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Ford Presidential Library -----=-==--- FOURTH ESTATE and II II Nary McGrory II I Richard 11ilhous N:Lxon Hy Parents CON TEN'@ II . II INTRODUCTION ••••••••••.••••••••••••••••.• .......................... 1_ IdHA.PTER O!~E: PRIVATE • .......- • .-. -.-..................................... 6 •.,,. Presidential reading habits(6)--John F. Kennedy(8)--Dwight D. 11 1 Eisenhower and the press(16)--Kennedy(19)-11News Hanagement (34)-- , Duty and Friendship(42)--~don B. Johnson(45)--0rigins of the l Credibility Gap(.51)--Richard M. Nixon(61) 1 il . I • . .. : . .. ICHAPTER TWO. PUBUC .l •••••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••.•••• • ••••••• 62 .A.FORNAT Stating. the problem(63)-0pening Statements(65)--Planted Questions(75)--Reporters Not Prepared(81)-Reporter1s Bad Technique(85)--Unasked Questions(90)--Closing the conference(9&) I IB. TECHNOLOGY · . I Truman's tiorst-Case &8 )--Nixon 1 s Blunder ( 102)--Changing the ·~ Record(104 )--Hoti.ld ~Ike' Continue the Conference ?(106 )-- Transcripts and Broadcasts(169)--Sound 11ovies(110)--Live TV{15) ... ji . .~: PRESIDENTIAL DESTRUCTION.. , ,. , ......•......... , .. , .. I Lyndon Johnson's Informality(123)--Fear of Television(12?)-- l t·Ialkathons(132)--Nixon Changes Style,But Not Intent(135)-- ,1 His Isolation Grows(141)--The New Accessibili.ty(143)--Power of the Presidency(146)--Nixon Explains. His Absence(147);_ ·,,,~.; ! Klein's Theory(149)--The Press Conference is for Accountability(152) !coNCLUSION ••••· ••••.••••• · ••.•••• - ••••· •• · •• ·........................... 152 i Similarities of JFK,LBJ,ill·ffi(153)--Power of the Presidency(154)-- i Effects of television (156 )--Possible Cures ( 158 )--Greatest 1 Destruction Caused by Johnson and Nixon(161)--Retribution(162)-­ Salvation (163) I I i!FOOTNOTES li IIBIBLIOGRAPHY I I II I . ' I I I I PREFACE ---···--·-----~·-·---·-----··-- ~'------ - ===--=-=-~-==--=-::.:.--=-==~:::::::.===·· This could have been a great thesis. The fact that it is flawed cannot be blamed on the following roll of ~~ people who generously offered their time and experience in explaining to il Ime some of the mysteries of the subject under study: James Reston,of ~ [I 1·-----1 New York Ti.rnes; David s. Broder, Lou Cannon, Carroll Kilpatrick, Charles 11 ! Puffenbarger, Charles Seib, and Peter Silberman, all of The Wash:i.ngt<m. .Ei: Helen Thomas and Frank Cormier, of UPI and AP, respectively; Peter Lisagor of 'fhe .9Ji£_M·o Dai1:Y: l!.,~; Richard Strout, of ~ lJ.e!4_R~; Hugh Sideyil li i of !Al!ill.; Jack Germond:,and Norman Kempster, of ~ ~ngton ~<lL;Dan I \Rather, Bob Schieffer, and Phil Jones, all of CBS; Clark Mollenhoff, of ~· I Ih.El J2$i liQ.W..!ll!. Regi~!2.V Ben Bagdikian; David \-lise; Robert Novak; l<artin Nol9 , I· I ~ of !,he J2.o.stQ!l G!_ob!l; Jerald terHorst, of The J&_trou Fr~ !):<es[; : Allen! \ j Otten, of :L'l~ U!lll Stre.et"t. .Jom:•nal; · Deputy '>'hite House Press Secretary \ IGerald Warren: Professors Pldl R~bbins and Geor;;e Willson, of The George !!Washington University; and Victor Gold. I am also grateful for the advice 1 1 given by Professor Justus lloenecke, of New College;I apologize to him,and I I to the· other membe1•s of my baccalaureate examination committee, Margaret I I1 Bates and Robert Benedetti, for the pressures I have placed them under by 1.· l. II l I I I I II I' I ,e --- -----=-:-- INTfiODUCTION I I II 'I 1! . !i ··:-: .. ::-:-·c- :-::.:::=if --··· -· :c:-: -·~.-:::.=· -·.-. ·-::-:c-·.:::-:c::·=..-::-c::-:-c·:-::_:c.c::: .. :-::-:...::- -:c=:·:;-c;.:c:::...::. :·- :--·.:: ·:c:·.: :·: -:-: ~·.:··= :-:-:c-:c .-c:.:-.-: :·.:-..:::·.:-: :7,_,•:.·:-: =ff=.=--==-~:::- \1 ,I 1j. The President of the United States is the most powerful man in the ;1 lj Westerl'l \vorld. The press is often the most powerful pr~vate institution. !i ll ifuen they meet, the results are often· explosiv:e, occasionally quaint--and j II always important. ~~ I! Our ""areness of the President is based on press reports. These r 'I Ireports cannot help but be influenced by the newsman's subjective impress-~ I . I ,j1 ions of the President, which in turn. are outgrowths of. the President's. \i attitudes towards the press. I take as my basic premise, therefore, that . ! .! . I .1 Presidents get the kind of press they d~serve. j! 11 11. The matters I propose to examine are those private and