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John B. OakesJohn B. Oakes
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But the other great contrast was that the tables were loaded with liquor of every possible variety and description. It was really like a bar in contrast to the rather severe punch that had been served before. Here were huge bottles of every type of liquor as well as sandwiches and food of every sort. And then in one of the rooms, the East Room, an orchestra was playing and there was dancing. The president was doing a lot of dancing with wives of various editors, including my own. The whole atmosphere was different. We left fairly early, as a matter of fact. I understood it got even gayer after we left. But the whole atmosphere was so fantastically different. I could only think of the difference between, say, the Adams Administration and the Jackson Administration, as I would have imagined this contrast to have been in those days. There certainly was the air of Jacksonian democracy around the Johnson White House, and I don't say that in an entirely approving way either, I must say, because it was almost a mob scene type of thing in the White House this time, as contrasted with the dignity and decorum of the previous administration. None of this is very important except as an illustration of difference in atmosphere and approach of the two men.





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