Press Conference," Qt!ill, (December 1973),p.14. i26S. \1itcover, p.27. 266 .}~rgan,et al.p.)4. l:267.ibid. ,p.33. i268. Taylor ,p.10. i269.P?rsonal Interview with Wire Service Correspondent. ·270. \h.tcover,p.29. i271. Tr:'-nscript of the President's News Conference, 29 June 1972. -272.ib~d. !273. Safire, p. 351. :274.Transcript of the President's News Conference, 29 June 1972. !275.Herbert G. Klein,''No Thank You, Mr. President," Me, York Times, 29 ! December 1970. :276. Personal Interview with Peter Lisagor. 1277. iorgan, et al,p. 51. J! • 278. ibid.' p. 50. '279. Rivers and Nyhan,p.40. 1~80 . ibid .• p. 38. ~~t ~:~~;~: ~: 5a. II ~83 .Personal Interview with Hugh Sidey. 1 284~Rivers and Nyhan,p.36. , 1285 . Personal Interview with Grover Cleveland JWa,n.· I I~86 .Analysis based on personal examination of press conference transcripts. I :~87.ibid. I eaa.ibid. !289 .Horgan, et al, p. 21. h ?90. Taylor,p.14. - · II II I 1291. Analysis based on personal examination of briefing transcripts. ., 1292 •Klein, ''No Thank You, ••• " I

!i [1 li i I j I 1~ 1 !I 1 • • ..•·- .•-- ;-:, -- ·.:.~·.:::: ·-.::::::;:::..: :7'"...::~:::=:;;:-:=::.:-.-: ; ;: :::cc::·.::.::.:::.::=::::~·=·===·=:::=..::::.:.: :.:.:·.:=.:::::::;: :. c •. :.:.::c -~·.:·: : :::::. .~\. .. c:. ::; •.:.._ II II II I ~~ -- 1\

.n·-· .· ··=--=.: ..-=.. ~=-- =~~~~="" • I I! I A. PRESS . II pAlsop.Joseph, and Alsop,Stewart. ~Reporter's Trade. New York:Re;Ynal&Co.11 I' Inc. ,1958. . · 1~ Alsop,Stewart. The Center:People !nd Power in Political Washington. New Yo~ : j1 Harper8-.Row,1968. I ,. Aronson,James. ~ Press and the f.Q1c! m.. Boston:Beacon Press,1970. I !1 Bagdikian,Ben H• .'!h.2. Effete Conspiracy:~ other Crimes !?z .:!tJl.!. Press. New · York:Harper&Row,1972;Colophon Books,1974. I ' Balk,Alfred and Boylan,James,eds • .Qm:. Troubled Press:I.fm. Years .2! 1b!, 1! Columbia Journalism Review.Introduction by Elie Abel.Boston:Little, I 1 Brown&Co.,1971. ; Berdes,George R. Friendly Adversaries :Ihe Press and Government.Marquette: Canter for the Study of the Ame~ican Press,~9. Bird,George L. and Merwin,Frederic E. ~Newspaper .!1J5! Society. New York: l Prentice-Ha.ll,Inc. ,1946. 1. Cater,Douglass. The Fourth lk!lJ.<:h !11. Goverpment. Boston:Houghton Mifflin,1t9D9. I1 • Power !!!.. HashinP:ton. New York: Vintage Books, 1964. !I I: Cirino,Robert. Don't Blame the People:How !h.!~ Media .Y§.!. ~,Q!_stor~ip,n, II and Censorship 12, Y:.a.rrl.p,ulate Public Opinion. Los Ar.geles:Diversity II Press,1971 • • Power 12, Persuade:~ Madia !!!.c! ~News. New York:Bantam,1974. 1 I Efron,Edith. l'.ru!, ~ Twisters. los Angeles:Nash,1971. 1 1 ,Griffith, Thomas. How ~=! Skeet:!:_c s Guide :t.2, Believil).g, !h2, ~. Boston: L1 t Atlantic-Little, Brown, 1974. ~ Gross,Gerald,ed. The Responsibility 2t~ Press. New York:Simon&Schuster,1 66. Lippmann,Walter. ~Essential Lippmann:! Political PhilosophY !2t Liberal I Democrac~. Edited by Clinton Rossiter and James Lara. New York:Random House, 19 3. ~ Truth:~ 1McGaffin,Thomas and Knoll,Edwin. An:ything 1b!. .Credibility : . Q!.p_-::JJmi the ~ l§. !:Jimap;ed in Washington. New York:Putnam, 1968. II1 'Markel,lester. What You:--Don 1t Y.now Can Hurt You.New York:Pu.blic Affairs 1 I' Press,1972-:------II !ollenhoff', Clark R. }•lashington Cover-Qp,. Garden City:Doubleday&Co,Inc.1962.

