On this day in 1964, President Johnson made remarks at the White House on the 15th anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty.

“We believe in the alliance because in our own interest we must, because in the common interest it works, and because in the world’s interest it is right.

“We have other duties and opportunities. Our trade with one another and the world is not yet free and not yet broad enough to serve both us and others as it should. Our monetary systems have grown stronger, but they still too often limit us when they should be, instead, a source of energy and growth.

“In ever growing measure we have set ourselves and others free from the burden of colonialism. We have also set new precedents of generous concern for those that are less prosperous than we. But our connection to the less developed nations is not yet what it should be, and must be. This is not a one-way street, but we must work to do our full part to make it straight and to make it broad.

“We remain vigilant in defending our liberties, but we must be alert to any hope of stable settlement with those who have made vigilance necessary and essential. In particular we must be alive to the new spirit of diversity that is now abroad in Eastern Europe. We did not make the Iron Curtain. We did not build the Wall. Gaps in the Curtain are welcome, and so are holes in the Wall, whenever they are not hedged by traps. We continue to believe that the peace of all Europe requires the reunification of the German people in freedom. We will be firm, but we will always be fair. Our guard is up, but our hand is out.

“We must build on our tradition of determined support for the great United Nations. We are pledged to this purpose by the very articles of our treaty, and we have kept our pledge. The members of NATO provide most of the resources of the United Nations, and most of its ability to help in keeping peace. When we began we promised that our treaty was consistent with the charter. Today we know that the charter and the treaty are indispensable to one another. Neither can keep the peace alone. We need them both, in full effectiveness, for as many years ahead as any of us can see.

“The Atlantic peoples have a magnificent history, but they have known too much war. It is the splendor of this great alliance that in keeping peace with its opponents, it has kept the road clear for a worldwide upward march toward the good life for free people. Proven in danger, strengthened in freedom, and resolute in purpose, we will go on, with God’s help, to serve not only our own people, but to serve the bright future of all mankind.”

On this day in 1965, President Johnson met with Prime Minister Lester Pearson of Canada at Camp David, Maryland.

On this day in 1964, President Johnson had a telephone conversation with Congressman Charles Vanik. LBJ pressed Vanik for his vote on the Cotton-Wheat Farm Bill.

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On this day in 1966, President Johnson signed the Medicare Extension Bill in San Antonio, Texas. LBJ stated,

“As I sign this bill today, I am determined to do more. I don’t think that we must ever be satisfied—in this growing, adventuresome country of America—with the status quo. We must be determined to do more, because there is always going to be more that needs to be done.”

On this day in 1965, President Johnson issued Proclamation 3652: United Nations Day, 1965. LBJ stated,

“Now, therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Sunday, October 24, 1965, as United Nations Day and urge the citizens of this Nation to observe that day by means of community programs which will contribute to a realistic understanding of the aims, problems, and achievements of the United Nations and its associated organizations.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Adam Clayto
credit: Yoichi Okamoto

On this day in 1964, President Johnson had a telephone conversation with Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Ralph Dungan. The two men discussed several subjects including LBJ’s evaluation of Congressman Adam Clayton Powell.

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On this day in 1965, President Johnson issued Proclamation 3653: Senior Citizens Month, 1965. LBJ stated,

“Now, therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the month of May 1965 as Senior Citizens Month; and I urge all Federal, State, and local governmental agencies, as well as all public and private organizations and all citizens, to give effective expression to the theme of this special month: Meeting the Challenge of Aging Through Community Action for Older Americans.

“It is necessary, desirable, rewarding, and satisfying to help transform into realities the dreams that we have for our fathers, our mothers, and our other aging citizens. Let us make this month outstanding by giving our full support to the common efforts of public and private agencies at the Federal, State, and local levels that are working together to improve the added years which our civilization has made possible for so many of our citizens.”

On this day in 1968, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. This act was designed to end racial discrimination in the sale and rental of 80% of U.S. homes and apartments. It also gave federal protection to civil rights workers.

