May 12, 1967. Tensions in the Middle East are ratcheted upwards when Israel warns that continued attacks will bring serious consequences for the region. In 1966, a new radical government gained control in Syria and increases terrorist attacks against Israel. LBJ later described the escalation: “In November 1966 they [Israel] struck the Jordanian town of Es Samu, which they believed had been used as a base by Syrian terrorists. Retaliation had little effect. Syria and Egypt concluded a mutual defense agreement. Terrorist raids continued and tension increased into the Spring of 1967.  On May 12 of that year Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol warned that more terrorism would bring further retaliatory action. Reports spread in Damascus that the Israelis were mobilizing major forces on the Syrian frontier for full-scale action.  We investigated, found the reports to be untrue, and informed the Russians and the nations bordering on Israel of this fact.  UN Secretary General U Thant spoke publicly to the same effect. At the same time, we received reports that Moscow had promised unlimited support to the Syrians…The Russians denied all knowledge of such a promise…Nevertheless, the Russians were helping to spread the rumor that the Israelis were mobilizing with the intention of striking Syria in a few days…Our reports indicated that the purpose of these rumors was to pressure Egypt into military support of Syria.” —Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Vantage Point, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971, pg. 289. LBJ Presidential Library photo, A5376-37, public domain. Map of Middle East via Google Maps. 
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May 12, 1967. Tensions in the Middle East are ratcheted upwards when Israel warns that continued attacks will bring serious consequences for the region. In 1966, a new radical government gained control in Syria and increases terrorist attacks against Israel. LBJ later described the escalation: “In November 1966 they [Israel] struck the Jordanian town of Es Samu, which they believed had been used as a base by Syrian terrorists. Retaliation had little effect. Syria and Egypt concluded a mutual defense agreement. Terrorist raids continued and tension increased into the Spring of 1967.  On May 12 of that year Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol warned that more terrorism would bring further retaliatory action. Reports spread in Damascus that the Israelis were mobilizing major forces on the Syrian frontier for full-scale action.  We investigated, found the reports to be untrue, and informed the Russians and the nations bordering on Israel of this fact.  UN Secretary General U Thant spoke publicly to the same effect. At the same time, we received reports that Moscow had promised unlimited support to the Syrians…The Russians denied all knowledge of such a promise…Nevertheless, the Russians were helping to spread the rumor that the Israelis were mobilizing with the intention of striking Syria in a few days…Our reports indicated that the purpose of these rumors was to pressure Egypt into military support of Syria.” —Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Vantage Point, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971, pg. 289. LBJ Presidential Library photo, A5376-37, public domain. Map of Middle East via Google Maps. 
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May 12, 1967. Tensions in the Middle East are ratcheted upwards when Israel warns that continued attacks will bring serious consequences for the region.

In 1966, a new radical government gained control in Syria and increases terrorist attacks against Israel. LBJ later described the escalation:

“In November 1966 they [Israel] struck the Jordanian town of Es Samu, which they believed had been used as a base by Syrian terrorists.

Retaliation had little effect. Syria and Egypt concluded a mutual defense agreement. Terrorist raids continued and tension increased into the Spring of 1967.  On May 12 of that year Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol warned that more terrorism would bring further retaliatory action. Reports spread in Damascus that the Israelis were mobilizing major forces on the Syrian frontier for full-scale action.  We investigated, found the reports to be untrue, and informed the Russians and the nations bordering on Israel of this fact.  UN Secretary General U Thant spoke publicly to the same effect.

At the same time, we received reports that Moscow had promised unlimited support to the Syrians…The Russians denied all knowledge of such a promise…Nevertheless, the Russians were helping to spread the rumor that the Israelis were mobilizing with the intention of striking Syria in a few days…Our reports indicated that the purpose of these rumors was to pressure Egypt into military support of Syria.”

—Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Vantage Point, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971, pg. 289. LBJ Presidential Library photo, A5376-37, public domain. Map of Middle East via Google Maps. 