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lj II II III' !I 'I I ··:J' ::·..: ·· ""=·-=-·-... -=------=--==- .. = :- ·· .::·.~-~ ·-· I B. PRESIDENTS 11 I 1.General !!I

1 Cornt-1ell,Elrner E. Presidential J.ea.dership .21 Public Opinion. Bloo~gton: I Indiana. University Press,t965. !j ousa , Timothy. b ~ .Q!l!h.E! ~. New York:Ra.ndom House,1972. j, • ock,Arthur. 1n.1'.b.2. Jl,a.;t_io.n :12,B.-~ •. New York:McGraw-Hill,1966. II · ~ • 1-~emoirs :Sixtv ~~ m the Firing Line. New York:Funk&\iagnalls,19S~. r gan. Edward P. ; Hays ,!-~ ;l·~ollenhoff, Clark; Lisagor, Peter: and Klein, Herbert lr. ~ Presidency !nd~ Press Conference.Washington:American Enterpris~ 1 Institute for Public Policy Research,1971. 1

1 Reedy ,George E. The Twilight of ~ Presidency. New York:New American 1 Libr a.ry, Inc. , 1970. 1 · ter,Clinton. The American Presidencz. 2nd ed. New York:Mentor,1960. !I ~ r:or ,Arthur M. ,Jr. The Impe,ria.l Presidency. New York:Houghton,Hiffl.inl~1973. , I• .L. ~ Presidents ~ the Press. New York:Julia.n :Hessner,1969. I oson,Hunter s. ~ !i!li ]_p1thi.'1g:On the Came,aign Trail172. San Francisc : Strat~ht Arrow 3ooks,1973. te, Theodore H• .I!.Yl I-lakinp; .2f. ~ ,l}:'esident 1960. New York:Atheneum,1961. -·~ !·~ki11J: pf .Y2.E! £!.2.:USEID..t_ J_964.Atheneum,1965. , vid. The Polit .ics g! Ly}n~ :Government Deception, Secrecy,~ Power. j • el-l York :Random House,1973. .

2. Eisenhm-Jer \1 1 liAdams ,Sherman. Firsthand Report:The St orz gi !:h§. Eisenhower Administration. I I•!ew York:Harper&3rothers ,196"17 3lock,Herbert. Herbl~s~<:,.i.a:t_ f

I II . II,, I ~-. I I ======-·- ":.-

·-~:: ~:~i:~:~~·-:::~~:~N::::~~:&sTalk, 1 " Editor e Pub~sher. (21 March ~~. p.-:J- "AP Apolor.izes :Jackie Didn't Do the Twist." Editor .f!Wi Publisher. (JO ~ · 1 December 1961,p.11). ' : Bailey,John H. "Bailey Cites Info Strides in the JFK Administration." 1 :

I: Editor !1!4. fY.blishez:. (28 October 1961,pp.9,52-.54). I r. l BinP:hm,Horth andt Just,\-lard. "The President and the Press."~ Reporter .· : (12 April 1962,pp.18-25). ~ Brenna, Tony. ''}~oyer s Gives Views on 1 Potomac Fever. ' 11 Editor !nS. Publisher. (2 December 1967,p.13). , 11 . . Butler, James J. ''Ike ~1eets the Press for One-Half Hour. Editor !!!9. .&e,lis er. : I (21 February 195J,pp.11,59). 1: Cbrk,Timothy B. "LBJ in Full Command at Press Parley." Editor and Publish' r. :; (20 Harch 1965,p.12). · - ··· ,. ' er,Frank. "Johnson and the Press." Saturday Review. (10 September 196 ,pp.70-71-).