“In the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we affirmed through law that men equal under God are also equal when they seek a job, when they go to get a meal in a restaurant, or when they seek lodging for the night in any State in the Union. Now the Negro families no longer suffer the humiliation of being turned away because of their race.

“In the Civil Rights Act of 1965, we affirmed through law for every citizen in this land the most basic right of democracy—the right of a citizen to vote in an election in his country. In the five States where the Act had its greater impact, Negro voter registration has already more than doubled. Now, with this bill, the voice of justice speaks again.

“It proclaims that fair housing for all—all human beings who live in this country—is now a part of the American way of life.

“We all know that the roots of injustice run deep. But violence cannot redress a solitary wrong, or remedy a single unfairness.

“Of course, all America is outraged at the assassination of an outstanding Negro leader who was at that meeting that afternoon in the White House in 1966. And America is also outraged at the looting and the burning that defiles our democracy.

“We just must put our shoulders together and put a stop to both. The time is here. Action must be now.

“So, I would appeal to my fellow Americans by saying, the only real road to progress for free people is through the process of law and that is the road that America will travel.

“I urge the Congress to enact the measures for social justice that I have recommended in some twenty messages. These messages went to the Congress in January and February of this year. They broke a precedent by being completed and delivered and read and printed. These measures provide more than $78 billion that I have urged the Congress to enact for major domestic programs for all Americans in the fiscal 1969 budget.

“This afternoon, as we gather here in this historic room in the White House, I think we can all take some heart that democracy’s work is being done. In the Civil Rights Act of 1968 America does move forward and the bell of freedom rings out a little louder.”

On this day in 1967, President Johnson met with Latin American leaders at a summit in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

On this day in 1965, President Johnson met with Prime Minister Harold Wilson of the United Kingdom at the White House.

On this day in 1968, President Johnson met with President Chung Hee Park of Korea in Hawaii. The two leaders discussed the serious threat to the security of the Republic of Korea and to peace in East Asia resulting from the aggressive action of the North Korean communists during the previous eighteen months.

Aggressive acts included the attack on the presidential residence in South Korea and the seizure of the USS Pueblo in international waters. They also reviewed the situation in Vietnam where Korean and American forces were both fighting alongside South Vietnamese troops.

On this day in 1966, President Johnson made a statement on the First Privately Owned Facility for Reprocessing Fuel from Nuclear Power plants.

“This plant, owned by the Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., is a noteworthy step in the development of a strong, self-supporting nuclear industry in the United States. It will provide facilities to process spent radioactive fuels discharged from nuclear power plants to recover the unburned fuel and other valuable material. The construction of this plant with private capital has reduced Government capital expenditures which might have been otherwise necessary. This represents a major step toward placing this important atomic energy operation in the private sector of our economy. It is a splendid example of Government-industry cooperation to bring the benefits of the peaceful atom to our country. It is another instance where the U.S. Government is following the sound policy of turning over to private industry a service for which industry has shown a competence and willingness to perform.”

On this day in 1967, President Johnson presented the National Teacher of the Year Award to Roger Tenney. LBJ stated,

“Sometimes people think that I am not doing a very good job of teaching now—that I ought to go back to the profession. But as a former teacher, I cannot think of anything that a teacher would cherish more than the recognition of his countrymen of his outstanding achievements as you have been recognized by this Look award.”

Mr. Tenney, music teacher and vocal music director at Owatonna Junior-Senior High School, Owatonna, Minn., was accompanied by the senior high school choir of 40 boys and 40 girls who sang at the ceremony.

The “Teacher of the Year” was chosen from a group of finalists selected by a screening committee of national educational leaders. The award was sponsored by Look magazine in cooperation with the Council of Chief State School Officers, an organization of State superintendents and commissioners of education.

Sec. Robert McNamara on the telephone
credit: Yoichi Okamoto

On this day in 1965, President Johnson had a telephone conversation with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara.

Secretary McNamara called from Honolulu, Hawaii, where he’d been meeting regarding Vietnam strategy. He talked to the President about the meeting; the New York Times story on the meeting; possible Chinese intervention in Vietnam; the introduction of U. S. combat troops; the improved performance by South Vietnam; about McNamara’s concerns about the vulnerability of Bien Hoa, Danang; and the two men mentioned General Maxwell Taylor.

