Starting with somber news, this January 16, 1978.
President Carter helped on Sunday to give Hubert Humphrey the celebration of life and country he had requested as his final tribute. After tenor Robert Merrill sang “America the Beautiful.” the president whispered in the singer’s ear. Then Merrill turned to the senators, Supreme Court justices, Cabinet members and former presidents standing under the Capitol dome and asked them to follow him in one more chorus of the song. The singing filled the soaring space. And many said they thought the last words, “And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea,” appropriately summed up Humphrey’s long life in politics and government.
“Hubert would have loved it.” a longtime staff member said later. “He had asked that this be a celebration. He had especially asked that at least for the services in Minneapolis that the congregation sing. It was right that it happened here also.” Earlier, Merrill had sung “Ave Maria,” and Carter reached over and silently held Mrs. Humphrey’s hand.
Near at hand were Sen. Edmund S. Muskie, D-Maine, Humphrey’s own running mate. And former Sen. Eugene McCarthy, D-Minn., whose independent candidacy in 1968 made Humphrey’s campaign more difficult.
And Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D., who got the nomination in 1972. Humphrey’s flag-draped. closed casket lay in the center of the Rotunda, a site described by Vice President Walter | F. Mondale as “the place where America says farewell to its heroes.”
In other news: Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andrdeotti resigned today after rejecting demands from three parties, including the Communists, for an emergency government. An official statement from the prime minister’s office said Mr. Andreotti discussed the political situation with his cabinet this morning.
Political sources say the president is almost certain to ask Mr. Andreotti, a veteran of 30 years in turbulent Italian politics, to try to form the fourth government of his career later this week. The Communists, whose joint demands with the Socialists and Republicans for an emergency cabinet including left ministers, have precipitated the fall of 39th government in 35 years. Yesterday, they attacked what they called the Christian Democrats’ “monopoly of power.” In a front-page editorial in the party newspaper L’Unita, Communist Senator Gerardo Chiaramonte said that the Christian Democrats are only interested in keeping control of Italy.
And finally: Egypt’s foreign minister arrived in Jerusalem and U.S. State Secretary Cyrus Vance was on his way for the opening in the Israeli capital Tuesday of the next round of Egyptian-Israeli peace negotiations. The talks between Foreign Ministers Mohammed Ibrahim Kamel and Moshe Dayan had been scheduled to begin today but were delayed by disagreement over the wording of the agenda item on the Palestinians.
And that’s a little of what happened, this January 16, 1978 as presented by The CBS World News Roundup.
