CU Presidential seal, Eagle w/arrows & olive branch, "The President of the United States Seal." MCU U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) speaking from behind a desk, glasses on. Johnson begins, "My fellow Americans: I am about to sign into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I want to take this occasion to talk to you about what that law means to every American. One hundred and eighty-eight years ago this week a small band of valiant men began a long struggle for freedom. They pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor not only to found a nation, but to forge an ideal of freedom - not only for political independence, but for personal liberty - not only to eliminate foreign rule, but to establish the rule of justice in the affairs of men. That struggle was a turning point in our history. Today in far corners of distant continents, the ideals of those American patriots still shape the struggles of men who hunger for freedom. This is a proud triumph. Yet those who founded our country knew that freedom would be secure only if each generation fought to renew and enlarge its meaning. From the minutemen at Concord to the soldiers in Vietnam, each generation has been equal to that trust. Americans of every race and color have died in battle to protect our freedom. Americans of every race and color have worked to build a nation of widening opportunities. Now our generation of Americans has been called on to continue the unending search for justice within our own borders. We believe that all men are created equal. Yet many are denied equal treatment. We believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. Yet many Americans do not enjoy those rights. We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. Yet millions are being deprived of those blessings - not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skin. The reasons are deeply imbedded in history and tradition and the nature of man. We can understand - without rancor or hatred - how this all happened. But it cannot continue. Our Constitution, the foundation of our Republic, forbids it. The principles of our freedom forbid it. Morality forbids it. And the law I will sign tonight forbids it. That law is the product of months of the most careful debate and discussion. It was proposed more than one year ago by our late and beloved President John F. Kennedy. It received the bipartisan support of more than two-thirds of the Members of both the House and the Senate. An overwhelming majority of Republicans as well as Democrats voted for it. It has received the thoughtful support of tens of thousands of civic and religious leaders in all parts of this Nation. And it is supported by the great majority of the American people."
MS crowd milling about. U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) at desk, signing, passing out pens. CU Johnson passing out pens. (Tells someone he wants to meet w/him and others afterward, making sure people get their pens) MS/HA Johnson signing, ROBERT FRANCIS. KENNEDY (RFK, Bobby Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Bobby F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy) in BG. MCU ROBERT FRANCIS. KENNEDY (RFK, Bobby Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Bobby F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy) waiting. CU Johnson writing. MCU Johnson gives Bobby Kennedy several pens & he walks away. (tells them who to give them to) MS Johnson signing as some stand over him, joking, smiling. LBJ signing w/his pens. MS signing. (making small talk w/those around him, his daughter's birthday July, 2, anniversary of his heart attack) CU man w/black rimmed glasses watching. MS/MCU passing out pens. CU of document on desk.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) at desk, crowd applauding, including, ROBERT FRANCIS. KENNEDY (RFK, Bobby Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Bobby F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy) & HUBERT HORATIO HUMPHREY (Hubert Humphrey, Hubert H. Humphrey). MCU Johnson still seated, opens document to sign, many pens in front of him, begins to sign. CU signing, switching, dipping pens. MCU Humphrey standing, watching. MCU Johnson still signing. MS passing out pens. MCU signing. CU signing. MCU passing out pens, itching nose. LBJ at desk, signing, passing out pens, people around milling about. MCU Johnson coughing. MS Johnson handing pens to MARTIN LUTHER KING JR (MLK, Martin Luther King, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. King). MCU Johnson signing.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) says that they will need more pens. MS Johnson signing, others helping set up around him, he blows his nose. LBJ at desk signing. MS passing out pens. CU writing w/pens. LBJ at desk signing, crowd around. MS passing out pens. CU writing w/pens. MCU Vice President HUBERT HORATIO HUMPHREY (Hubert Humphrey, Hubert H. Humphrey) in crowd. MCU ROBERT FRANCIS. KENNEDY (RFK, Bobby Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Bobby F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy) talking. MCU LADY BIRD JOHNSON, (Claudia Johnson). MS Johnson passing out pens.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) "The purpose of the law is simple. It does not restrict the freedom of any American, so long as he respects the rights of others. It does not give special treatment to any citizen. It does say the only limit to a man's hope for happiness, and for the future of his children, shall be his own ability. It does say that there are those who are equal before God shall now also be equal in the polling booths, in the classrooms, in the factories, and in hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, and other places that provide service to the public. I am taking steps to implement the law under my constitutional obligation to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. First, I will send to the Senate my nomination of LeRoy Collins to be Director of the Community Relations Service. (MS audience applauding.) Governor Collins will bring the experience of a long career of distinguished public service to the task of helping communities solve problems of human relations through reason and commonsense. Second, I shall appoint an advisory committee of distinguished Americans to assist Governor Collins in his assignment. Third, I am sending Congress a request for supplemental appropriations to pay for necessary costs of implementing the law, and asking for immediate action. (MS audience applauding, ROBERT FRANCIS. KENNEDY, RFK, Bobby Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Bobby F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy)& HUBERT HORATIO HUMPHREY Hubert Humphrey, Hubert H. Humphrey seated.) Fourth, already today in a meeting of my Cabinet this afternoon I directed the agencies of this Government to fully discharge the new responsibilities imposed upon them by the law and to do it without delay, and to keep me personally informed of their progress. Fifth, I am asking appropriate officials to meet with representative groups to promote greater understanding of the law and to achieve a spirit of compliance. We must not approach the observance and enforcement of this law in a vengeful spirit. Its purpose is not to punish. Its purpose is not to divide, but to end divisions - divisions which have all lasted too long. Its purpose is national, not regional. Its purpose is to promote a more abiding commitment to freedom, a more constant pursuit of justice, and a deeper respect for human dignity. We will achieve these goals because most Americans are law-abiding citizens who want to do what is right. This is why the Civil Rights Act relies first on voluntary compliance, then on the efforts of local communities and States to secure the rights of citizens. It provides for the national authority to step in only when others cannot or will not do the job. This Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities and our States, in our homes and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country. So tonight I urge every public official, every religious leader, every business and professional man, every workingman, every housewife - I urge every American to join in this effort to bring justice and hope to all our people and to bring peace to our land. My fellow citizens, we have come now to a time of testing. We must not fail. Let us close the springs of racial poison. Let us pray for wise and understanding hearts. Let us lay aside irrelevant differences and make our Nation whole. Let us hasten that day when our unmeasured strength and our unbounded spirit will be free to do the great works ordained for this Nation by the just and wise God who is the Father of us all. Thank you and good night."
CU Speaker of the House JOHN MCCORMACK. MS/MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) signing, passing out pens. MS Johnson posing for photographs. MS HUBERT HUMPHREY (Hubert H. Humphrey, Hubert Humphrey) w/extra, unopened pens. MCU Johnson speaking w/Humphrey, Johnson towels off sweat from his head. MS LBJ speaking w/HUBERT HUMPHREY (Hubert H. Humphrey, Hubert Humphrey) w/LADY BIRD JOHNSON (Claudia Johnson).