I ' .Jell, Elmer E. ,Jr. "The Johnson Press Relations Style." Journalism · j, fl!!arterl;l. (Spring,1966,pp.J-9).

1 ~wford,Kenneth. ''t~ews Management." Newsweek, (11 March 196J,p.JJ). 1 ":>irect Communication." ~~ek, (7 September 1970,p.57). '·~ , "Direct from the President." Time, (28 December 195J,p.45). I ,I "Disturbing Trend." Editor P.n.c! ~;blisher,(4 February 1961,p.4). ! Duscha, Julius. "The White House \vatch Over TV and the Press." New Tim s 1 I.2!:k ·1 ~·iaeazine,(20 August 1972,pp.9,92-95). 1 1 "Editors Offer New Ideas to Change New~ Parleys." Editor !D5! Publisher. I (4 February 1961,pp.11,66). ''End of the Honeymoon." Newsweek, (15 Februa.ry 1965,pp.62-6J). . Erwin ,Ray."President Johnson in Surprise Visit.~' Editor !l!S, Publisher, I ·· I (1 r; Octobor .1966, pp.11, 55 ). ·· i "'Fni.r Gttmo 1 in LBJ's Press Cnlls." Editor, .!Jl

!'· Editor ~ Publisher,(16 Ju~ 1966,pp.14,51). ~ Fulbri~ht,Newton H. ''There's No Plot to Gag the Press." Editor .fDS 1 Publisher , (22 November 1969, p. 9). • Gill, Bill. ''Richard Nixon as News Editor." .Ib!. Quill,(March.197J,pp.8-9). :; Halb.erstam,David. "Iumdon." Esguir~, (August 197J,pp. '73-88). I :~ ___,_.__..,...• "Press and Prejudice." Esquire, (April 1974,pp.111-117). Hirsh,Michael. "A local Tangle nth the White !louse." The !imn1, (April t9'14~1r25-26 \ "How Huch :tA.ana.gement of the News?" Newsweek, (8 April 196J,pp.59-65). · · Huston, Luther A. ''How Herb Klein Assists the President." Editor .!t!5! Pub lis r, ~!. I1 (15 February 1969,pp.9-10). !' 1Hutchinson,Ea.rl R. "Kennedy and the Press:The First Six Months." JournalisM\ : '1 Quarterl~,(Fall . 1961,pp.452-459). 1 ''Ike Says He Admires the Press." Editor !m! Publisher,(8 August 1964,p.18).·j ·' 1 1"Ike's First." Newsweek, (23 February 195J,p.57). ~~~ ·· '! "Ike's First." Time,(2J February 195J,p.48). ; "In the Bull's-Eye." :r!m.,(17 September 19'7J,p. 71). 1 "JFK and the Conference • ., ~,(24 March 1961,p.~). l • 1 •"JFK Spoke of Press with Humor and Wit. 11 Editor !m! Publisher, (JO November· ~96J,p.64 ). i"Judments and Prophecies." l'!m!!.,(31 January 1955,p.18). ~ ·:~· \"Kennedy Plays Bawl with Fourth Estate." Editor !D5! Publisher,(18 August 19 _ 2,pp.15~~) !''Kennedy Retained Newsman's Outlook." Mtor .@DS Publisher,(JO November 196· ,p.65). • ,"Kennedy Says He' 11 Work on Getting the News Out." Editor .11!1 Publisher, 1 ·.< . ::.~ :..:.:".:~--=:::.;:: 1 1 ·:--:.-::.5~!::;~~~~~~.!':.-.. :~~~: ~f:~~ :~;~~::.::~:c.::-:::.:=..::~::c::-...::::::.:::::.:.:::::..:.:·;:.::~-:-.::=.==:::-::=.:::-...:===--=:=:..-:-..=:::-..::::: :::.:::=::.::::".J :.::::= ::-:.:::::~.-.:= I ~