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On this day in 1965, President Johnson met with Prime Minister Moro of Italy at the White House. That evening, Leontyne Price, soprano, performed at the White House Dinner.

On this day in 1964, President Johnson made remarks upon receiving a Citation from the Disciples of Christ Historical Society.

“As we meet here today, with two-thirds of the world’s masses teeming, most of them under 40 years of age, all of them grasping, seeking, and yearning for the things that we already have, most of them as determined and as dedicated as our revolutionary fathers were when they brought this Nation into existence, we must realize that unless we so plan and so act and so do, the days of our peace and our prosperity may truly be limited.

“I would say to you that I want to so much be deserving of what you have said. I want all of us to constantly bear in mind the Biblical injunction by the prophet Isaiah, ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ and also never get very far away from the Golden Rule where we can look at the other fellow as we would have him look at us, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

“You are always welcome in this house. I appreciate the work you have done. All I can say is that, with whatever talents, energies, and strengths I have, they will be devoted to making this a better world—not just now, but, hopefully, for three, four, and five generations to come.

“When I go to bed every night, I try to sum up the day’s activities, which have usually been long and arduous. I ask myself what did I do that day to help some child yet unborn or to be reflected in some generation yet to come. I try to measure my efforts and direct my work to the fields where we can do the greatest good for the greatest number, not only to just Americans, but human beings wherever they are.”

On this day in 1964, President Johnson made remarks to a group of Editors and Broadcasters Attending a National Conference on Foreign Policy. The remarks were made in the Rose Garden.

“We must help developing countries because our own welfare demands it. It takes no great gift of foresight to realize that unless there is progress and unless there is growing satisfaction of just desires, there will be discontent and there will be restlessness. The developing world would soon become a cauldron of violence and hatred and revolution without some assistance.

“How would you feel if you were a member of a family whose total income was less than $80 per year? Yet a majority of the people of the world have incomes of less than $80 a year. Under such conditions, communism, with its false and easy promises of a magic formula, might well be able to transform these popular desires into an instrument of revolution. That is why every American who is concerned about the future of his country must also be concerned about the future of Africa and Asia and our old friends in Latin America.

“No President who looks beyond the immediate problems which crowd his desk can fail to extend the hand and the heart of this country to those who are struggling elsewhere. We help these countries in many ways: through trade and raw materials and manufactures, with the Peace Corps now working in more than 40 of them, through programs of economic assistance, through the exchange of scholars and students and ideas.

“We know that we have much to gain from them. We know that we can learn from their cultures, from their arts, from their traditions, for many of them are as rich in spiritual treasure as they are poor in material goods. These are Government programs, but it is also important for cities and towns, for private organizations and private individuals, to become interested and involved in the affairs of the world.

“So, I hope you will make this one of your first orders of business when you return to your homes. You can do this in many ways.

“Your communities can establish direct contact with communities in other countries. You can arrange for exchange of visits. You can arrange for help to schools and hospitals in a similar community, in a sister country, in a developing land.

“You can try and establish scholarships to bring deserving students to your local college or to your local high school for education. You can arrange programs of study and discussion about the problems of these other countries that a good many of your folks have not read about or studied about. You can conduct exhibits or performances of the arts and music, folklore, of others.

“These are just a few examples of the multitude of possibilities which are open to those who are willing to assume a personal responsibility for America’s interest in the rest of the world. We must never forget that concern and sympathy are often as important as material assistance. This must not be a patronizing concern, but it must be the concern of equal for equal, the concern of brother for brother.

“As you all know from our own experience, people everywhere are as hungry for respect as they are hungry for bread. So, I hope you will explain this to your people, and, as leaders of local opinion, I hope you can begin to shape in your local communities a fruitful collaboration between your people and the peoples of the lands.

“You are a part of the world. You are going to live in it. There are societies in other lands that are now venturing to take the same step that your colonial forefathers took, your revolutionary forefathers took, when they brought into existence this, the most powerful of all nations.