May 11, 1967. 5;15 PM-5:25 PM. The American Helicopter Society presents LBJ and Lady Bird with an award in recognition of “your nearly 20 years of pioneering and regular utilization of helicopters for reliable, time-saving transportation in all parts of the world.” Of course, LBJ’s use of the helicopter in the 1948 campaign was especially innovative—and terrifying.  Photos clockwise from top: Signing the Immigration Bill, 10/3/65 (C666-6A-WH65); ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-26); travelling in Malaysia, 10/30/66 (a3440-4); picking up the Humphreys at the Ranch, 11/9/64,  and the ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-18). 
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May 11, 1967. 5;15 PM-5:25 PM. The American Helicopter Society presents LBJ and Lady Bird with an award in recognition of “your nearly 20 years of pioneering and regular utilization of helicopters for reliable, time-saving transportation in all parts of the world.” Of course, LBJ’s use of the helicopter in the 1948 campaign was especially innovative—and terrifying.  Photos clockwise from top: Signing the Immigration Bill, 10/3/65 (C666-6A-WH65); ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-26); travelling in Malaysia, 10/30/66 (a3440-4); picking up the Humphreys at the Ranch, 11/9/64,  and the ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-18). 
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May 11, 1967. 5;15 PM-5:25 PM. The American Helicopter Society presents LBJ and Lady Bird with an award in recognition of “your nearly 20 years of pioneering and regular utilization of helicopters for reliable, time-saving transportation in all parts of the world.” Of course, LBJ’s use of the helicopter in the 1948 campaign was especially innovative—and terrifying.  Photos clockwise from top: Signing the Immigration Bill, 10/3/65 (C666-6A-WH65); ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-26); travelling in Malaysia, 10/30/66 (a3440-4); picking up the Humphreys at the Ranch, 11/9/64,  and the ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-18). 
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May 11, 1967. 5;15 PM-5:25 PM. The American Helicopter Society presents LBJ and Lady Bird with an award in recognition of “your nearly 20 years of pioneering and regular utilization of helicopters for reliable, time-saving transportation in all parts of the world.” Of course, LBJ’s use of the helicopter in the 1948 campaign was especially innovative—and terrifying.  Photos clockwise from top: Signing the Immigration Bill, 10/3/65 (C666-6A-WH65); ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-26); travelling in Malaysia, 10/30/66 (a3440-4); picking up the Humphreys at the Ranch, 11/9/64,  and the ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-18). 
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May 11, 1967. 5;15 PM-5:25 PM. The American Helicopter Society presents LBJ and Lady Bird with an award in recognition of “your nearly 20 years of pioneering and regular utilization of helicopters for reliable, time-saving transportation in all parts of the world.” Of course, LBJ’s use of the helicopter in the 1948 campaign was especially innovative—and terrifying.  Photos clockwise from top: Signing the Immigration Bill, 10/3/65 (C666-6A-WH65); ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-26); travelling in Malaysia, 10/30/66 (a3440-4); picking up the Humphreys at the Ranch, 11/9/64,  and the ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-18). 
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May 11, 1967. 5;15 PM-5:25 PM. The American Helicopter Society presents LBJ and Lady Bird with an award in recognition of “your nearly 20 years of pioneering and regular utilization of helicopters for reliable, time-saving transportation in all parts of the world.” Of course, LBJ’s use of the helicopter in the 1948 campaign was especially innovative—and terrifying. 

Photos clockwise from top: Signing the Immigration Bill, 10/3/65 (C666-6A-WH65); ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-26); travelling in Malaysia, 10/30/66 (a3440-4); picking up the Humphreys at the Ranch, 11/9/64,  and the ‘48 campaign (48-6-7-18). 

May 9, 1967. President Lyndon B. Johnson greets His Excellency Yen Chia-Kan of the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan, at his Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. Later that day the two leaders exchange gifts. According to the Daily Diary, LBJ’s gift to the Chinese leader included a hi-fi and records.  LBJ Presidential Library photos # C5331-13 and A4092-11, public domain. 
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May 9, 1967. President Lyndon B. Johnson greets His Excellency Yen Chia-Kan of the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan, at his Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. Later that day the two leaders exchange gifts. According to the Daily Diary, LBJ’s gift to the Chinese leader included a hi-fi and records.  LBJ Presidential Library photos # C5331-13 and A4092-11, public domain. 
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May 9, 1967. President Lyndon B. Johnson greets His Excellency Yen Chia-Kan of the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan, at his Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. Later that day the two leaders exchange gifts. According to the Daily Diary, LBJ’s gift to the Chinese leader included a hi-fi and records. 

LBJ Presidential Library photos # C5331-13 and A4092-11, public domain. 

May 2, 1967. The Daily Diary records a White House visit by the brother of one of LBJ’s secretaries, Yolanda Boozer.  “5:30p to 6:20p. To the barbershop.  6:20p to 6:25p. From the barbershop, the President walked up the hall, asking, “Where are Yolanda and the brother?” — MW [Marvin Watson] told him they were in the Fish Room—and the President went in to greet Captain Xavier Garza, USAF — The President asked Capt Garza how told he was—couldn’t believe that he was 35 years old. Asked him where he would be stationed and what he would be going. Pictures were made. Told Capt Garza how proud he was of Yolanda and what a good loyal job she was doing for the President. NOTE : Captain Garza is holding secret orders — destination VietNam.”  LBJ Presidential Library photo #A4058-11, public domain. 
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May 2, 1967. The Daily Diary records a White House visit by the brother of one of LBJ’s secretaries, Yolanda Boozer. 

“5:30p to 6:20p. To the barbershop. 

