LBJ Time Machine

April 25, 1967. After the memorial service for Konrad Adenauer,...

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:01:01 -0600

April 25, 1967. After the memorial service for Konrad Adenauer, President Johnson attends a luncheon at German President Luebke’s residence where he sits next to President DeGaulle of France.

National Security Advisor Walt Rostow described the meeting for the Daily Diary:

“The two were extremely courtly and courteous to each other. There was virtually nothing of substance except for some elegant fencing on who should invite whom to what country. The duel ended in a draw: no visit decided upon as of this moment. DeGaulle offered the President the biggest chateau outside of Paris, and the President countered by saying that he would always be glad to see him sometime, perhaps when DeGaulle comes through en route to Expo ‘67—in other words, no hits, no runs, and no errors—no ball game.”

Top: LBJ Library photo A4047-7, public domain. President Luebke’s residence photo courtesy of the German Federal Archives via Wikimedia Commons.

LBJ Presidential Library photo A4047-8.

April 23, 1967. President Johnson travels to Germany to attend...

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:01:28 -0600

April 23, 1967. President Johnson travels to Germany to attend the funeral for Konrad Adenauer, former Chancellor of West Germany. Chancellor Adenauer had visited the LBJ Ranch in 1961.

LBJ Presidential Library Navy Film, April 1967.

April 21, 1967, 6:30 pm. President Johnson receives updated...

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:01:39 -0600

April 21, 1967, 6:30 pm. President Johnson receives updated information about the military coup in Greece. In this new memo, National Security Advisor Walt Rostow explains that rather than being involved in the coup, King Constantine had the new leadership forced upon him. There are initial rumors of a possible counter-coup, but over the next several days and weeks, the new regime establishes power in Greece.

Memo, Rostow to the President, 4/21/67, #118, “Greece, Volume 2,” Country File, NSF, Box 126, LBJ Library.

April 21, 1967, 12:30 am. The Situation Room informs the...

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:47:58 -0600

April 21, 1967, 12:30 am. The Situation Room informs the President about the early morning military coup in Greece. Details emerge throughout the day about the overthrow of the Greek Government. While the Prime Minister as well as other political leaders are arrested, King Constantine seems to remain in power. This leads some to question whether the King was involved in the coup.

Memo, Situation Room to the President, 4/21/67, #122, “Greece, Volume 2,” Country File, NSF, Box 126, LBJ Library.

"I have always believed that we make our decisions around here on the basis of merit and merit alone,..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:00:44 -0600

“I have always believed that we make our decisions around here on the basis of merit and merit alone, but when I observe that the Teacher of the Year whom we honor is from Minnesota and has some direct associates in the crowd called Humphrey, I do know what they would say if the situation should be reversed and the teacher came from Texas and his name were Johnson—someone would think there’s been some wheeling and dealing somewhere!”

- President Johnson’s Remarks Upon Presenting the National Teacher of the Year Award, April 19, 1967.

April 18, 1967. LBJ, Luci, and Lady Bird greet visitors the...

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:01:08 -0600

April 18, 1967. LBJ, Luci, and Lady Bird greet visitors the Ranch, including Mr. Robert Kleberg, nephew of Richard M. Kleberg--who was LBJ’s boss in Washington all those years ago.

“The President asked Luci Nugent when she was born - she replied 1947. The President then mentioned having worked for Mr. Robert Kleberg [sic] 14 years before Luci was even born.”

- The President’s Daily Diary, April 18, 1967. LBJ Presidential Library photo #C5093-7, public domain.

April 18, 1967. Jackie Robinson sends this letter to LBJ,...

Mon, 13 May 2013 08:00:33 -0600

April 18, 1967. Jackie Robinson sends this letter to LBJ, thanking him for his work on civil rights but expressing concern about the growing impact of Vietnam.

White House Central File, Name File, “Robinson, Jackie (baseball player),” box 209, LBJ Library.

April 1967. Al DeMailo, a Huey gunship pilot with the 1st Cavalry Division, arrives in Vietnam for...

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:00:58 -0600

April 1967. Al DeMailo, a Huey gunship pilot with the 1st Cavalry Division, arrives in Vietnam for the first time.

Q: In terms of your understanding of Vietnam and what the United States was trying to do in Vietnam, before you left, what did you understand was going on?

