April 4, 1968: The presidential helicopter left Sheep Meadow in Central Park after a sudden surprise visit to attend the ceremonies installing Archbishop Terence J. Cooke at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “Until last week,” said one girl in the crowd watching across the street from the cathedral, “I would have booed the President. But I’m confused about what’s happened in the last few days. I don’t know what it all means.” Presumably, she was referring to President Johnson’s recent decision not to run to retain office. Later that night, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.“