I II -· 'I I I . . .I

- :1 ;~:I~ ~i~"A~~~=~~!'::'\i:~!";J~~i~ii~;e:;:r~~~;~r~:;:,:~ J66:;. ~. rt'lobel,Fletche~. "Kennedy Versus "the Fre"ss. II Look, (August 1962,pp.28-32). I t KnioP:hbaum ,Hillier. "It \vas ' ~!ix-Picking ' Time at the Counter-convention." I 1 E"'itor .!!ld Publisher,(12 May 1973,pp.11,16). Kraft,Joseph."Politics of the Washington Press Corps." Ha.reer's,(June 196.51pp.10 .-1 I Krock,Arthur. ''Hr. Kennedy's Management of the News." Fortune,(March 196)). 1 1 Lawrence,H. H. " l'-!r. President,Wha. t Do You Think Of-"'"' llilli, ~ Times : ~ I }~eA~ine, (27 December 1953,pp.9,33-35). ! "LBJ Prefers to ~ieet the Press Informally." Editor and Publisher, (12 March: 1966, p.1 ·~· "P.3J-Press 'Honeymoon 1 Awaits Call." Editor !m! Publ.is"her, (6 March 1965,p.1 · ) • , "LSJ' s Young Nan 'In Charge of Everything. 1 " ~. (29 October 1965,pp.24-2 ). j "'Let Us Continue •.• 'Will LBJ Change Style of News Parley." Editor !n,

1 Publisher, (2) January 1965, pp.12-13). 1 Lindley ,Ernest K. ''Eisenhower and the Press." l!!_wsweek, (2 February 1953,p. 9). 11 11 1 ' Live ' Press Conferences Stir Pro and Con Views • Ed1 tor !l!S! Publisher, (7 January 1961,pp.9-10). 1

I "Long Time No See." Newsweek, ( 13 December 1961,p. 93). 1· i Lorenz,A.L. "Truman and the Press Conference." Journalism Quarterly,··: . _ 1 (Fall 195),pp.671-6'79). jl .1c !uire,Dolbert. "Democracy's Confrontation:'Ihe Presidential Press · 11 1 '":1ference :I." Journalism ~artert,y, (Winter .1967 ,pp.638-644). 1 ~--·"Democracy's Confrontation :The Presidential Press Conference &II. 11 Journalism Quarterly,(Spring 1968,pp.J1-41,54) • . ninr:,Hobert."The Man Who Comes to Dinner." Saturday Review,(11 March 19 ,pp.87- ) . 1 'ller ,\Jilliam E. "GOP Chief Assails Kennedy Record on Press Relations." ! ~~itor and Publisher,(? October 1961,pp.9,58-59). 11'" ~..-ors Decries Deep Division Over Viet." Editor !lll! Publisher, (11 Novembe 1967 ,p. ,1 m!oyers Will Become Newsday 1s Publisher." Editor !DS! Pllblisher,(17 Decembe 1966,p ilt-~unroe ,Pat. "Johnson May Be More Formal than JFK in Press Relations." Edito ·, anci Publisher,(JO November 1963,p.13). ! ---=-~·"Reedy in \Vhite House;Salinger to Capitol!" Editor !l!S! Publisher, II (28 }~rch 1964,pp.14,130). aughton,James.''How the Second Best-Informed Man in the White House Briefs I 1 ' the Second Worst-Informed Group in Washington."~ York Times Magazin~ (30 Nay 1971,pp.9,24-30). :aw Channel. " Time,(31 January 1955,p.13). '~'!ews Hade on the Spur of the Moment." Editor .!!lS! Publisher,(4 January 19 ,pp.9-10' 1· "News Under Kennedy." Columbia Journalism Review, (May-June 1962,pp.11-20)., ; "New ~fui te House Blast." Time, (12 November 197J,p. 78). i "Nixon Admits Press Reports on Watergate are Factual." Editor !llS, Publishe ~ (5 Jv~y 1971,p. 7). !Hixon, Robert G. "Interview with Truman on ~Bomb Described." Editor .5!DS! : Publisher, (31 January 195J,p.13).

