Summer of Love

Glassboro, New Jersey
1967

Diplomatic contact between the United States and the Soviet Union increased sharply after the Six-Day War between Israel and the Arab states began on June 5, 1967. During this period of the Cold War, the two superpowers eased strained relations at such critical moments by engaging in détente, an on-going process marked by summit meetings and treaties. Accordingly, President Lyndon Johnson proposed to meet with his counterpart, Chairman Aleksei Kosygin of the Soviet Union, who was planning to address the United Nations in New York. In addition to the Middle East, there were other pressing issues to discuss like nuclear arms control and disarmament. (China announced the explosion of its first hydrogen bomb on June 17.) There was also Vietnam. With the U.S. gradually losing ground in the Vietnam War, Johnson was looking for other solutions to the conflict, having pledged to “seek peace, any time, any place.” Indeed, the first issue that needed to be resolved was where to hold the summit. Kosygin wanted it in New York; Johnson, wary of encountering protesters against the war, preferred Washington. They finally agreed to meet at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in Glassboro, New Jersey, a small town roughly equidistant between the two cities.

Beginning on Friday, June 23, the two world leaders met intermittently over a three-day period at Hollybush Mansion, then home of the college president. Situated on the rolling, tree-studded grounds of the campus, the 22-room gingerbread brownstone built in 1850 turned out to be a good choice. For one thing Kosygin liked it, saying to Johnson as he stepped out of his limousine, “You chose a nice place.” Johnson, who had been delighted to learn that two other presidents—Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—had once visited the mansion, probably liked it for another reason; its homey atmosphere nicely complemented his unpretentious style of hospitality.

Shortly before the meeting concluded on Sunday, the president hosted a late luncheon in the dining room of the house. Beginning at 1:50 PM, twenty summiteers, including Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Secretary of State Dean Rusk, were seated around the cloth-covered, raw-wood table that had been hammered together by the White House kitchen staff for the occasion. Menus bearing the presidential seal, such as the one shown below, were positioned by each place setting. The food was prepared by Swiss-born executive chef Henry Haller who had been hired the previous year to bring home-style cooking back to the White House. Having previously worked at the Hotel Sheraton East on Park Avenue, Haller was appointed to the open position after Johnson recalled having liked his cooking at the hotel. (Known for being unflappable, Haller successfully accommodated the tastes of five first families during his twenty-one years at the Executive Mansion.) In fact, this menu features one of Johnson’s favorites. He was “exceptionally enthusiastic” about Eggplant Nicoise, simply called Stuffed Eggplant on this menu. The straightforward name represented a departure from the Kennedy years when this dish might have been described on a White House menu in French, possibly as Aubergines à la Niçoise. The change in tone reflected Johnson’s desire to appear less ostentatious, creating what he viewed as a warmer and friendlier atmosphere when entertaining.

Although they did not sign a formal agreement, Johnson and Kosygin maintained that the summit meeting was a success, the president dubbing the promise of good future relations as “the Spirit of Hollybush.” On that positive note the two sides parted company, the Soviet delegation leaving promptly at their scheduled departure time of 5:45 PM so that the helicopter taking them back to New York could avoid thunderstorms in the area.

In fact, it would be remembered as a long, hot summer, not only for the weather, but also for the race riots that were setting many U.S. cities aflame. Moreover, there were other societal forces playing out as the world was shrinking. A few hours after the summit ended on Sunday evening, four-hundred million people watched the first worldwide satellite telecast, a show called “Our World,” featuring the live debut of the Beatles’ song “All You Need is Love.” Coincidentally, it was at about this time that 100,000 people were converging on the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco as part of a social phenomenon called the “Summer of Love,” fomenting a cultural and political rebellion. However, in the end, neither the Smalltown Summit, as the press christened the meeting in Glassboro, nor the youthful goings-on in the Bay Area, changed the direction of the Vietnam War. In July, General William Westmoreland requested an additional 200,000 reinforcements on top of the 475,000 soldiers already scheduled to be sent, a proposal that would have increased the total in Vietnam to 675,000. Having found no way out that he could accept, President Johnson responded by agreeing to send an extra 45,000 troops.