MS/HA (Oval Office?) U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) enters, followed by many. MS Johnson takes a seat at desk, rustles papers. MS people crowd around behind him, HUBERT HORATIO HUMPHREY (Hubert H. Humphrey, Hubert Humphrey) LUCI BAINES JOHNSON, JOHN MCCORMACK. MCU Johnson removing pens. CU Johnson.
MCU pan of crowd behind, U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) HUBERT HORATIO HUMPHREY (Hubert H. Humphrey, Hubert Humphrey) LUCI BAINES JOHNSON, JOHN MCCORMACK, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR (MLK, Martin Luther King). TLS/HA crowd in the oval office. MCU Martin Luther King. MS/MCU Johnson signing bill, act, using ink well pens, shaking hands w/those around him, giving some a pen.
CU pen being handed to another. MS U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) giving pens away. (telling people to move out of the way) MSs Johnson seated.
Master 1856 - Tape 2 MS/LSs U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON delivering Inaugural Address: "They came here--the exile and the stranger, brave but frightened--to find a place where a man could be his own man. They made a covenant with this land. Conceived in justice, written in liberty, bound in union, it was meant one day to inspire the hopes of all mankind; and it binds us still. If we keep its terms, we shall flourish." Edit to Line 33 from Line 6. "they have awaited our defeat. Each time, from the secret places of the American heart, came forth the faith they could not see or that they could not even imagine. It brought us victory. And it will again." C/A LSs guests listening to speech. "For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest sleeping in the unplowed ground. Is our world gone? We say, Farewell. Is a new world coming? We welcome it--and we will bend it to the hopes of man."
Master 1856 - Tape 2 MS U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON delivering Inaugural Address: "My fellow countrymen, on this occasion, the oath I have taken before you and before God is not mine alone, but ours together. We are one nation and one people. Our fate as a nation and our future as a people rest not upon one citizen, but upon all citizens. This is the majesty and the meaning of this moment. For every generation, there is a destiny. For some, history decides. For this generation, the choice must be our own. Even now, a rocket moves toward Mars. It reminds us that the world will not be the same for our children, or even for ourselves in a short span of years. The next man to stand here will look out on a scene different from our own, because ours is a time of change--rapid and fantastic change bearing the secrets of nature, multiplying the nations, placing in uncertain hands new weapons for mastery and destruction, shaking old values, and uprooting old ways."
Master 1856 - Tape 2 LS U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON delivering Inaugural Address, Line 35 & on: "To these trusted public servants and to my family and those close friends of mine who have followed me down a long, winding road, and to all the people of this Union and the world, I will repeat today what I said on that sorrowful day in November 1963: I will lead and I will do the best I can. But you must look within your own hearts to the old promises and to the old dream. They will lead you best of all. For myself, I ask only, in the words of an ancient leader: Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this, thy people, that is so great?"
Master 1856 - Tape 2 MS Welcome banner with U.S. Presidential seal. CUs LBJ campaign buttons. CU geeky white boy wearing thick glasses, visor cap, big teeth. LS/TLSs Presidential motorcade on Inaugural Parade route, Secret Service officers walking alongside Prez limousine. MS two white girls bundled in winter clothes waving-- one wears leopard print jacket. MS older white woman wearing extravagant fur coat & hat, waving. Level LS U.S. military honor guard, flagbearers marching. High angle LS Presidential motorcade. MS President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON riding in enclosed limo, removing glasses, waving to crowd. TLS Vice-President HUBERT H. HUMPHREY riding in enclosed black limo w/ bulletproof bubble top, waving to crowd. MS Presidential Seal. TLS/MSs Southwest Texas State College marching band & majorettes performing, passing grandstand. TLS Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Lady Bird Johnson, Muriel Humphrey Brown standing behind bulletproof glass, clapping & watching parade. TLS white men & women standing, removing hats. TLSs U.S. military color guard marching, numerous flags. MS Ambassador to the United Nations ADLAI STEVENSON watching parade.
Master 1856 - Tape 1 Rear view LS U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON delivering Inaugural Address outside U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC. MSs President Lyndon Johnson speaking, Vice-President HUBERT H. HUMPHREY seated in BG: "--strength of our spirit." Edit. "In each generation, with toil & tears, we have had to earn our heritage again. If we fail now, we shall have forgotten in abundance what we learned in hardship: that democracy rests on faith, that freedom asks more than it gives, and that the judgment of God is harshest on those who are most favored. If we succeed, it will not be b/c of what we have, but it will be because of what we are; not b/c of what we own, but, rather b/c of what we believe. For we are a nation of believers. Underneath the clamor of building & the rush of our day's pursuits, we are believers in justice & liberty & union, and in our own Union. We believe that every man must someday be free. And we believe in ourselves. That is the mistake that our enemies have always made. In my lifetime-- in depression & in war--" Edit. "--from God that our greatness will endure--" TLS bronze Statue of Freedom atop dome of U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC; zoom out to Capitol Dome, Building, U.S. flag flying from pole in FG.
Master 1856 - Tape 2 Diss to MS American flag fluttering, billowing in wind, zoom out to Capitol Building. Nice low angle TLS west front of Capitol Bldg. TLS dignitaries, guests descending step onto Inaugural platform. TLS Joint Congressional Inaugural Committee, led by Senator EVERETT JORDAN and House Speaker JOHN MCCORMACK and including JOHN SPARKMAN & CARL ALBERT, walking onto gallery. TLS Johnson Presidential Cabinet, led by Secretary of State DEAN RUSK and Ambassador to the United Nations ADLAI STEVENSON, with Secretary of the Treasury HENRY FOWLER, Secretary of Defense ROBERT MCNAMARA, Attorney General NICHOLAS KATZENBACH, et al in tow, descending steps onto gallery. TLS U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices descending steps onto gallery. Opening credits.
Master 1856 - Tape 2 LS North Lawn view of White House, Washington DC. CU "Washington DC 1965 Presidential Inauguration" license plate. LS/TLSs U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON and First Lady LADY BIRD JOHNSON exiting White House w. aides. High angle LS Presidential motorcade headed for Inauguration, Secret Service riding on black limousines. Panning TLS Lady Bird Johnson walking onto Inaugural platform. Nice 3/4 view LS U.S. Capitol Building, East Front on Inauguration Day. TLS Vice-President HUBERT H. HUMPHREY descending steps onto gallery platform, House Speaker JOHN MCCORMACK in tow. MS Presidential Seal. Tilting TLS President Lyndon Johnson descending steps, Hail to the Chief playing in audio BG; LBJ passes Secretary of State DEAN RUSK to shake hands w/ U.S. Chief Justice EARL WARREN. TLS crowd standing, applauding.
