President Lyndon Johnson
Australia 1966
During my time in Australia I had plenty of memorable moments. One in particular involved a visit to Melbourne by Lyndon Johnson after he had taken over as President of the Unites States of America due to the assassination of John F Kennedy.
As a television engineer I was making a service visit to a residence in the upscale suburb of Toorak which happened to be next door to the house of the Prime Minster of Australia Harold Holt.
Leaving my vehicle under the shade of the driveway trees I walked down to the house and using my security access let myself in.
The problem took me about an hour to resolve, and after securing the premises proceeded to walk back up the driveway. It was a typical Australian calm sunny morning. Just the tweeting of the birds breaking the silence.
Passing a break in the shrubbery between the driveways I was confronted by Lyndon Johnson only a few feet away from me. He had been visiting the Australian Prime Minister and had paused for a moment to look across the valley down to the river to take in the scenery.
He looked directly at me. A quizzical look on his face, as if to say "what the heck are you doing here?". I was carrying my instrument case which I suppose could have concealed a weapon.
Suddenly pandemonium broke loose. Two of his secret service team grabbed LBJ and physically lifting him off the ground ran up the hill with him and manhandled him into his limousine. 3 or 4 others were charging full tilt in my direction. I froze in anticipation of what would have resembled a ton of bricks falling on me. They were just a few feet away when a loud whistle pierced the air. They all stopped in their tracks like robots responding to the signal and ran back to the limousine which was already moving, jumping on the running boards as it disappeared out on to the roadway.
Complete silence descended again, just the sound of tweeting birds.
The whole charade had only taken some 30 seconds.
The most vivid image I still have is the look on Lyndon Johnson’s face for those few seconds.