I "Hixon Seeks to Control News l1edia." Editor.!!!! Publisher,(22 November 196 I p.9). 1 "Nixon to FIEJ:Free Press is Essential to Free World." Editor !llS, Publis e II (20 June 1970,p.10). 1 il "!!ixon 1-lould Rely on Press Integrity." Editor _!lll! Publisher, (13 May 1961,p~~13, 7h). 1"0nce l>!ore,with Feeling." Newsweek,(4 July 1966,p.54). I !Phillips ,Cabell. "Speaker of the White House." li!! York ~Magazine, ! 1 (16 August 1959,pp.12,56,58). 11 \ Pleased to Meet You." Editor !D5! Publisher, (2 September 1961,p.13). li i

I . i, 1

..... I ~ ~, ! .. - ;· ~ ··I Po-ll~·~~(J~~·; · ·E:· ·iEi~~~h~~~r ~nd th; Press: The First Two Years." Journalism -: ' Quarterll• (Spring 1955. pp.285-JOO). . . ''Eisenhower and the Press :The Partial News Vacuum." Journalism __Qu_a._r ... terlx. ('·linter 1956 ,pp. J-8). ... ___,_.''Eisenhower and the Press :The Final Phase." Journalism Quarterly, (Spring 1962,pp.181-186). ---~~·"The Kennedy Administration and the Press." J ournt:Y.S ~ter lv, \ (Winter 1964,pp.3-13). 1 "President and the Press." Newsweek,(J1 December 1949). :· j "President Forgets His 'Alleged 1 lesson." Editor .!JlS! Publisher, ( 8 August 1 70, p.12) ~:; , "Presidential f-ress Conference." The Quill,(December 197J,pp.11-15). -. I · I "President on the Air." f~ewsweek,{28 December 195J,p.61). ! "Press and President." Time, (21 September 1962,pp.48-49). \ "Fress Conference Pooling System Strongly Opposed." Editor !oWl Publisher, (17 January 19.5J,pp.7,58). · 1 ' "Press Relations." The Commonweal, (19 October 1951,p.28). .· . "Probin~the 'Slap..Tap Flap.'" Newsweek, (J December 197J,p. 70). I, Reedy,George E. "'Tension Between the White House and the Press is not I, Catastrophic. '" Editor and Publisher,(2 Juzy 1966,pp.10,46). rn ~ porters Restless with ~Sessions." Editor !D£ Publisher,(1 Februar.y. 1<~,p.11) • .vors. Cary'1.. '"~-lhi te House :Salinger Holds Reins on Policy." Ed1 tor ~ 1, Pu~li.0.~ft:r:, (22 February 1964,pp.17, 52).

