Lyndon Johnson on Foreign Policy He also tried to get the best
brains available to help settle any problem. He likes to remain
in personal control of most situations. He had little respect
for American relations with other nations after the Truman
Administration. The basic trouble, Pres. Johnson believed was
that the US is a nation easily misunderstood by foreign leaders,
and that it had failed to make itself clear. Of the Latin
American regional group, the Organization of American States,
LBJ said on an occasion when he knew his words would be
repeated, "It couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the
instructions were written on the heel." The OAS had been
notoriously indecisive and ineffective, but one OAS diplomat
remarked that it "made us think that your President does not
consider us too important." The UN Mekong project "would make
TVA look like a minor operation." The Mekong project seized
Johnson's mind and emotions. Here was a chance to build
something. While in Southeast Asia, the Vice President saw to