6:20p to 6:25p. From the barbershop, the President walked up the hall, asking, “Where are Yolanda and the brother?” — MW [Marvin Watson] told him they were in the Fish Room—and the President went in to greet Captain Xavier Garza, USAF — The President asked Capt Garza how told he was—couldn’t believe that he was 35 years old. Asked him where he would be stationed and what he would be going. Pictures were made. Told Capt Garza how proud he was of Yolanda and what a good loyal job she was doing for the President.

NOTE : Captain Garza is holding secret orders — destination VietNam.” 

LBJ Presidential Library photo #A4058-11, public domain. 

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.
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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 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.
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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.

“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.
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“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.
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“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.
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“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.
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“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.

“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 1, 1967. The Latin American Ambassadors, having arrived safely in Texas on Air Force One, receive a briefing on the plans for HemisFair ‘68, and then tour the 92.6-acre site on the southeastern edge of the San Antonio business district  The HemisFair will celebrate the “Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas,”  and it will coincide with the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio.  Photo of HemisFair Park by Traveling Fools of America. Street view of entrance to LBJ Ranch and Map showing distance from HemisFair Park to the LBJ Ranch.
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April 1, 1967. The Latin American Ambassadors, having arrived safely in Texas on Air Force One, receive a briefing on the plans for HemisFair ‘68, and then tour the 92.6-acre site on the southeastern edge of the San Antonio business district  The HemisFair will celebrate the “Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas,”  and it will coincide with the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio.  Photo of HemisFair Park by Traveling Fools of America. Street view of entrance to LBJ Ranch and Map showing distance from HemisFair Park to the LBJ Ranch.
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April 1, 1967. The Latin American Ambassadors, having arrived safely in Texas on Air Force One, receive a briefing on the plans for HemisFair ‘68, and then tour the 92.6-acre site on the southeastern edge of the San Antonio business district  The HemisFair will celebrate the “Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas,”  and it will coincide with the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio. 

Photo of HemisFair Park by Traveling Fools of America. Street view of entrance to LBJ Ranch and Map showing distance from HemisFair Park to the LBJ Ranch.

March 22, 1967. LBJ has an off-the-record visit with Henry Hall Wilson, his liaison with House of Representatives, and a Congresswoman from Michigan named Martha W. Griffiths.  Wilson’s memo describes their 20-minute meeting:  “Mrs. Griffiths urged that the President take steps in various directions to provide for equality of the sexes in federal statute and departmental regulations.” Griffiths was already a well-known advocate for women’s rights. Her most famous work is still to come, however: in 1970 she will lead the fight in the House for the Equal Rights Amendment.  Photo from the Library of Congress.
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March 22, 1967. LBJ has an off-the-record visit with Henry Hall Wilson, his liaison with House of Representatives, and a Congresswoman from Michigan named Martha W. Griffiths. 

Wilson’s memo describes their 20-minute meeting: 

“Mrs. Griffiths urged that the President take steps in various directions to provide for equality of the sexes in federal statute and departmental regulations.”

Griffiths was already a well-known advocate for women’s rights. Her most famous work is still to come, however: in 1970 she will lead the fight in the House for the Equal Rights Amendment. 

Photo from the Library of Congress.

Lyndon Johnson, as we all know, is as self-centered a man as ever was; but he has the capacity to empathize with very intimate human problems, of people who are of some concern to him, and many who are not. He can feel; when an old woman falls down in the street, his shins ache a little.


He’s a hard-nosed guy and he’s tough as nails, but he has that capacity for empathy that came out in very peculiar ways. As cruel as he can be, or as ruthless as he can be, he also has that ‘individuating’ capacity that not many public figures have. I hope that’s remembered some day and hope someone is able to write about it as a part of his life.

Harry McPherson, Oral History Interview IV, 3/24/69, by T. H. Baker, pages 3-4. LBJ Library. 

He [LBJ] also read an editorial in the Sunday Star-Bulletin & Advertiser (of Honolulu, Hawaii) by William F. Buckley, Jr—“Anti-American Theme”— He told mary s and mf to be sure and read the article to see what “your young friends on the left” are doing. He was upset by the references to his own inadequacies in contrast to the glories of the JFK myth and explained that in JFK’s three years little had been done, and went on to enumerate his own successes in the legislative field.

Then the President took two equanil and said that if he couldn’t sleep, he’d get up and work, but he hoped that sleep would come.

The President’s Daily Diary for March 19, 1967. LBJ and his staff are on their way to Guam on Air Force One for a conference with South Vietnamese leaders and members of the US mission to South Vietnam.

March 18, 1967. Evening. It’s been a long but typical day at the White House, including worries about the loss of support for the Vietnam War and lots of meetings with the state governors, including the new Governor of California. Now: it’s time to have some fun with Guys and Dolls!  LBJ Library photo #C4755-14a, public domain. 
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March 18, 1967. Evening. It’s been a long but typical day at the White House, including worries about the loss of support for the Vietnam War and lots of meetings with the state governors, including the new Governor of California.

Now: it’s time to have some fun with Guys and Dolls! 

LBJ Library photo #C4755-14a, public domain.