Master 1856 - Tape 2 LS/MS Chairman of Joint Congressional Inaugural Committee Senator EVERETT JORDAN introducing Inauguration program. LS U.S. Marine Corps Band under direction of Lt. Col. Alfred Shoepper, performing "Stars and Stripes Forever." TLS/MSs Archbishop ROBERT E. LUCEY reading invocation, U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON & Vice-President HUBERT H. HUMPHREY standing w/ heads bowed in BG.
Master 1856 - Tape 2 MS singer LEONTYNE PRICE performing "America the Beautiful" with U.S. Marine Corps Band at LBJ Inauguration; operatic rendition, President Lyndon Baines Johnson sitting in background w/ funny smile. LS/MS Rabbi HYMAN J. SCHACHTEL reading prayer, President Lyndon Johnson & VP Hubert H. Humphrey standing w/ heads bowed in BG.
Master 1856 - Tape 2 LS/MSs Speaker of the House JOHN MCCORMACK administering Vice-Presidential Oath of Office to U.S. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY; at outset, Hubert Humphrey shakes hands w/ President Lyndon Johnson, then kisses his wife, MURIEL HUMPHREY BROWN, and then shakes hands with Lady Bird Johnson. TLS crowd standing, clapping.
Master 1856 - Tape 2 LSs Reverend GEORGE R. DAVIS reading prayer at Lyndon Johnson Inaugural. C/A LS/TLSs guests standing reverently w/ heads bowed.
Master 1856 - Tape 2 Rear view LS guests standing on Inaugural Platform, audio of "Hail to the Chief." MS white male U.S. Marine in Dress B uniform saluting. MS U.S. Chief Justice EARL WARREN administering Presidential Oath of Office to LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON, First Lady LADY BIRD JOHNSON & Vice-President HUBERT H. HUMPHREY standing, watching in BG; Earl Warren & Lyndon Johnson are so casual about the affair that neither raises their right hand until the "faithfully execute" line.
President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (Lyndon B. Johnson, Lyndon Johnson, LBJ) "I propose that we begin a program in education to ensure every American child the fullest development of his mind and skills. I propose that we begin a massive attack on crippling and killing diseases. I propose that we launch a national effort to make the American city a better and a more stimulating place to live. I propose that we increase the beauty of America and end the poisoning of our rivers and the air that we breathe. I propose that we carry out a new program to develop regions of our country that are now suffering from distress and depression. I propose that we make new efforts to control and prevent crime and delinquency. I propose that we eliminate every remaining obstacle to the right and the opportunity to vote. I propose that we honor and support the achievements of thought and the creations of art. I propose that we make an all-out campaign against waste and inefficiency."
MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) handing out pens from behind the desk. MS/HA Johnson at desk. (asking for more pens) MS/HA Johnson being given more pens.
MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) giving pens to those around him. MS/MCU Johnson hands pens to MARTIN LUTHER KING JR (MLK, Martin Luther King) and others.
MS/MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) at desk. MS ROBERT F. KENNEDY (RFK, Robert Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Robert Francis Kennedy) in the crowd. MS Johnson shaking hands and giving pens.
MS U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) standing w/JOHN MCCORMACK. MS Johnson hands out pens. MCU Johnson picks up the document. MS posing for a photograph. (Johnson directs where to stand) CU holding document, talking. CU names signed on document.
LS/HA U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) walking out of room, crowd milling. TLS rotunda. MCU Lincoln statue. MCU/CU revolutionary painting. CU Lincoln face statue.
CU priest standing. (Archbishop?) MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) zoom out. MS Johnson still signing, preparing pens, at desk. (Tells speaker he will get to him in a minute) MS Johnson standing giving pens, shaking hands. (asks where someone is) MS hands one to a woman, (his daughter?) (asks about Dirksen, Republicans to get)
MS/MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) at desk signing again. CU of paper & pen. MSs giving pens & crowd. TLS crowd. CU Johnson. (Johnson telling someone to have those who have one to leave, so he can give pens to others) MS man comes over to have picture taken w/LBJ. MCU head of ROBERT F. KENNEDY (RFK, Robert Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Robert Francis Kennedy)
CU Lincoln face statue. TLS rotunda. TLS Lincoln statue & painting. MS statues of founding fathers.
CU pan U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) holding document. MS Johnson shaking hands & thanking. TLS office. MS Johnson & LUCI BAINES JOHNSON leaving. MS ceiling. TLS outside in rotunda. CU Lincoln face statue. MCU statue zoom out. MS Johnson standing w/group, fixes hair. MS Johnson shakes hands, moves to leave.
MS/MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson) giving pens to those around him, a line forms. (Johnson telling them what to do) MS Johnson sits down.
Those who tell us now that we should abandon our commitment, that securing South Vietnam from armed domination is not worth the price we are paying, must also answer this question. And the test they must meet is this: What would be the consequences of letting armed aggression against South Vietnam succeed? What would follow in the time ahead? What kind of world are they prepared to live in 5 months or 5 years from tonight?
I want to turn now to the struggle in Vietnam itself. There are questions about this difficult war that must trouble every really thoughtful person. I am going to put some of these questions. And I am going to give you the very best answers that I can give you. First, are the Vietnamese, with our help, and that of their other allies, really making any progress? Is there a forward movement? The reports I see make it clear that there is. Certainly there is a positive movement toward constitutional government. Thus far the Vietnamese have met the political schedule that they laid down in January 1966. The people wanted an elected, responsive government. They wanted it strongly enough to brave a vicious campaign of Communist terror and assassination to vote for it. It has been said that they killed more civilians in 4 weeks trying to keep them from voting before the election than our American bombers have killed in the big cities of North Vietnam in bombing military targets. On November 1, subject to the action, of course, of the Constituent Assembly, an elected government will be inaugurated and an elected Senate and Legislature will be installed. Their responsibility is clear: To answer the desires of the South Vietnamese people for self-determination and for peace, for an attack on corruption, for economic development, and for social justice.
I know there are other questions on your minds, and on the minds of many sincere, troubled Americans: "Why not negotiate now?" so many ask me. The answer is that we and our South Vietnamese allies are wholly prepared to negotiate tonight. I am ready to talk with Ho Chi Minh, and other chiefs of state concerned, tomorrow. I am ready to have Secretary Rusk meet with their foreign minister tomorrow. I am ready to send a trusted representative of America to any spot on this earth to talk in public or private with a spokesman of Hanoi. We have twice sought to have the issue of Vietnam dealt with by the United Nations and twice Hanoi has refused. Our desire to negotiate peace, through the United Nations or out, has been made very, very clear to Hanoi, directly and many times through third parties. As we have told Hanoi time and time and time again, the heart of the matter is really this: The United States is willing to stop all aerial and naval bombardment of North Vietnam when this will lead promptly to productive discussions. We, of course, assume that while discussions proceed, North Vietnam would not take advantage of the bombing cessation or limitation. But Hanoi has not accepted any of these proposals. So it is by Hanoi's choice, and not ours, and not the rest of the world's, that the war continues.
