May 1964: 'Great Society' speeches

In the wake of President Kennedy's assassination in 1963, a wave of sympathy and public support enabled President Johnson to pass a number of Kennedy administration proposals, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Building on this momentum, Johnson introduced his own vision for America: "the Great Society" -- in which America ended poverty, promoted equality, improved education, rejuvenated cities, and protected the environment. This became the blueprint for the most far-reaching agenda of domestic legislation since the New Deal.

     -- From PBS (link: @)

Thursday, May 7, Ohio University

     So to you of this student body, I say merely as a statement of fact, America is yours, yours to make a better land, yours to build the Great Society. ... And with your courage and with your compassion and your desire, we will build the Great Society. It is a Society where no child will go unfed, and no youngster will go unschooled. Where no man who wants work will fail to find it. Where no citizen will be barred from any door because of his birthplace or his color or his church. Where peace and security is common among neighbors and possible among nations.

* "Johnson Lists Objectives for U.S." (Associated Press, May 7): @

Friday, May 22, University of Michigan

     For in your time we have the opportunity to move not only toward the rich society and the powerful society, but upward to the Great Society. The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time. But that is just the beginning. The Great Society is a place where every children can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents. It is a place where leisure is a welcome chance to build and reflect, not a feared cause of boredom and restlessness. It is a place where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community. It is a place where man can renew contact with nature. It is a place which honors creation for its own sake and for what it adds to the understanding of the race. It is a place where men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods. But most of all, the Great Society is not a safe harbor, a resting place, a final objective, a finished work. It is a challenge constantly renewed, beckoning us toward a destiny where the meaning of our lives matches the marvelous products of our labor.

* " 'Great Society' Johnson's Goal" (The Toledo Blade, May 22): @

     -- Photo from May 22 speech (from Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)

* Text of May 7 speech (The American Presidency Project): @

* Text and audio of May 22 speech (American Rhetoric): @

* "The Anatomy of a Speech: Lyndon Johnson's Great Society Address" (Michigan Historical Collections, December 1978): @
* "Great Society Emerging As Johnson's Key Slogan" (Associated Press, June 2): @

* "The Great Society at 50" (The Washington Post): @
* Entry from "Safire's Political Dictionary" (William Safire, 2008): @ 

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Monday, April 27, 1964: LBJ's dogs

President Johnson picked his two beagle pups up by the ears Monday and let them yowl. "Why did you do that?" a woman reporter inquired. Johnson had just dropped "Him," and a few moments before had lifted "Her" by the ears and let her down. "To make him bark," he said. "It's good for him. And, if you've ever followed dogs, you like to hear them yelp." ... Some authorities on dogs questioned the President's handling.
     -- Associated Press (story: @)
     -- Photo by Charles P. Gorry, Associated Press

* "SPCA Yelps When Johnson Picks Dogs Up By Ears" (AP): @
* "Dog Lovers Howl Over LBJ Picking Up Beagles By Ears To Make 'Em Yelp" (AP): @
* "White House Mum on Mail Trend Reports" (AP, May 1): @
* "Dogs Have Got Presidents Both In And Out Of Trouble" (AP, May 18): @ 
* Phone call between LBJ and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (April 29): @ 
* "A National Yelp Over an Earlift" (Life magazine, May 8): @

* "Her and Him" (Life magazine, June 19): @
* Entry from Presidential Pet Museum: @
* Entry from LBJ Presidential Library: @ 

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Wednesday, April 22, 1964: World's Fair

The New York World's Fair bloomed in almost all its heralded splendor but rain, cold and fog put a decided damper on its opening Wednesday. ... President Johnson, noting the fair's theme of "peace through understanding," said that "peace is not only possible in our generation, but I predict it is coming much nearer." The United States, the President added, would soon be a nation "in which no man is handicapped by the color of his skin or the nature of his belief."