“America’s great strength in world affairs is not in Washington. It rests on dedicated labor of private institutions. It rests on organizations and local governments. It rests on the leaders and molders of public opinion—of which you are a substantial part.

“If we can summon that strength to our relations with the developing world, then we will have a weapon which our adversaries cannot ever hope to match. Then, and only then, will all Americans be proudly joined in a great adventure which unites the highest of our national ideals and the most important of our national needs.

“If I could leave one hope and one wish with you, it would be as a result of your visit here and of your study and application of what you have learned in your discussions; that upon your return home you could put the spotlight of your own community on the spotlight of other communities in the world, and, somewhere out yonder, you could lend a helping hand to lift up and to lead a people who are not as fortunate as we are. I believe that that would give you and your community a satisfaction that will never come from a paycheck.

“I think that if you can provide that leadership, America will not only continue to be the leader of the world, but we will be justified in being the leader of the world.”

On this day in 1964, President Johnson wrote a letter to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House proposing additional aid for Alaska. In his letter, LBJ wrote,

The primary purpose of the bill is to amend section 44(a) of the Omnibus Act to authorize $22,500,000 for additional transitional grants to the State of Alaska until June 30, 1966. I believe that this form of assistance to the State is essential to help it overcome the results of the tragic earthquake of March 27.

On this day in 1964, President Johnson issued Proclamation 3584, National Maritime Day, 1964. LBJ said,

“Whereas the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 20, 1933 (48 Stat. 73), designated May 22 as National Maritime Day, in commemoration of the departure from Savannah, Georgia, on May 22, 1819, of the S.S. Savannah on the first transoceanic voyage by any steamship, and requested the President to issue a proclamation annually calling for the observance of that day:

“Now, therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do hereby urge the citizens of the United States to honor our American Merchant Marine on Friday, May 22, 1964, by displaying the flag of the United States at their homes and other suitable places.

On this day in 1968, President Johnson met with King Olav V of Norway at the White House. That evening, the City Center Joffrey Ballet and the United States Marine Band performed at a White House dinner.

On this day in 1966, President Johnson met with Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag of Denmark at the White House.

On this day in 1964, President Johnson made remarks to a group of civil rights leaders. Those leaders were: Most Reverend Patrick A. O’Boyle, Archbishop of Washington and chairman of the Interreligious Committee on Racial Relations; the Reverend Eugene Carson Blake, stated clerk of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.; the Reverend B. Julian Smith, Bishop of the First Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Commission on Religion and Race of the National Council of Churches; and Rabbi Uri Miller, president of the Synagogue Council of America.

“Our most immediate need is to pass the civil rights bill now before the Congress. A hundred years ago Lincoln freed the slaves of their chains, but he did not free the country of its bigotry. A hundred years ago Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, but until education is unaware of race, until employment is blind to color, emancipation will be a proclamation, but it will not be a fact.

“This bill is intended to help our communities find peaceful solutions to problems of human relations. Many of these communities have asked for the provisions in this bill so that the same standards can be applied to all businesses serving the public, and so the taxpayers can be given assurance that public funds will be administered equitably.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with McGeorge Bundy
credit: Yoichi Okamoto

On this day in 1965, President Johnson had a telephone conversation with McGeorge Bundy. They discussed the timing and language of the President’s statement on the crisis in the Dominican Republic; the President complained about delays in drafting the statement and expressed concern about the situation; they discussed Wayne Morse’s speech; Bundy relayed former President Eisenhower’s views on the Dominican Republic situation; they discussed the OAS meeting.

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On this day in 1964, President Johnson made remarks at a meeting of the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. LBJ stated,

“Today, I am issuing instructions to the heads of every Federal executive department and agency in this Government to show the Nation what can be done to make fuller use of the ability of handicapped Americans. Twenty-four departments and agencies have already signed agreements with the Civil Service Commission to use special appointing authority to hire the handicapped.

…

“I am convinced that it is morally right, that it is socially just, that it is economically sensible, that it is administratively feasible to open the door of employment opportunity to handicapped Americans.”