Goldwater Backs President's Acts In Emergency

WASHINGTON (AP)- Sen. Barry Goldwater, dramatically supporting President Johnson on Viet Nam, flew back to the nation's capital today.

"We cannot allow the American flog to be shot at anywhere on earth," Goldwater said in backing the President.

It was an unusual end to an unusual vacation.

For Goldwater not only supported Johnson's stand; he issued a statement saying so more than an hour before the public knew what that stand was.

Here's the way it happened:

The Republican presidential candidate was on the Sundance, an 83-foot borrowed yacht, cruising off California's Catalina Island in perfect lolling weather.

But if the waters were calm there, they weren't off Viet Nam, where U.S. destroyers were being attacked.

Three times Johnson tried to reach Goldwater at sea. Three times he failed because of what a Goldwater news aide called "lousy reception."

When Goldwater finally reached shore, he called the President at 7:07 p.m., California time, listened to what Johnson planned to say, and promptly gave this statement:

"I am sure that every American will subscribe to the actions outlined in the President's statement.

"I believe it is the only thing that he can do under the circumstances. We cannot allow the American flag to be shot at anywhere on earth if we are to retain our respect and prestige."

At the airport before leaving for Washington, Goldwater told a newsman of his talk with the President.

"I told him that I thought all Americans would stand behind his decision," Goldwater said.

There was no connection between his sudden departure and the Viet Nam crisis. It had been announced previously that he would leave today.
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In the early days of August, 1964, United States Congressmen gave bold support to President Lyndon Johnson's military response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, was at the time, the Republican presidential candidate and the leading spokesman of the conservative wing of the Republican party. Having heard, as he returned from a yachting trip, of President Johnson's decision, Senator Goldwater immediately voiced his support of the President. The article quotes Senator Goldwater as asserting, "We cannot allow the American flag to be shot at anywhere on earth."

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