     -- Associated Press (story: @)

     -- Photo from untappedcities.com (story: @)

* Overview ("Encyclopedia of the Sixties," 2011): @

* Overview (University of Maryland): @

* Map and other items (Print magazine): @

* Guide book (www.butkus.org): @

* Slideshow (New York Daily News): @

* www.nywf64.com: @

* www.westland.net/ny64fair: @

* President Johnson's speech (American Presidency Project): @

* Speech and first day of issue stamp (www.historygallery.com): @

* "The Space Age Never Looked Brighter Than It Did in the Mid-1960s" (io9.com): @

* "Photographs and Memories" (Daily Kos): @

* "My Four-Day Guide to the World's Fair" (Bob Hope for Family Weekly, March 22): @

* "New York World's Fair Opens; Scores of Policemen Kept Busy" (United Press International, April 22): @

* "World's Fair" (Universal Newsreel): @
* "Peace Through Understanding" (newsreel, British Pathe): @

* "LBJ Opens World's Fair" (UPI and AP, April 22): @

* " 'Sleepers' of the World's Fair" (Family Weekly, August 9): @

* Life magazine, May 1: @

* "The End of the Innocence: The 1964-65 New York World's Fair" (Lawrence R. Samuel, 2010): @

* "Tomorrow-Land: The 1964-65 World's Fair and the Transformation of America" (Joseph Tirella, 2014): @ 

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Wednesday, January 8, 1964: State of the Union speech

President Johnson announced today a surprise budget cut to $97.9 billion, even below the current level. And he told Congress he will slash output of weapon-making uranium by 25 percent -- a move he challenged the Soviets to match.

and

President Johnson declared "unconditional war on poverty in America," and called on Congress today for enactment this month of a tax reduction designed to create new jobs and markets.

-- Associated Press; full stories: @

-- Photo from LBJ Library

* Text and audio (from American Rhetoric): @
* Video: @
* "Lyndon B. Johnson and the War on Poverty: Introduction to the Digital Edition" (Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia): @
* "Domestic Affairs" (from Miller Center): @
* LBJ for Kids! Poverty Module (from LBJ Library): @

* "Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History" (Michael L. Gillette, 2010): @ 

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Sunday, December 29, 1963: 'The Making of the President 1960'

The documentary airs on ABC-TV. From the television listings in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

This skillful documentary based on Theodore White's superlative book was completed BEFORE the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and that fact lends a special kind of heartbreak to this chronological report of how and why John F. Kennedy won the election, and then the hearts of his countrymen. Too brief, but nonetheless illuminating coverage of the West Virginia primary and the noteworthy scenes along the way, include Harry Truman's anti-Kennedy remarks, memories of the abortive Stevenson rally during the '60 convention including a reminder to vote-for-Adlai poster ("He's a lousy golfer") and on through the furtive Nixon-Rockefeller meeting to agree on the Republican platform policy. Also, some especially compelling glimpses of the TV debates, including choice "backstage" footage immediately before the first TV debate.

The soundtrack to the show was also released as a record album (pictured).

* Video: @

* Book site from HarperCollins Publishers: @ and @

* Summary from Portfolio (New York University): @

* "The Contours of a Campaign Immortalized" (David M. Shribman, The Wall Street Journal, 2012): @

* "How We Picked Our Presidents, 1960 Style" (Ginia Bellafante, The New York Times, 2011): @

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Tuesday, December 17, 1963: Clean Air Act

President Johnson today signed into law a "clean air" bill designed to channel $95 million in federal funds into a four-year program to fight air pollution.
     The legislation authorizes the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to conduct research into the problem of air pollution, which some experts say is becoming a national menace.
     It also would permit federal aid to states and communities which are fighting air pollution.
     In signing the measure, Johnson said it would combat a "serious and growing" hazard. He said an estimated 6,000 U.S. communities need the type of assistance provide by the bill.
     States will retain the primary responsibility for controlling and reducing pollution except in those cases where pollution from one source -- such as a concentration of factories -- affects more than one state.
     In such cases federal authorities may seek relief in court if a voluntary solution is unsuccessful.
     The federal aid program involves grants on a matching basis on a matching basis of one state dollar for every two federal dollars put up. Regional grants are based on matching of three-quarters federal, one-quarter state.
     The bill signed today is an authorization measure and sets the ceiling on how much money can be spent. Actual appropriations will come later.
     -- Story from United Press International.
     -- 1953 photo of New York from Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images. Original caption reads, "Several people standing on the top of a building looking down in to the downtown misty smog that is covering the Empire State and surrounding buildings."
* Text of original law (from www.wilderness.net): @
* President Johnson's remarks: @
* Text of amended law (from U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works): @
* "Clean Air Requirements and History" (from Environmental Protection Agency): @