public rela- li II tions beb.Jeen the press and Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and !I \ ~ . II li Nixon. I apprehend these relations to exist on two planes-the extreme:cy- II ,. ::informal and the strict:cy- formal.. · !I .. if In the former category, (Chapter One), I begin with an overview of II 11th• four Presidentt• reading habits, with special focus on the effects of ~~ I! President Kennedy's considerable interest in newspapers and magazines. I 1 jthen move to a look at Presidential attitudes towards reporters as indivi- 1 jduals, and note the effects as that attitude !lhanged· from disinterest, to I !affectionate salesmanship, to overzealous manipulation, and final~ to lopen hostility. Interwoven in the chronological discussion are portraits !I Iof the press secretaries, a look at the issue of "nev1S management," the II : . e;#lltllfrttO.. .I !ethical and persona1el;l. llt.::;reated when a reporter is also the President's II friend, and the genesis of !ivndon Johnson's "credibility gap." III Chapter Two, a consideration of the public interaction known as the 1 !press conference, is divided into three full subsections. After a brief :I ~~ I · II """"·=~·-· " •·[''""'.' . ,_,_-_ ._., ' ' ,_, ,-__.. -.. ... ' '' . ' ''' .. "'''"' ' ==' ''·' ···' '' ' . ,,_._ •..-.' . ' '' ' ' ".' ... " ' CC "=-• "'= f•c•~ ==" ' II ·I .. ,, . il ···-·---·-··-·-··c···-·-l~-·-:-·-···- ·-:-··-,.-·- c· -- -·- · -· ·- ·-·- -- :_________ --~---··-···--·..: --- ··-- ----- ..,---- ,...--:·-:·-·.. ---·-··-~= . ~---·· ·····-- ·- J ~tat~~~nt. of .. the -~r~bl~~:-r--~-~i~ the -~~~r~h- f·~;··it~ -ca~~~;~d ~-~l~ti~~~. ! -- 1 /I start by outlining twor,of the ways by which Presidents consolidate their !j t natural control of the proceedings. namely the use of opening statements . II I . I I I I and planted questions. This leads to mention of those flaws foi'<oWhich re- ! · porters must assume most of the blame--inadequate preparation and a hesi- I [.I tancy to follow a· colleague's unfinished line of inquiry. The tectmologi- I I, I) cal growth discussed in greater detail in the following section is here 1 cited as a mitigating factor, as the pressman's deficiencies are explained I in terms of stage fright. Because these flaws often produce highl,v imper- .i feet questioning, I n<>Xt discuss the problem a President faces when he is 11 li, prepared for a question which is never asked. This section on format close~ H II! with a look at the traditional means for closing a press conference, and li II some notable exceptions to the rule. I 1 ~ J . The second section is :'devoted to the problems and promises entailed 'f. I I j in the stea~ technological development the press conference has under- ' J gone in the last twenty years. After dealing with the worst-case most ofte~ .: . II ! cited by opponents of electronic media coverage, I survey the steady advan# I . il 1 cas wrought by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy. Although worried at firs] . I j/ that Eisenhower might in fact discontinue the press conference, reporters 1 /1 soon learned that his administration was committed to providing the full- 1 . 1/ est communication then possible. Starting with the first full transcripts I i produced for publication, Eisenhower and Press Secretary James Hagerty Ieliminated all the honored traditions regulating press conferences. Their I I release of tape recordings of the proceedings placed the President• s words 1 for the first time, in direct quotation. A year later another momentous !1 step was taken, with the first appearance at a Presidentia& press confer- I 1 • i ence of t~levision and newsreel cameras. Although this marked the limits . ' .. · · . .. :::c: ::..:..::::..:::-.::;::;::::":=:·:.:::· ·-l:.::.:·~:.:::.:.oc:~;::::.:! __ .:··;· :::: ~.::·;;:::·.: .::.·.::.:. ::::·.:.:::cc:·.:::::.:c·:.:c:·::. :·.:~::··::.: -~.:.::·:~:;·; ·;:·.:::. ·:::.: ·.:..· ................... ····-- ··•· ..··· ·---··-·· ···· ·-·-···-- .... ·-- -·-·- · .·· -· ··············-- ·····. ··· ··-··· ..... r·····-------··-·--·.l.i.. ......... ·····-· ·-······ i I I II 1: I .Mf' ." l:::::~ ~ ~~~~~;: ';~-~:S 'e~~h- t~ :~~ ~~:~:;; ~o~c::~.::: ~~ ~~- :1 That concern intensified at the next logical development, the live jl I telecasting of a Presidential press <:onf&rence. Hagerty had reserved for I ! himself the right to edit the films before release, but President