In 2004, the 'President Johnson Cult' saw its 40th anniversary. In early 1964, a group of natives on a tiny Pacific Island off Papua New Guinea were thrust into the world media spotlight after reports that they were refusing to pay their taxes. Instead, we were told, they were using the money to 'buy' then US President Lyndon Baines Johnson in the hope of luring the world's most powerful leader to serve as their 'Big Man' and lead the impoverished islanders into a new Golden Age. At the time, Johnson was a popular figure throughout Australia and the Pacific as a champion of civil rights and welfare.