Why, in the face of military and political progress in the South, and the burden of our bombing in the North, do they insist and persist with the war? From many sources the answer is the same. They still hope that the people of the United States will not see this struggle through to the very end. As one Western diplomat reported to me only this week-he had just been in Hanoi, They believe their staying power is greater than ours and that they can't lose. A visitor from a Communist capital had this to say, They expect the war to be long, and that the Americans in the end will be defeated by a breakdown in morale, fatigue, and psychological factors. The Premier of North Vietnam said as far back as 1962, Americans do not like long, inconclusive war...Thus we are sure to win in the end. Are the North Vietnamese right about us? I think not. No. I think they are wrong. I think it is the common failing of totalitarian regimes that they cannot really understand the nature of our democracy. They mistake dissent for disloyalty. They mistake restlessness for a rejection of policy. They mistake a few committees for a country. They misjudge individual speeches for public policy. They are no better suited to judge the strength and perseverance of America than the Nazi and the Stalinist propagandists were able to judge it. It is a tragedy that they must discover these qualities in the American people, and discover them through a bloody war. And, soon or late, they will discover them. In the meantime, it shall be our policy to continue to seek negotiations, confident that reason will some day prevail, that Hanoi will realize that it just can never win, that it will turn away from fighting and start building for its own people.
Since World War II, this Nation has met and has mastered many challenges, challenges in Greece and Turkey, in Berlin, in Korea, in Cuba. We met them because brave men were willing to risk their lives for their nation's security. And braver men have never lived than those who carry our colors in Vietnam at this very hour. The price of these efforts, of course, has been heavy. But the price of not having made them at all, not having seen them through, in my judgment would have been vastly greater. Our goal has been the same, in Europe, in Asia, in our own hemisphere. It has been, and it is now, peace. And peace cannot be secured by wishes. Peace cannot be preserved by noble words and pure intentions. Enduring peace, Franklin D. Roosevelt said, cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom. The late President Kennedy put it precisely in November 1961, when he said, We are neither warmongers nor appeasers. We are neither hard nor soft. We are Americans determined to defend the frontiers of freedom by an honorable peace if peace is possible but by arms if arms are used against us.
For those who have borne the responsibility for decision during these past ten years, the stakes to us have seemed clear and have seemed high. President Dwight Eisenhower said in 1959: Strategically, South Vietnam's capture by the Communists would bring their power several hundred miles into a hitherto free region. The remaining countries in Southeast Asia would be menaced by a great flanking movement. The freedom of 12 million people would be lost immediately, and that of 150 million people in adjacent lands would be seriously endangered. The loss of South Vietnam would set in motion a crumbling process that could, as it progressed, have grave consequences for us and for freedom And President John F. Kennedy said in 1962: ...withdrawal in the case of Vietnam and the case of Thailand might mean a collapse of the entire area. A year later, he reaffirmed that: We are not going to withdraw from that effort. In my opinion, for us to withdraw from that effort would mean a collapse not only of South Vietnam, but Southeast Asia. So we are going to stay there, said President Kennedy.
President Park of Korea said: For the first time in our history, we decided to dispatch our combat troops overseas...because in our belief any aggression against the Republic of Vietnam represented a direct and grave menace against the security and peace of free Asia, and therefore directly jeopardized the very security and freedom of our own people. The Prime Minister of Malaysia warned his people that if the United States pulled out of South Vietnam, it would go to the Communists, and after that, it would be only a matter of time until they moved against neighboring states. The Prime Minister of New Zealand said We can thank God that America at least regards aggression in Asia with the same concern as it regards aggression in Europe and is prepared to back up its concern with action. The Prime Minister of Singapore said: I feel the fate of Asia, South and Southeast Asia, will be decided in the next few years by what happens in Vietnam.
I cannot tell you tonight as your President with certainty that a Communist conquest of South Vietnam would be followed by a Communist conquest of Southeast Asia. But I do know there are North Vietnamese troops in Laos. I do know that there are North Vietnamese trained guerrillas tonight in northeast Thailand. I do know that there are Communist supported guerrilla forces operating in Burma. And a Communist coup was barely averted in Indonesia, the fifth largest nation in the world. So your American President cannot tell you with certainty that a Southeast Asia dominated by Communist power would bring a third world war much closer to terrible reality. One could hope that this would not be so. But all that we have learned in this tragic century strongly suggests to me that it would be so. As President of the United States, I am not prepared to gamble on the chance that it is not so. I am not prepared to risk the security, indeed, the survival, of this American Nation on mere hope and wishful thinking. I am convinced that by seeing this struggle through now, we are greatly reducing the chances of a much larger war, perhaps a nuclear war. I would rather stand in Vietnam, in our time, and by meeting this danger now, and facing up to it, thereby reduce the danger for our children and for our grandchildren.
There is progress in the war itself, steady progress considering the war that we are fighting, rather dramatic progress considering the situation that actually prevailed when we sent our troops there in 1965, when we intervened to prevent the dismemberment of the country by the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese. The campaigns of the last year drove the enemy from many of their major interior bases. The military victory almost within Hanoi's grasp in 1965 has now been denied them. The grip of the Vietcong on the people is being broken. Since our commitment of major forces in July 1965 the proportion of the population living under Communist control has been reduced to well under 20 percent. Tonight the secure proportion of the population has grown from about 45 percent to 65 percent and in the contested areas, the tide continues to run with us. But the struggle remains hard. The South Vietnamese have suffered severely, as have we, particularly in the First Corps area in the north, where the enemy has mounted his heaviest attacks, and where his lines of communication to North Vietnam are shortest. Our casualties in the war have reached about 13,500 killed in action, and about 85,000 wounded. Of those 85,000 wounded, we thank God that 79,000 of the 85,000 have been returned, or will return to duty shortly. Thanks to our great American medical science and the helicopter.
The true peace keepers in the world tonight are not those who urge us to retire from the field in Vietnam, who tell us to try to find the quickest, cheapest exit from that tormented land, no matter what the consequences to us may be. The true peace keepers are those men who stand out there on the DMZ at this very hour, taking the worst that the enemy can give. The true peace keepers are the soldiers who are breaking the terrorist's grip around the villages of Vietnam, the civilians who are bringing medical care and food and education to people who have already suffered a generation of war.