A: Very naïve. Thought it was good against bad. We were there to stop the red hordes and Communism. Of course we had no plan as I found out later. That’s what I thought. We were there to do something good. My second two tours I found out that maybe it just wasn’t that way.

Interview with Alfred DeMailo by Stephen Maxner, Jan 24-28, 2003, Alfred DeMailo Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University Interview 1, page 7.

LBJ returns to Texas and domestic concerns.

Thu, 09 May 2013 08:00:44 -0600

April 14-15, 1967:

12:33am - 1:55am. Returned to the Main House - to the Office - where Pres. and Mrs. Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Krim, were joined by Luci and Patrick Nugent (fm Mr. Krim) - conversation ranged from the Punta del Este successful trip to Johnson holdings, politics, Luci’s forthcoming baby, construction addition to President’s bedroom.

—The President’s Daily Diary, April 14, 1967. View Mathilde and Daphne Krim’s recollections of hanging out with LBJ here.

“We met at Punta del Este for three days, April 12-14, 1967....

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:00:48 -0600

“We met at Punta del Este for three days, April 12-14, 1967. They were days of work as intensive as any I had experienced, except during a major crisis. There were formal conference meetings at Punta del Este, and between sessions I met for an hour or so with eleven Latin American Presidents, one President-elect, and one Prime Minister. I also had a working dinner with the Central American presidents. This gave us a chance to talk not only about overall hemisphere problems but about important bilateral problems. With President Raul Leoni of Venezuela, for example, I settled a difference over oil imports. I also agreed to provide special equipment that he urgently needed to cope with Castro-directed guerrilla operations. With President Marco Aurelio Robles of Panama, I agreed to speed negotiation of a Panama Canal treaty. When I checked the list of items for action after the conference, I found that a dozen of the thirty substantial matters had arisen from my bilateral talks.”

—Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Vantage Point, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971), 350. Photos: LBJ Presidential Library 5072-18, A3989-35, A3992-20, and C5066-7a; public domain.

April 14, 1967. “DREW PEARSON SAYS: AMBITION AND JEALOUSY PLAGUE LATIN AMERICA; ECUADOR...

Tue, 07 May 2013 08:00:00 -0600

April 14, 1967.

“DREW PEARSON SAYS:

AMBITION AND JEALOUSY PLAGUE LATIN AMERICA; ECUADOR DETERMINED TO RECOVER LAND LOST TO PERU; CHILE AND BOLIVIA REMAIN DIPLOMATIC STRANGERS”

Another perspective on LBJ’s recent trip to meet with Latin American leaders at Punta del Este, from columnist Drew Pearson in his column The Washington Merry-Go-Round. Pearson had traveled to Latin America himself in January, and met with LBJ on his return.

April 13-14, 1967. In the early morning hours of April 14th, the...

Mon, 06 May 2013 08:00:45 -0600

April 13-14, 1967. In the early morning hours of April 14th, the National Military Command Center (NMCC) lost all contact with Punta del Este and, therefore, the President. For about an hour, different methods were attempted in an effort to regain communication with the President, including sending communication through the CIA until they too lost contact. Finally, communications were re-established and communication traffic was able to continue as normal.

Log, Situation Room Log for April 13-14, 4/13-14/1967, #78, “Situation Room Log, Volume 6,” Situation Room File, NSF, Box 2, LBJ Presidential Library.

April 12-14, 1967. President Johnson attends meetings at the...

Sun, 05 May 2013 10:01:35 -0600

April 12-14, 1967. President Johnson attends meetings at the Punta del Este Summit. On April 13th, Johnson delivers his remarks at the public session of the meeting.

“It is our duty—we who hold public office and bear great private responsibilities—to create an environment in which you can build your part of the new America.

It is your duty to prepare yourselves now—to use the tools of learning, and the idealism that is your natural heritage, for the humane purposes that lie deep in our common civilization.

You cry out for change, for what President Franklin Roosevelt called a New Deal. And you do not want it imposed from above. You want a chance to help shape the conditions of your own lives.

You—the youth of the Americas—should know that revolutions of fire have brought men in this hemisphere, and in jungles half the world away, still greater tyrannies than those they fought to cast off.

Now, here in the countries of the Alliance, a peaceful revolution has affirmed man’s ability to change the conditions of his life through the institutions of democracy. In your hands is the task of carrying it forward.

The pace of change is not fast enough. It will remain too slow—unless you join your energies, your skills and commitments in a mighty effort that extends into the farthest reaches of this hemisphere.

