40 years ago: Lawrence residents: Gas rationing slightly better than higher taxes

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 27, 1973:

  • Six of nine persons queried on Lawrence streets today said they supported gasoline rationing rather than paying extra gas taxes. Both proposals were being considered in Washington. The three Lawrence responders who said they favored higher taxes said they disliked the inconvenience and government bureaucracy involved in a rationing system.
  • President Nixon, on his way to California for a brief holiday vacation, caught reporters and passengers by surprise when he boarded a regular commercial airliner for the trip. Passengers were generally delighted to see the Chief Executive on their flight, but officials at the Federal Aviation Administration were less thrilled at the unannounced decision. “This serious oversight left precious little time for our air traffic people to implement those special precautionary measure which must always be followed when the President takes to the air lanes,” said FAA chief Alexander P. Butterfield. Nixon, who boarded the plane ahead of the other passengers, did not remain in his seat in first class after the flight was in the air, but strolled the aisles of the plane, talking to passengers and signing autographs. Assistant White House press secretary Gerald Warren, who hadn’t announced the departure to reporters until the flight was in the air, explained that the president had taken the commercial flight “to set an example for the American public” during the energy crisis. The White House also confirmed that Nixon had himself paid the $217.64 fares each for himself, his wife Pat, and his daughter Tricia.