And so I report to you that we are going to continue to press forward. Two things we must do. Two things we shall do. First, we must not mislead the enemy. Let him not think that debate and dissent will produce wavering and withdrawal. For I can assure you they won't. Let him not think that protests will produce surrender. Because it won't. Let him not think that he will wait us out. For he won't. Second, we will provide all that our brave men require to do the job that must be done. And that job is going to be done. These gallant men have our prayers, have our thanks, have our heart felt praise and our deepest gratitude. Let the world know that the keepers of peace will endure through every trial and that with the full backing of their countrymen, they are going to prevail.
At times of crisis, before asking Americans to fight and die to resist aggression in a foreign land, every American President has finally had to answer this question: Is the aggression a threat, not only to the immediate victim, but to the United States of America and to the peace and security of the entire world of which we in America are a very vital part? That is the question which Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson had to answer in facing the issue in Vietnam. That is the question that the Senate of the United States answered by a vote of 82 to 1 when it ratified and approved the SEATO treaty in 1955, and to which the Members of the United States Congress responded in a resolution that it passed in 1964 by a vote of 504 to 2, "... the United States is, therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom."
Why? Why should three Presidents and the elected representatives of our people have chosen to defend this Asian nation more than 10,000 miles from American shores? We cherish freedom, yes. We cherish self-determination for all people, yes. We abhor the political murder of any state by another, and the bodily murder of any people by gangsters of whatever ideology. And for 27 years, since the days of lend-lease, we have sought to strengthen free people against domination by aggressive foreign powers. But the key to all that we have done is really our own security.
Speaker Barnes, Governor Hughes, Governor Smith, Congressman Kazen, Representative Graham, most distinguished legislators, ladies and gentlemen: I deeply appreciate this opportunity to appear before an organization whose members contribute every day such important work to the public affairs of our State and of our country. This evening I came here to speak to you about Vietnam. I do not have to tell you that our people are profoundly concerned about that struggle. There are passionate convictions about the wisest course for our Nation to follow. There are many sincere and patriotic Americans who harbor doubts about sustaining the commitment that three Presidents and a half a million of our young men have made. Doubt and debate are enlarged because the problems of Vietnam are quite complex. They are a mixture of political turmoil, of poverty, of religious and factional strife, of ancient servitude and modern longing for freedom. Vietnam is all of these things. Vietnam is also the scene of a powerful aggression that is spurred by an appetite for conquest. It is the arena where Communist expansionism is most aggressively at work in the world today, where it is crossing international frontiers in violation of international agreements, where it is killing and kidnaping, where it is ruthlessly attempting to bend free people to its will. Into this mixture of subversion and war, of terror and hope, America has entered with its material power and with its moral commitment.
This is not simply an American viewpoint, I would have you legislative leaders know. I am going to call the roll now of those who live in that part of the world, in the great arc of Asian and Pacific nations, and who bear the responsibility for leading their people, and the responsibility for the fate of their people. The President of the Philippines had this to say: Vietnam is the focus of attention now ... It may happen to Thailand or the Philippines, or anywhere, wherever there is misery, disease, ignorance ... For you to renounce your position of leadership in Asia is to allow the Red Chinese to gobble up all of Asia. The Foreign Minister of Thailand said: (The American) decision will go down in history as the move that prevented the world from having to face another major conflagration. The Prime Minister of Australia said: We are there because while Communist aggression persists the whole of Southeast Asia is threatened.
MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon B. Johnson, Lyndon Johnson) continues, "After nearly a quarter century of danger and fear--reason and sanity have prevailed to reduce the danger and to greatly lessen the fear. Thus, all mankind is reassured. As the moment is reassuring, so it is, even more, hopeful and heartening. For this treaty is evidence that amid the tensions, the strife, the struggle, and the sorrow of these years, men of many nations have not lost the way-or have not lost the will--toward peace. The conclusion of this treaty encourages the hope that other steps may be taken toward a peaceful world. It is for these reasons--and in this perspective-that I have described this treaty as the most important international agreement since the beginning of the nuclear age. It enhances the security of all nations by significantly reducing the danger of nuclear war among nations. It encourages the peaceful use of nuclear energy by assuring safeguards against its destructive use. But, perhaps most significantly, the signing of this treaty keeps alive and keeps active the impulse toward a safer world. We are inclined to neglect and to overlook what that impulse has brought about in recent years. These have been fruitful times for the quiet works of diplomacy.
MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon B. Johnson, Lyndon Johnson) continues, "Furthermore, we have made clear to United Nations Security Council what would like to repeat today: If a state has accepted this treaty does not have weapons and is a victim of aggression, or is subject to a threat of aggression, involving nuclear weapons, the United States shall prepared to ask immediate Security Council action to provide assistance in accordance with the Charter. In welcoming the treaty that prevents the spread of nuclear weapons, I should like to repeat the United States commitment to honor all our obligations under existing treaties of mutual security. Such agreements have added greatly, we think, to the security of our Nation and the nations with which such agreements exist. They have created a degree of stability in a sometimes unstable world. This treaty is a very important security measure. But it also lays an indispensable foundation: --for expanded cooperation in the peaceful application of nuclear energy; --for additional measures to halt the nuclear arms race. We will cooperate fully to bring the treaty safeguards into being. We shall thus help provide the basis of confidence that is necessary for increased cooperation in the peaceful nuclear field.
MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon B. Johnson, Lyndon Johnson) begins speaking, "Secretary Rusk, Your Excellencies, honored Members of Congress, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: This is a very reassuring and hopeful moment in the relations among nations. We have come here today to the East Room of the White House to sign a treaty which limits the spread of nuclear weapons. More than 55 nations are here in Washington this morning to commit their governments to this treaty. Their representatives are also signing today in Moscow and in London. We hope and expect that virtually all the nations will move in the weeks and months ahead to accept this treaty which was commended to the world by the overwhelming majority of the members of the United Nations General Assembly. The treaty's purposes are very simple: --to commit the nations of the world which do not now have nuclear weapons not to produce or receive them in the future; --to assure equally that such nations have the full peaceful benefits of the atom; and --to commit the nuclear powers to move forward toward effective measures of arms control and disarmament. It was just a year ago that Chairman Kosygin and I agreed at Glassboro that we would work intensively in the time ahead to try to achieve this result."
MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon B. Johnson, Lyndon Johnson) continues, "After the treaty has come into force we will permit the International Atomic Energy Agency to apply its safeguards to all nuclear activities in the United States--excluding only those with direct national security significance. Thus, the United States is not asking any country to accept any safeguards that we are not willing to accept ourselves. As the treaty requires, we shall also engage in the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials, and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The needs of the developing nations will be given especially particular attention. We shall make readily available to the nonnuclear treaty partners the benefits of nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes. And we shall do so without delay and under the treaty's provisions. Now at this moment of achievement and great hope, I am gratified to be able to report and announce to the world a significant agreement--an agreement that we have actively sought and worked for since January 1964: Agreement has been reached between the Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States to enter in the nearest future into discussions on the limitation and the reduction of both offensive strategic nuclear weapons delivery systems and systems of defense against ballistic missiles."
MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon B. Johnson, Lyndon Johnson) continues, "Discussion of this most complex subject will not be easy. We have no illusions that it will be. I know the stubborn, patient persistence that it has required to come this far. We do not underestimate the difficulties that may lie ahead. I know the fears, the suspicions, and the anxieties that we shall have to overcome. But we do believe that the same spirit of accommodation that is reflected in the negotiation of the present treaty can bring us to a good and fruitful result. Man can still shape his destiny in the nuclear age--and learn to live as brothers. Toward that goal--the day when the world moves out of the night of war into the light of sanity and security--I solemnly pledge the resources, the resolve, and the unrelenting efforts of the people of the United States and their Government." MCU Johnson removes glasses, steps away from the podium. MS crowd applause as he sits.
MCU U.S. President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon B. Johnson, Lyndon Johnson) continues, "After long seasons of patient and painstaking negotiation, we have concluded, just within the past 5 years: --the Limited Test Ban Treaty, --the Outer Space Treaty, and --the treaty creating a nuclear-free zone in Latin America. The march of mankind is toward the summit--not the chasm. We must not, we shall not, allow that march to be interrupted. This treaty, like the treaties it follows, is not the work, as Secretary Rusk said, of any one particular nation. It is the accomplishment of nations which seek to exercise their responsibilities for maintaining peace and maintaining a stable world order. It is my hope--and the common will of mankind-that all nations will agree that this treaty affords them some added protection. We hope they will accept the treaty and thereby contribute further to international peace and security. As one of the nations having nuclear weapons, the United States--all through these years--has borne an awesome responsibility. This treaty increases that rest for we have pledged that we shall use our weapons only in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
Johnson Campaign: President Johnson among the Democratic supporters shaking hands. The 1964 National Democratic Convention was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Inside the Convention Center are throngs of supporters holding up posters, balloons, banners and signs of support. President Johnson on a raised state with his family. Back in Washington waling outside the White House with a crowd of people following him, as they all take part in the afternoon stroll President Johnson is talking and it looks like he is answering questions. The White House.
"President Johnson signs the most sweeping Civil Rights Bill ever to be written into law, 5 hours after it was passed by Congress." LS traffic on street in DC, Capitol Building in far dist. L/a TLS American flag flying from pole, Capitol Dome, Statue of Freedom. LS Reflecting Pool, Washington Monument in BG; TLS mother walking two children to foot of Lincoln statue at Lincoln Memorial; MS white woman & two kids looking up, admiring statue; l/a MS seated statue of Abe Lincoln; MS Lincoln statue w/ inscription on wall - "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever." LS South Lawn of White House (portico), water fountains in mid ground. MS chandelier, tilt down to TLS President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ) shaking hands with guests & politicians including Dr. Rev. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR before taking seat at desk; Vice-President HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, Senator EVERETT DIRKSEN, etc in front row. MSs President Lyndon Johnson at desk, folding paper, then delivering speech: "We must not approach the observance & the enforcement of this law in a vengeful spirit. Its purpose is not to punish. Its purpose is not to divide, but to end divisions, divisions which have lasted all too long. Its purpose is national, not regional. This Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities & our states, in our homes & in our hearts to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country. So tonight I urge every public official, every religious leader, every business & professional man, every working man & housewife, I urge every American to join in this effort to bring justice & hope to all our people & to bring peace to our land." TLS audience giving standing ovation, VP Hubert H, Humphrey leading the charge; Attorney General ROBERT F. KENNEDY claps politely, remains seated. Wide MS Congressional leaders surrounding LBJ for signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; MSs President Johnson signing; MS LBJ handing pens to Senator Everett Dirkson & Hubert H. Humphrey; MS Lyndon Baines Johnson handing pen, shaking hands w/ Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rep. PETER RODINO standing beside MLK, Bobby Kennedy among those in crowd; MS F.B.I. Director J. EDGAR HOOVER shaking hands, receiving pen, civil rights leader A. PHILIP RANDOLPH standing beside him, shaking hands with LBJ, receiving ceremonial pen; MS LBJ handing Attny. Gen. Robert F. Kennedy several pens (one can sense the extreme tension between these two). MS Sen. Everett Dirkson & VP Hubert H. Humphrey shaking hands.
Thurgood Marshall "Thurgood Marshall, pioneer civil rights lawyer, becomes the first Negro appointed to the Supreme Court. He replaces the resigning Justice Tom Clark. President Johnson calls him most qualified. " Flashback MSs NAACP legal director THURGOOD MARSHALL posing with two fellow lawyers during legal hearings of Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954. CUs Thurgood Marshall speaking at press conferences, 1960s. MS Thurgood Marshall talking with President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ) at press conference.
Master 1942 Part 2 LS people gathered at the burial site of LBJ for the funeral service. MS civilians gathered behind rope to pay their final respects, a young boy looks over rope to see what is happening. MSs of military at the service. MS civilians gathered for the funeral service. Low angle of tree tops. MSs civilians at the service.
