When Lyndon B. Johnson came to Portland 60 years ago, a hundred thousand followed

Sep. 28—When President Lyndon B. Johnson stopped in Portland for a campaign visit 60 years ago Saturday, throngs of supporters filled the streets from the airport to City Hall.

The president visited Portland the evening of Sept. 28, 1964, as part of a daylong campaign tour across New England. Running late, his plane touched down in Maine just before 6:30 p.m., the Press Herald reported. And while Johnson's visit lasted only a couple of hours, the city has remembered it for decades.

Maine State Police estimated that the crowd contained roughly 100,000 people, though local police estimated the figure at between 50,000 and 75,000. Newspapers, including the Press Herald, reported Johnson's visit to be the largest gathering ever seen in Portland, for which the 1960 census reported a population of nearly 73,000 residents.

"There were so many people in Portland Monday night it almost defied estimation," Press Herald staff reporter Maxwell Wiesenthal reported the next morning. "That was the story of the President's visit to Portland. It wasn't his speech."

Archival photos from the event show streets packed shoulder to shoulder by attendees of all ages. In one photo housed at the Maine Historical Society, people can be seen carrying handwritten signs and wearing paper "USA" hats. In another shot, printed on the front of the following day's Press Herald, attendees climbed onto building ledges, vying for a better view of the president.

Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., Maine's state historian, said he was among the thousands who greeted Johnson that evening. Reached by phone Friday afternoon, Shettleworth recalled how the president's motorcade crept along at a couple of miles per hour, as people poured off the sidewalks and left only a narrow strip of road open.

At 16 years old, Shettleworth said he had never seen such a crowd in Portland. A friend whose father was chairman of the local Democratic Party invited Shettleworth to watch Johnson's speech in City Hall Plaza, just a few feet from where he spoke.

"I don't remember it being a long speech, and then he turned around to people who were on the podium or near the podium," Shettleworth said. "That's when I had a chance to thrust my hand up and shake his hand."

Sixty years later, Shettleworth said he could hardly recall the content of Johnson's speech, but his memories of the crowd's energy remained vivid. He said it "certainly was the largest crowd up to then in Portland history" and may well have been the largest since.

Johnson's arrival came less than a year after he assumed the presidency in the wake of John F. Kennedy's assassination, Shettleworth noted.

"You need to put the great turnout for Johnson in Portland in the context of the Kennedy assassination," he said. "There was an outpouring of goodwill to support Johnson in the beginning of his presidency."

Wiesenthal, of the Press Herald, reported that Johnson was in town for just over two and a half hours before boarding a flight to Boston. There, the Boston Globe reported, hundreds had gathered at the airport to greet the candidate. Throughout the trip, local newspapers reported similar massive crowds.

Harold C. Pachios, an attorney who worked on Johnson's campaign and helped coordinate the visit, said even Johnson was struck by the response he got from supporters in New England.

"He always remembered it. For the rest of his life, he remembered that day," Pachios said. "They were the largest crowds that Lyndon Johnson ever had in his political career."

Mainers closed in on Portland for Johnson. Across the state, Democrats chartered buses to carry attendees into town from as far as Aroostook County, Pachios said. He said there must have been around 100 buses parked on Marginal Way by the time the president spoke.

"There's never been a crowd that big in the state of Maine. ... Not even close," he said. "The crowds were so thick that the motorcade could hardly move through it."

As the car struggled to advance and the president fell further and further behind schedule, Johnson's Secret Service agents hoisted him onto the roof of his limousine.

Pachios, who had a prime view from inside the motorcade, said the president spoke directly to supporters while the car crawled through the city streets. He estimated that the roughly half-mile drive from Congress Square to City Hall took around 20 minutes.

A handful of local politicians, including Republican Gov. John Reed, joined Johnson on his journey to City Hall, shaking hands with the president and members of the public during stops at street corners, the Press Herald reported.

Herb Adams, a former state legislator and historian, said Johnson's visit to Portland had a twofold goal, as he also hoped to boost then-U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie's reelection campaign.

"For Lyndon Johnson, this is one of those twofer things," Adams said. He added that, with visits by Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, "in 1964, Maine was the political place to be."

When he finally arrived at City Hall, Johnson spoke for only a few minutes, pledging "a government which will meet the challenges of the future without deserting the traditions of the past" and promising that Maine would reap fair compensation for its tax dollars and contributions to the country at large.

"I say to you tonight that New England has given more than its share to the nation's past," Johnson told the crowd. "And I pledge to you tonight, that New England will get its share of the nation's future under the Johnson administration."

He praised Maine's natural beauty and said its people helped teach the rest of the country about independence and courage. He said Maine had long been viewed as a key indicator of national elections, a trend he hoped to see continue during that year's contest.

"Maine will again be a leader for the nation, a leader in creating a more abundant America, a leader in building the Great Society," Johnson said in his remarks. "Yes, Maine will again be a leader and will serve as a bulwark of freedom and peace in the world."

Following the president's speech, police and Secret Service agents formed a human wall, but they struggled to hold back the crowd as visitors reached out for a chance to touch the candidate.

"I'll be back to Maine!" Johnson shouted through the window of his Lincoln, the Press Herald reported. "What a welcome."

Weeks later, Johnson won the presidency, beating Republican Barry Goldwater in a landslide victory. He secured more than 90% of the electoral vote and just over 61% of the popular vote, according to the University of California Santa Barbara's American Presidency Project. In Maine, Johnson took home nearly 69% of the vote.

"It was just a unique day in American politics," Pachios said. "And Portland was a major player in it."

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Maxwell Wiesenthal's name.

Copy the Story Link