* "Clean Air Act" (from The Encyclopedia of Earth): @

* "The History of Air Quality" (from Environmental Institute of Houston): @

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Saturday, December 7, 1963: 'The Johnson Treatment'

President Lyndon Johnson presses his plans for the enactment of civil rights legislation during a White House meeting with Sen. Richard Russell of Georgia. 

     Accounts of exactly what was said at the meeting vary across biographies and histories. The following is from Jack Valenti, special assistant to President Johnson, who was present at the meeting. (From a 1997 speech and "Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History"; links: @ and @)

     The president ... said in a soft, even voice, "Dick, I love you, and I owe you. If it had not been for you, I would not have been leader, or vice president or now president. But I wanted to tell you face to face, Dick, please don't get in my way on this civil rights bill. It's been locked up in the Senate too long. I'm going to pass this bill, Dick. I will not cavil. I will not hesitate. And if you get in my way, I'll run you down."

     Russell sat mutely for a moment, impassive, his face a mask. Then he spoke, in the rolling accents of his Georgia countryside. "Well, Mr. President, you may just do that. But I pledge you that if you do, it will not only cost you the election, it will cost you the South forever." ...

     (Johnson) spoke softly, almost tenderly: "Dick, my old friend, if that's the price I have to pay, then I will gladly pay it."

     -- Photo by Yoichi Okamoto, official presidential photographer, from LBJ Library

* Account from "Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65" (Taylor Branch, 1999): @

* Account from "Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President" (Robert Dallek, 2004): @

* Account from "Civil Rights Act Leaves Mark on the American Political Landscape" (Michael Oreskes, New York Times, 1989): @ 

* Johnson-Russell telephone converations, December 7 (from Miller Center): @

* Johnson news conference, December 7 (from The American Presidency Project): @

* "How Will Civil Rights Bill Do Under New President?" (United Press International, December 10): @

* "LBJ Champions the Civil Rights Act" (Prologue magazine, National Archives, 2004): @

More about "The Johnson Treatment"
* Description (from Marshall Frady, New York Review of Books, 2002): @
* Summary (from National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution): @
* "Remembering the Johnson Treatment" (Tom Wicker, New York Times, 2002): @

* With Sen. Theodore Green of Rhode Island, 1957 (photos, New York Times): @

* With President Kennedy and Sen. Henry Jackson of Washington, early 1960s (photo, University of Washington Libraries): @

* With Rep. Albert Thomas of Texas, 1963 (audio, Miller Center): @

* With Supreme Court nominee Abe Fortas, 1965 (photo, LBJ Library): @

* With Louis Martin, Democratic National Committee, 1966 (photo, LBJ Library): @
* With Whitney Young, National Urban League, 1966 (photo, LBJ Library): @ 

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Wednesday, November 27, 1963: President Johnson's address to Congress

President Johnson asked a somber Congress Wednesday to honor John F. Kennedy's memory with swift action on the slain President's legislative program, topped by civil rights and tax deduction.
     Speaking for the first time as chief executive to a body in which he served for many years, the tall, solemn-faced President called too for "an end to the teaching and preaching of hate and evil and violence" in the land.
     -- from The Associated Press; full story: @
* Transcript (from American Rhetoric): @

* Video (includes telephone calls before and after speech; from C-SPAN): @
* Entry from Voices of Democracy project: @

