President Johnson 
from the CBS Evening News, April 4, 1968.
On April 4, the world was still reacting from his surprising announcement the previous week to tack on to his message to the country '...that I shall not seek nor accept another term as your President."
President Lyndon Johnson was able to push through the Civil Rights Act after President Kennedy was killed. By April 4, 1968, he had been walking around with 'a heavy heart' for a long time. Known as a very manipulative wheeler-dealer, many issues both domestic and foreign were beyond his control. He appeared to be trying to do the right thing, but not really knowing what the right thing was. He was not in the habit of taking long vacations -- he was almost always in Texas or Washington DC, seldom travelling abroad. His trip to Hawaii was likely to be short.
At the same time, the irony of the times makes it seem callous that his response to Dr. King's death was to cancel an evening's appointments and postpone travelling until morning.
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