Lyndon Johnson announcing passage of Voting Rights Act. Remarks in the Capitol Rotunda at the Signing of the Voting Rights Act. August 6, 1965. They came in darkness and they came in chains. And today we strike away the last major shackle of those fierce and ancient bonds.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson swamps Senator Barry Morris Goldwater to be elected 36th President of The United States. The voice of the People was heard in the land, sixty-eight million people going to the polls to choose the man who will lead them during the next four crucial years. Mr Johnson receives more than 61% of the popular vote and 486 electoral votes to Senator Goldwater's 52. It was an election that has political scientists wondering. Party lines were crossed, some local candidates ran ahead of the national tickets and split tickets were obviously common. Robert F. Kennedy, who came to New York to run, is elected Senator. His brother, Edward, is re-elected Senator from Massachusetts. Pierre Salinger, former White House Press Secretary, goes down to defeat at the hands of GOP candidate George Murphy in California. Thus it went, from coast-to-coast. Now, as usual, a nation split by a campaign will reunite itself behind it President. President Lyndon Baines Johnson standing at the podium delivering a speech. "I know that this is more than a victory of party or person. It is a tribute to the program that was begun by our beloved President, John F Kennedy. (Applause) It is a mandate for unity, for a government that serves no special interest, no business government, no labor government, no foreign government, no one faction no one group, but a government that is a servant of all the people." People going to the poles to cast their votes behind drawn curtains. People dropping their ballots into a ballot box. A farm. Older lady with white hair wearing a hairnet with a small black bow and polka dots. People inside a poling place. Texas "Johnson City" Home Town of Lyndon B. Johnson. Poling Place and people waiting outside for President and Lady Bird Johnson to arrive. President and Lady Bird casting their votes. President Johnson wearing a big smile. President Johnson and Lady Bird outside the poling place with many political fans around them. Phoenix, Arizona Barry Goldwater standing in line waiting to cast his vote. Senator Goldwater signing the voter's registration book at the poling place. Barry Goldwater going into a voting booth, he comes out giving the peace sign. Senator Goldwater standing among the people of Phoenix. New York, Ny A voting booth showing Robert F Kennedy on the ballot. Downtown New York City with all the bright lights. Republican Senator Keating. Crowd applauding Senator Keating. Robert Kennedy stepping up to the podium to give his acceptance speech. A large billboard showcasing Senator Edward Kennedy for re-election. Senator Edward Kennedy laying stomach down on a gurney. Senator Kennedy, his wife Joan and two children. California George Murphy defeats a former Kennedy aid. Exterior shot - Capitol Building summer day. All kinds of ethnic groups of people standing in line getting ready to cast their vote. Two African women dropping their votes into a ballot box. Washington, DC Exterior shot - White House, fountains in the pond are turned on, summer. President Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey
1965 BW footage of President Lyndon Johnson signing a Social Security bill introducing Medicare. Johnson describes the benefits of this new program, Through this new law, Mr. President, every citizen will be able - in his productive years, when he is earning - to ensure himself against the ravages of illness in his old age.
MS President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON & Sen. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY waving from podium at 1964 Democratic National Convention. MSs President Johnson pressing flesh, speaking on campaign trail. MSs students protesting at Columbia University, one man holding sign to boycott school food service. TLS US navy carrier at sea; MSs missiles being armed. MS President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON speaking to press after the Gulf of Tonkin excuse, er, incident. CU reporter scribbling in notebook. MS former Vice-President RICHARD M. NIXON speaking to reporters at airport, exhibiting support for increased U.S. military presence in Vietnam. MSs LBJ & Johnson Family stealthfully walking to podium after 1964 landslide victory over GOP; relishing the moment.
Outtakes from "The Last Two Days," a film documenting the last two days in the life of President John F. Kennedy, shot by White House personnel: Still photo of Judge Sarah T. Hughes administering Oath of Office to Lyndon Baines Johnson aboard Air Force One, Lady Bird Johnson & Jacqueline Kennedy watching on. Tighter framing of LBJ & Jackie.
Senator Lyndon Johnson.
Master 200, Tape 1 MS President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) walking down White House hallway. He enters a room for a meeting. MS White House aides walking down hallway and entering meeting room. MS/TLS LBJ confering with aides as they walk in hallway. TLS politicans, aides, secretaries leaving meeting room and following the President down the hallway.
TLS people in stands watching shuttle launch, many wearing sunglasses. MCU woman watching, puts hand over eyes to shield sun. MCU former U.S. President LYNDON B. JOHNSON (LBJ, Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon Baines Johnson) and Vice President SPIRO AGNEW (Spiro Theodore Agnew, Spiros Anagnostopoulos) watch spaceship shuttle launch. MS crowd. MCU Johnson and Agnew.
Senator Lyndon Johnson.
Making one of the most historic appearances since his inauguration, President Johnson, with his wife & daughters listening, tells a highly tensed Washington press conference of his new policy for Vietnam. President Johnson explains the reason for his action in these historic words. Panning TLS President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ) entering room packed with reporters. MS First Lady, LADY BIRD JOHNSON sitting in crowd. High angle LS President Johnson standing at podium with Presidential seal, hot TV lights overhead. Side view MS female reporter in white dress taking notes. CU President Lyndon Johnson speaking(We Will Stand in Vietnam Speech excerpts): "...we intend to convince the Communists that we cannot be defeated by force of arms or by superior power. They are not easily convinced. In recent months they have greatly increased their fighting forces and their attacks and the number of incidents. I have asked the Commanding General, General Westmoreland, what more he needs to meet this mounting aggression. He has told me. We will meet his needs. I have today ordered to Viet-Nam the Air Mobile Division and certain other forces which will raise our fighting strength from 75,000 to 125,000 men almost immediately. Additional forces will be needed later, and they will be sent as requested. This will make it necessary to increase our active fighting forces by raising the monthly draft call from 17,000 over a period of time (cutaway MS's - young men standing in line at U.S. draft board, signing paperwork, being sworn into the military, induction) to 35,000 per month, and for us to step up our campaign for voluntary enlistments. ... once the Communists know, as we know, that a violent solution is impossible, then a peaceful solution is inevitable. ... I have spoken many times of our objectives in Viet-Nam. So has the Government of South Viet-Nam. Hanoi has set forth its own proposals. We are ready to discuss their proposals and our proposals and any proposals of any government whose people may be affected, for we fear the meeting room no more than we fear the battlefield. In this pursuit we welcome and we ask for the concern and the assistance of any nation and all nations."
Master 200, Tape 1 MS President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) shaking hands with a crowd in Hawaii. A young girl puts a pink floral lei around his neck and kisses his cheek. Nice shots of him pressing the flesh and greeting people, who seem very excited to see him. MS LBJ with a neck full of leis shaking hands with an official. MS soldiers taking to each other. MS soldiers saluting. MS President Johnson shaking hands with an official. The man gives the president another lei. TLS Air Force One with sailors standing guard. MS American flag decal on plane. TLS President Johnson boarding Air Force One. TLS Air Force One taxiing. MS two Hawaiian women wearing matching dresses and red leis (maybe stewardesses?).
President Lyndon Johnson signs the tax cut bill into law just 13 months after it was proposed to Congress by President Kennedy. Less than six hours after final Congressional passage, he affixes his signature to the act that will mean $11 1/2 billion in the pockets of taxpayers. Washington DC President Johnson shaking hands with cabinet members, Senator Dirkson of Illinois is off to the left as you face the footage. MS - President Johnson signing the tax cut bill a reality. Camera pans - Members of Congress. President Lyndon Banes Johnson, "There is no asset more precious to freedom, there is no guarantee more vital to liberty and a robust American economy. Noone can bury us, or bluff us, or beat us, so long as our economy remains strong. No economic system anywhere has ever had the success of the American economy. By placing maximum reliance on the initiative, and the creative energies of individual businessmen and workers, we have created here in our land the most prosperous nation in the history of the world."
At Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, President and Mrs. Johnson are among a huge crowd of relatives and friend who welcome home 18 wounded Vietnam veterans. The GI's are taken to military hospitals for further treatment. San Antonio, Texas A large crowd gathers at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. A military air-lift plane taxing on the tarmac. Air Force military men standing at attention. CUS President Lyndon Baines John and Lady Bird Johnson. Eighteen wounded military soldiers disembarking from the plane. President Johnson at the end of the stairs greets and shakes hand's with one of the first wounded soldiers. Mrs. Johnson at the President's side, shakes the hand of the soldier as well. Linda Bird Johnson stands with her parents shaking the hands of the wounded solider Felton Frost, of Dupatch, Louisiana, as he is carried off the plane and on to the ambulance he is still receiving blood plaza as he is carried off the plane.
Johnson In Far East Vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson swings through the far east on a mission designed to reaffirm the U.S. Pledge that southeast Asian will never be abandoned to the reds. He visits South Vietnam, Formosa and Manila at the start of his tour. Johnson shakes hands with civilians along parade route.
(Color) Tet Offensive, 1968: panning CU South Vietnamese ARVN soldier walking with M-16 rifle; MS ARVN soldiers in tiger camoflague crouched behind half-wall, firing M-16 rifle; panning MS ARVN & U.S. Marines engaged in combat on roof of building; TLS troops courched behind armored personnel carrier (APC); MS two Marines leaping for cover while trying to recover body of fallen comrade. CU Senator EUGENE MCCARTHY (D-MN) speaking out against the war: "The failure of war has come to replace the successes we beginning to gain in the field of peace." MCU President LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ) announcing his exit from the presidential campaign in national address, Mar 31, 1968: "I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office. Accordingly, I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President."
Johnson On Six Nation Tour Vice-President Lyndon Johnson visits Lebanon and Iran on his foreign aid fact finding trip. Lebanon, once recipient of U.S. aid, now supports itself while Iran is on the economic road to recovery. High angle of crowds surrounding motorcade. People along parade route. Johnson seen standing and waving from car, as it travels down street. Vice President Johnson wearing sunglasses, smiles and waves to crowd.
MCU Soviet ambassador ANATOLY F. DOBRYNIN begins to speak, "Mr., President, Secretary Rusk, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the treaty on nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, the signing of which commences today is an important international agreement, the conclusion of the treaty marks significance progress towards delivery of mankind from the nuclear threat and thus it is a major success for the cause of peace. The fact that the treaty has been commended by the overwhelming majority of United Nations members, and is going to signed by a great number of states is a convincing proof of their capability of finding mutually acceptable solutions for most vital and most complicated international problems. The bringing about of the treaty is the result of persistent and prolonged efforts of a number of states with the Soviet Union and the United States playing a prominent role. So the treaty which actually meets the views and visions of the whole international community rests on a durable and reliable base. The treaty follows the positive pattern of the Moscow treaty, banning nuclear tests, and the treaty prohibiting the use of outer space for military purposes. And to possess one more practical step to limit the arms race, creates more favorable conditions for progress in....under the provisions of the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons each party undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith, on effective measures relating to the cessation of the arms race and to nuclear disarmament. To obtain this great goal, my government, as his prime minister ... has emphasized on his signing in Moscow on the occasion of signing this treaty he is ready to make new efforts, nuclear decisions, thank you very much." MS returns to his seat.
Barry Goldwater standing at a podium. Republican Convention at Reunion Arena. President Johnson shaking hands with he public.
Johnson Campaign: United Steelworkers of America welcomes President Johnson. MS - President Johnson standing on a raised platform speaking to a crowd of political supporters. President Lyndon Baines Johnson, "A united country, a unified America, submerging pay difference in common purpose will find no limit to its achievement. We have the knowledge. We have the resources. We have the tools. All we need is the courage and the faith and the vision. You know in your heart I'm telling you the truth."
Johnson Campaign: The First Lady as well as Luci and Lynda Bird on the campaign circuit. The girls presiding at barbecues. Lucy Johnson at a BBQ. Looks good their making ribs. Lady Bird Johnson with her daughter Linda standing on the back of a campaign train waving to the public. Johnson campaign circuit. Whistle-stopping through Dixie.
Johnson Campaign: President Lyndon Johnson takes to the campaign trail with the verve of an old campaigner. To the dismay of the Secret Service, he insists on mixing with the crowds. Throngs holding LBJ poster board signs. President Johnson waving, smiling and shaking hands of the public.
Master 3 - Tape 1 President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Rapid Transit Bill. Exterior in the Rose Garden, just outside the President's office. Slightly overhead MS from side of LBJ signing bill on desk. Uses different pens to sign it then in a CU it appears he hands out the pens to some of the onlookers. Front view (over the heads of onlookers) of LBJ signing bill. Press photographers in front snap pictures. MS/CU of President. Presidential seal in foreground. CU of LBJ's hand on pen, next to bill, CU bill. Low anlge MS of Johnson handing out pens to spectators. WS LBJ signing bill in rose garden. MS/CU LBJ from behind as he greets onlookers. CU pens stacked on signing desk. Partial MS of posed officals. Brief WS LBJ at desk surrounded by officials, presidential podium visible with presidential seal in b/g. MS flowers in garden - pan/tilt up to WS crowd in rose garden. Senator Edmund Muskie is in the foreground of one scene.
LSs Johnson family arriving. LS funeral procession.
Dark MS of Johnson family standing in a line receiving mourning visitors. GV people paying their respects as they walk past LBJ's casket which is draped with the American flag. Dark MSs of family receiving visitors. GV casket.
LS chairs set up at burial site in cemetery. MS people arriving at cemetery. GVs of military standing on site. Pan as soldier carries a burial wreath. MS people at cemetery. LSs funeral procession to burial site. Low angle shot looking up at tree tops. LS people gathered at cemetery.
MS military men saluting. MSs men standing with their hats off in respect. LSs people leaving cemetery. Low angle of flags flying.
MS John Connally at podium speaking at funeral.
MS woman singing at podium, pan of ceremonial folding of the American flag that was draped over casket.
LS 21s gun salute.
Slow traveling shot past road sign reading "Johnson City", shot continues past fence with "Home Town of Lyndon B Johnson" written on it. MS sign reading "Boyhood Home Parking Information" with an arrow pointing to the right, pan out to reveal a modest white house. Traveling shot of rural landscape. MS gate entrance reading "LBJ Range", rural property is seen in the distance.
MS Billy Graham speaking to crowd at funeral.
GV people standing in line in front of building waiting to pay their final respects. MS Johnson family arriving. MS interview with woman standing in line, she states that LBJ was a wonderful president. MS interview with man standing in line, he states that LBJ was the first president he was old enough to vote for.
GV band in street performing "I've Been Work'n on the Railroad".
LS ranch property, pan back to reveal reporter standing on river bank, he talks about the life of LBJ. LS ranch property with trees and winding river.
