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Show Mirror, Mirror... Will Time Heal IBJ's Wounds? By MIKE CABLSTON Presidents of the United States are proud men, well aware of their public image. Lyndon Baines Johnson, John-son, the present occupant of the White House, can well be considered consid-ered the epitome of this generalization. general-ization. He is a very proud man, convinced that the course he has followed as the leader of the United States has been the proper one. In recent months public opinion has grown exteremely critical of the President's policies. This has caused Mr. Johnson to confide to trusted associates that he will take time and history as the judge of the effectiveness of his administration rather than the judgement of a fickle American public any day. Looking Back How will history judge the efforts of this man? Will time obliterate the fact that he has not always been completely honest with the American Ameri-can people? Can historians justify the highest "peacetime" budget deficit ever, when Mr. Johnson cannot can-not himself? How will they be able to explain that despite the President's extravagance, the problems prob-lems of the poor and of the minority minor-ity groups have not been appreciably appreci-ably alleviated but if anything have grown worse during his adminis--tration? No Rewrite Man Instead of relying upon the future fu-ture to provide vindication, Mr. Johnson should stop and consider what kind of a future he is providing pro-viding for this country and mend his ways. Mr. Johnson should be reminded that there will not be another an-other Parson Weems to distort the record and background of an American Am-erican President. The public is now well enough informed to prevent this from happening. |