The time is now. The responsibility is ours.

So let us declare the next 10 years the decade of urgency.

Let us match our resolve and our resources to the common tasks—until the dream of a new America is accomplished and is a reality in the lives of all of our people.”

—Remarks in Punta del Este at the Public Session of the Meeting of American Chiefs of State. April 13, 1967.

Check out the section of the Navy Film covering the Summit meetings, including some of the President’s remarks, above.

April 11, 1967. President Johnson awakens aboard Air Force One...

Sat, 04 May 2013 10:01:33 -0600

April 11, 1967. President Johnson awakens aboard Air Force One en route to Montevideo, Uruguay where he will attend the Punta del Este Summit meeting between nations involved in the Alliance for Progress. While there, Johnson hopes to strengthen the Alliance for Progress as well as focus on the development of a common market in Latin America.

LBJ Presidential Library photo A3986-23a, 5046-15, A3978-28, A3980-04a, A3975-05, A3975-15, A3983-18, A3980-19a, C5024-21a, C5025-36a; public domain.

April 10, 1967. Sen. Mike Mansfield (Democratic Majority Leader)...

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:00:58 -0600

April 10, 1967. Sen. Mike Mansfield (Democratic Majority Leader) and Sen. Everett Dirksen (Republican Minority Leader) attend LBJ’s bipartisan Congressional leadership meeting in the Cabinet Room.

“Now the purpose of my mission was to listen, to look, and to learn—and where, if called...

Fri, 03 May 2013 08:00:38 -0600

“Now the purpose of my mission was to listen, to look, and to learn—and where, if called upon—to explain. In so doing, I was given the opportunity to see Europe as it is more than two decades after the end of World War II—20 years after the inception of the Marshall Plan—and to years after the signing of the Rome treaties.

“I saw a new Western Europe that has achieved an unprecedented degree of well-being, prosperity, and security, and an increased sense of identity and pride. That Europe, Mr. President, is testimony to the soundness of our policies, past and present, and to the genius and industry of the people and of the nations of that continent.”

--Vice President Hubert Humphrey, 4/10/1967, upon returning from his trip to Europe.

April 8, 1967. 2:25 PM. LBJ meets with Postmaster General Larry...

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:00:44 -0600

April 8, 1967. 2:25 PM. LBJ meets with Postmaster General Larry O’Brien in the Oval Office.

LBJ Presidential Library photo #4992-26.

April 6, 1967. LBJ presents a posthumous Medal of Honor to...

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:29:34 -0600

April 6, 1967. LBJ presents a posthumous Medal of Honor to Specialist Four Daniel Fernandez, US Army. The President and First Lady met in the Oval Office with members of the Fernandez family, along with guests from the Dept. of Defense, Congress, Veterans’ Administration, and other agencies.

LBJ Presidential Library photo #C4970-8, public domain.

April 3, 1967. Leaving behind the informality of their weekend...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:22:58 -0600

April 3, 1967. Leaving behind the informality of their weekend at the Ranch, LBJ and Lady Bird return to formal Washington. They host the Turkish President Cevdet Sunay at the White House.

LBJ Presidential Library photos #C4907-13, arrival ceremony at the White House; #C4939-33, the reception that night. Public domain.

April 2, 1967. The Johnsons are on their way from San Antonio to...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:00:00 -0600

April 2, 1967. The Johnsons are on their way from San Antonio to Austin:

“While flying over San Marcos, the President had the chopper divert off regular flight pattern and circle over the college (Southwest Texas State College)…

Arrive Balcones Research Center, landing in a field of bluebonnets which afforded much delight to the President and Mrs. Johnson.”

They are shown possible materials for the exterior of the LBJ Library, on the University of Texas campus. One type is emerging as a favorite:

“Several buildings are made, around the University and Austin, of the shellstone — the museum of history, etc. Mrs. Johnson said she favored this, for it has such as interesting texture and history since ‘it once lived on the floor of the ocean.’ Mrs. Johnson seemed to lean toward a shellstone with the Italian travertine floors….

The President said that all three — the shellstone and the New Mexico and Italian travertine—should be bid for the sake of good business. Thus also it could be justified that the reason a foreign product was imported was for economies sake, since a State Institution (The University of Texas) must take the most economical route.”

—The President’s Daily Diary, April 2, 1966. Pg. 4. Photo of UT via Wikimedia Commons.