Diplomatic history of Australia the democratic world. In a country gripped by this fear, the government's defence policy was dominated by the idea of "forward defence", in which Australia would seek to prevent the Communist "thrust into South-East Asia". The committal of troops to the Vietnam War was viewed as an attempt by the Menzies Government to strengthen the alliance with the USA following Great Britain's withdrawal "east of Suez". With his arrival in October 1966, Lyndon Baines Johnson became the first US President to visit Australia. The visit came in the light of increasing international criticism over the war in Vietnam. The majority
State visit of Elizabeth II to the Republic of Ireland covered extensively by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and TV3. RTÉ broadcast the events on television, radio and the internet. "The Queen and Us", a special documentary by Tommie Gorman, was broadcast on the night of 17 May at the end of the first day of the visit. The visit was marked with the broadcast of several documentaries, including: The BBC, Sky News, CNN, France 24, Xinhua News Agency and ITAR-TASS were among the foreign media to cover events. Nearly 12,000 newspaper articles were produced and nearly 1,400 news clips were shown on television internationally. RTÉ One broadcast a special programme