* "Let Us Continue" (film by U.S. Information Agency; from Texas Archive of the Moving Image): @

* "The First 100 Days: Lyndon Johnson Fulfilled Kennedy's Legacy" (U.S. News & World Report, 2009): @ 

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Tuesday, November 26, 1963: NSAM 273

The administration of new President Lyndon B. Johnson administration issues National Security Action Memorandum 273, which officially reaffirms the U.S. commitment to the Republic of Vietnam and pledges "to assist the people and Government of that country to win their contest against the externally directed and supported Communist conspiracy." Johnson also gave his personal sanction for a stepped-up program of "clandestine operations by the GVN (Government of Vietnam) against the North."
     -- From "Vietnam War Almanac" (James H. Wilbanks, 2009)

* Text of NSAM 273 (from "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963," U.S. State Department): @

* Photocopy of NSAM 273 (from LBJ Library): @
* Post from October 5 (JFK approves withdrawal of 1,000 military advisers from Vietnam): @ 

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Saturday, November 23, 1963

Photo by The Associated Press. Original caption: Personal belongings such as these two rocking chairs of the slain President John F. Kennedy are removed from the offices of the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov 23, 1963. 

* President Johnson's remarks to the Cabinet: @ (draft) and @ (final)
* "Nov. 23, 1963: The day after the assassination" (Washington Post): @ 

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Friday, November 22, 1963

-- United Press International teletype (image from kennedy-photos.blogspot.com)
-- Explainer (from UPI history website): @

Video

* David Von Pein's JFK Channel (this has an extensive collection of footage, including the breaking news reports of the major broadcast networks): @

* "The JFK Assassination: As It Happened" (Von Pein website): @

* From ABC News: @
* JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America" (The History Channel, 2009): @ and @ 
* Speech in Fort Worth: @
* "President Assassinated" (newsreel): @

Audio
* Lyndon Johnson taking oath of office aboard Air Force One (from LBJ Library): @
* Air Force One recordings: @
* Radio coverage: @
* BBC programs: @

President Lyndon B. Johnson
* President's daily dairy (from LBJ Library): @ and @
* From LBJ Library: "November 22, 1963 and Beyond": @
* From LBJ Library: "Nov. 22, 1963: Tragedy and Transition": @
* Selections from Mrs. Johnson's diary: @ (text) and @ (audio)

Front pages

* Dallas Morning News: @

* Dallas Times Herald: @

* Fort Worth Star-Telegram: @ and @

* Boston Globe: @

* New York Times: @

* Washington Post: @
* Los Angeles Times: @
* The Guardian (UK) : @

* Daily Mirror (UK): @

* Daily Trojan (University of Southern California, November 26): @
* Other newspapers (from www.downhold.org): @

* Other newspapers (from rarenewspapers.com): @

Other resources

* Timeline (from Dallas Morning News): @
* "Remembering JFK" (Fort Worth Star-Telegram): @
* "The Death of a President" (The Associated Press): @
* The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection (National Archives): @

* The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: @

* JFK Tribute website (Fort Worth, Texas): @

* The JFK Assassination (Mary Ferrell Foundation): @

* The Harold Weisberg Archive: @

* The Kennedy Assassination (John McAdams): @

* "November 22, 1963: Death of the President" (from JFK Library): @ 

* "Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy" (Warren Commission report, from National Archives, 1964): @

* "Marking JFK anniversary, GPO releases digital Warren Commission report" (Washington Post): @
* "Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives" (from National Archives, 1979): @

* UPI reporter Merriman Smith's account of the day (November 23; Smith was the first to report the shooting, as shown in teletype above): @
* "Total Domination" (American Journalism Review, 1998): @

* "The Flight From Dallas" (Esquire, 2013): @
* "The Hours Before Dallas: A Recollection by President Kennedy's Fort Worth Advance Man" (Jeb Byrne, 2000): @
* Life magazine, November 29: @

* Life magazine, December 6: @

* Life magazine, December 13: @ 

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What didn't happen on November 22, 1963

President Kennedy

     * Speech at Dallas Trade Mart: @ (text) and @ (materials from JFK Library)

     * Speech in Austin: @ (text) and @ (materials from JFK Library)

     * President's schedule for the day: @

Music

     -- Symphony orchestras in Boston and Chicago, performing in the afternoon as the news of Kennedy's death spread, changed their programs and played the funeral march from Beethoven's Third Symphony.

