Bush Cancels NAACP Speech; Has Laryngitis

WASHINGTON — President Bush canceled a trip to Manhattan and a speech Friday night to the 80th convention of the NAACP because he had laryngitis.

Even before the trip was scrapped, Bush’s prepared address had been shortened to about eight minutes because of his ailment.

White House officials also had considered the possibility that Bush would go to New York and sit on the stage as his speech was delivered by one of his aides, Roger Porter.

In the end, the White House said Bush’s laryngitis and deteriorating weather conditions in New York prompted the decision to cancel the trip. The National Weather Service issued a storm warning for New York and predicted possible heavy snow, accumulating four to six inches, along with heavy winds.

The White House said the prospect of poor visibility would have curtailed plans for Bush to fly by helicopter from Newark to mid-town Manhattan.

The announcement of the trip’s cancellation came too late for dozens of members of the White House press corps. They had flown ahead of the President on a chartered airliner and were landing in Newark when the decision was made to drop the trip.