The best example of the American reaction to the Canadian mouse
came when Lester Pearson, as prime minister, made a celebrated
speech at Temple University in Philadelphia, advocating that the
United States pause in the bombing of North Vietnam. Pearson had
been invited to lunch with Lyndon Johnson the next day at Camp
David, and was whisked there by helicopter. No mention was made
of the speech during lunch until, over coffee, Pearson asked the
president, "What did you think of my speech?"
There followed one of the more remarkable of LBJ's many
remarkable performances. Muttering "Awful," the host took his guest by the arm and led him to the terrace before launching into his tirade. Johnson strode the terrace in a rage, sawed the air with his arms, and made full use of his famous vocabulary. Canadian
Ambassador Charles Ritchie and White House aide McGeorge Bundy,
watching from the lunch table, finally grew embarrassed and went
for a long walk through the woods. When they returned, almost an
hour later, Johnson was still at it. In near-apoplexy, he rode over
every attempt Pearson made to reply. Finally he grabbed the prime
minister by the lapels and shouted, "You pissed on my rug!"...
American presidents can never be bothered to remember the
names of Canadian prime ministers. When Lyndon Johnson invited
Lester Pearson to his Texas ranch in 1965, he greeted the Nobel
Prize-winner before the television cameras, and said how much he
was looking forward to hosting "Mr. Wilson."
After dinner and many drinks, the voracious Johnson insisted on
turning on the evening news -- and the report of his own welcoming speech. When he saw himself greeting his "old friend -- Mr. Wilson," he was at first completely bewildered and then apologized expansively. Said Pearson, "Think nothing of it, Senator Goldwater."