------· "LBJ' s Strong1.y Ferso~al Press Shop Irks Reporters." Editor .!:n£! . ~· ' Publisher,(5 December 1964,pp.9-10). I ."· I:Hoberts,Cha.rles. ''Fearsome Antap.:onist." Th~ Nation,(24 October 1966,pp.L~06-4~1). 1 •ore ,Richard."~tter from \1ashington." The~ Yorker,(4 February 1961,10~-11.5). ___."Letter from \-.'ashington." Tha ]~ Yorker,{19 December 1964,pp.1561~62). :';.:. 1' .~:r~utr, Vermont."Presidentia.l Press Conferences?"~ Quill,(February 1971Jpp.9-11). o. II utland, Hobert A. "President h~senhower and His Press Secretary." Journalidn ., I RHarterly, (Fall 1957 ,pp.452-456,5J4). · I1 "'Sensible System' Desired for Orderzy News Coverage." Editor ~ Publishel : (7 Aup,ust 196.5,pp.9,49). !Shayon,Robert ~s. '~!- them be Live." Saturday Review, (22 FebrUarY' 1962,~~43). .v 1 "Si~ Delta Chi Censures Nixon on Information Gap." Editor .mel Publisher, I I (7 November 1970,p.9). , Smith,Eerriman. "Cabinet-Press Talks 'A Thumping Success.'" Editor and I II Publisher,(J April 1965,p.14). . I 1 ; • • ''Now,mrl.te House News Flows." Editor and Publisher, (17 July 1965,.R 10). j Strout,Richard. "The President and the Press." The !!m! Republic,,·: - -: · 1 (11 January 1954,pp.15-16). · 1 • "LBJ Should Resume Formal Conferences." Editor !oWl Publisher, I 2 April 1966,pp.15,58). II aylor ,Hinston· H. "The White House Press Conference." Nieman Reports, , (vlinter 1971,pp.9-14). , !,"Texas Tornado Rocks rlhite House Tables." Editor ~ Publisher, (4 November I :· '. 1961.p.11). :'" ' Thank You,Hr. President.'" !im,, (9 March 195J,p.20). '"Thank You,Mr. President." Newsweek, (21 December 1970,pp.22-2J). I1"That1 s the Way it Is." fJewsweek, (fz November 1973,p.87). ••The Columnists JFK Reads Every :Horning." Newsweek, (18 December 1961,pp.65- 0 ). jThe li!!_~ Times, 1953-1975. ~ II ' . . ' .. ! ... ::=~::::·::. ::::.:;;:c·=..:~:;,:.:.=.:=::::::;·.:.::::.:.:.:.:.::::::.:. "'"..::.:-.:.::::" :.:.::-• • :.::.;:.:::.::~.=.:.::::::-=-=-====--=--::=.:-.:..::-.:.::.::=:=.::.-:.:=~ :=.:~:: . --=. --:::; i . . I \ I ·. I !i !I 11 ~li . . I ; "~~~. P~~~i~- V~ the r..,;;: ;; Tiryj. J;{ J .;";,uary -1960, p. 55) • -- ···- ·' c ! ~~== 1 "The l'resideney:A Play in One Act." Time,(22 December 19.52,p 48). j 1 ul.1e fl'esident's Complaint." ~'aw~w~ok,(5 November 197J,p.?1). "The Press in the President's Transcripts." Tht Qu,ill,(June 19?4,pp.14-18) I ''The Show-Biz Conforence." T:t!>lo, (1? November 1961 ,p.J9). "Try:tn~ to be Vicious." I!.ti,(H Fo~:?ruary 19?4,p.8J). Vander Heuvel,Gerr;y.!'Salinger IH.nf.s JFK Awaits Press Confab." ~~or !Ps! Publisher, (t5 December 1962, p.15). ; \-la~k<•r,Jerry •. ''Hagerty Aims to Improve White House News System." Editor !!lSi I 1 Publisher,(24 January 195J,pp.?-8). i '~fuite House Denies Anger at Herblock." Editor !llS! Publisher ,.(J1 Juq 1965~p.16). 1 ''Yihite House 'Enemies List' Contains Scores of Newsmen." Editor .!1JS! '1 ' Publisher,(30 June 19?J,p.12). Wh:ite,\lilliam s. "Kennedyts Seven Rules for Handling the Press." Harper's, :~ (April 1961 ,pp. 92-97). . I \tlise, David. ''Those White House Tranqulizers." Columbia Journalism Review, 1 (\·linter 196?,pp.17-20). I j Witcover ,Jules. ''Focusing on Nixon." Columbia Journalism Review, (Winter I 1 1968/1969,pp11-1?). ' • "The Two Hats of Herbert Klein." Columbia Journalism Review, 1 (Spring 1970,pp.26-JO). --:--~-··"Salvaging the Presidential Press Conference." Columbia Journa s Review,(Fall 1970,pp.27-J4). ---:---··"The Presidential Press Conference :A Statu8 Report." Columbia Journalism Review(Spring 19?1, pp. 52-54). I ,I .I :J I I. II ' j I! I

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