     * Account from Boston (from time.com): @

     * Original introduction from Boston (from WGBH): @

     * Boston Symphony Orchestra program for 1963-64 season (revised program for November 22 is on Page 9): @

     * Account from Chicago (from orchestra archives): @

     -- On the same day that the album "With the Beatles" was released in the United Kingdom, the band was featured on "The CBS Morning News." The segment was to have been shown on "The CBS Evening News" that night. It eventually aired on December 10.

     * Watch the segment: @

     * "How Walter Cronkite jump-started Beatlemania in America" (from BeatlesNews.com): @

     * "Hello Goodbye: Why the Great Mike Wallace Instantly Forgot His Beatles TV Exclusive" (from The Huffington Post): @

     -- "The Dick Clark Caravan of Stars" was to have performed in Dallas on November 22. The show was canceled.

     * "Dick Clark on the Day America Lost JFK" (John Burke Jovich): @

     * Lineup (from A Rock n' Roll Historian blog): @

     * "Clark Show Off to Big Openers" (Billboard magazine, November 23): @

Television

     From the New York Times, November 23:

     TOKYO -- The first live American television transmission across the Pacific by means of the communication satellite relay was received clearly here today. Pictures transmitted by the Mohave ground station in California and received at the new Space Communications Laboratory in Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo, were clean and distinct. The sound transmission was excellent. The transmission was received live from 5:16 a.m. to 5:46 a.m. Viewers here saw and heard taped messages from Ryuji Takeuchi, Japanese Ambassador to Washington, and James E. Webb, director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A message of greeting from President Kennedy to the Japanese people, which was to have been the highlight of the program, was deleted when news of the President's death was received shortly before the transmission. In place of the taped two-and-a-half-minute appearance of the President, viewers saw brief panoramic views of the Mohave transmitting station and the surrounding desert area. The American Broadcasting Company and the National Broadcasting Company shared in producing the program.'

     From The Associated Press, November 22:
     The nation's three major television and radio networks scrapped all commercials and entertainment programs out of respect for the death today of President Kennedy. The National Broadcasting Co., American Broadcasting Co., and Columbia Broadcasting system all said they would devote their entire radio and television programs to news of the assassination and all allied incidents. The Mutual Broadcasting System said it would ban commercials and entertainment features on its radio network until after the President's funeral. ABC said its commercial and entertainment ban would remain in effect indefinitely. NBC said it would observe the commercial and entertainment blackout until "sometime tomorrow night." CBS said it would not return commercials or entertainment programs to its network until after the President's burial. All networks said they would continue broadcasts on radio and TV through the night.
* TV listings for November 22 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; go to Page 19): @

"Dr. Strangelove"

     A New York screening for critics was canceled, and changes to Stanley Kubrick's new movie were made in light of Kennedy's death (detailed below). The film's premiere was delayed; the movie did not open until January 1964.

     * From "Stanley Kubrick: A Biography" (Vincent LoBrutto, 1999): @

     * From Time.com: @

     * From Los Angeles Times: @

Frank Sinatra Jr. kidnapping

    Three men who were planning to kidnap the entertainer intended to do so on November 22 in Los Angeles, but it was delayed until December 8 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

     * From MentalFloss.com: @

     * From TruTV.com: @

     * From Jan & Dean website (The band's Dean Torrence had loaned money to one of the kidnappers, a friend of his): @

     * Newsreel: @

Other

     * "The most famous magazine cover that never was" *(Washington Post): @

     * Kiplinger Washington Letter planned for November 23: @ and @

     * Where We Were" (People magazine, November 1988): @ 

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