 Although it started like so many others, for President Johnson the month of March would call for a momentous and far-reaching decision. The President had been aware of a growing divisiveness within the country. At the same time, he clearly knew what the America of tomorrow could be, if Americans would work together, laying aside their differences, to realize the nation's true potential. For the President, March would sharpen the contrast between America's problems and America's promise. It would be a period devoted to healing the country's hills and the country's divisions, culminating with an announcement on the final day of the month that would both shock and sadden the nation. This dramatic decision would leave March, 1968, to be remembered as one of the most significant months in the history of American politics and the American presidency. The month began for President Johnson at the swearing-in ceremony of the new Secretary of Defense. As an aide and advisor to three different presidents, Clark Clifford's recommendations have been a guiding force through some of America's most critical moments. This is a great day for us here in the White House. We were finally successful in persuading Clark Clifford, prevailing upon him to move from the kitchen cabinet to the East Room. Some people have compared this appointment to a wedding. After a very long and sometimes secret courtship, we're finally making an honest man out of him. The Chief Justice honors us by his willingness to be present this morning and administer the oath. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. And I will support and defend the Constitution. My remarks are in the nature of expressions of gratitude and appreciation. First, to the President for his exceedingly gracious remarks and for the trust and confidence that he evidences. And second, I thank him for giving me the opportunity to try to retire a debt that I have. A debt that I've had for many years and one that with passing time has grown. That is the debt that I owe to this country. For some 61 years, I now have enjoyed the blessings of freedom and liberty, of security and safety, and of unlimited opportunity. And I thank you. Replacing Robert McNamara as head of the nation's defense establishment, Clifford inherited its awesome tasks and responsibilities. Immediately confronting him was Vietnam. The Communist Ted offensive had not achieved its objective. The Saigon government was still in power and the cities, though besieged, had not fallen into Viet Cong hands. Nevertheless, there was widespread destruction throughout South Vietnam. And the pacification program had received a setback. Faced with the specific duty of strengthening the allied position in Vietnam, Secretary Clifford would also carry the traditional concern of defense secretaries, maintaining America's military posture globally. Helping Secretary Clifford and his successors accomplish this aim will be a piece of new defense hardware that the president unveiled the next day. As part of a weekend inspection trip and brief vacation, the president traveled to the Marietta Georgia plant of Lockheed Aircraft Company for the rollout of the C5A Galaxy, biggest airship ever built. With engines that are twice as powerful as any in existence, the C5A can do three times the work of the largest cargo plane the US now operates. But more important of all, for the first time, our fighting men will be able to travel with their equipment to any spot on the globe where we might be forced to stand and they'll travel rapidly and efficiently. So it's much more than a rollout of a great aircraft that you're seeing here today. We're observing a long leap forward in the effective military might of America. That same weekend, the president flew to Texas for a tour of the NASA manned spacecraft center in Houston, where he viewed the nation's preparations for the conquest of outer space. Here, he also made an announcement of a further step toward bringing the nations of the world closer together. I want to announce that we will build facilities here in this great space capital of Houston to help the world's scientists work closer together, more effectively on the problems of space. We are going to establish here in Houston a new lunar science institute along the side of this great center that you have here. The new center will provide means of communication and research for the world's scientific community. The president expressed his conviction that the Lunar Science Institute will help unite those nations wishing to face the challenges of space exploration in partnership. At the same time that the United States prepares for its future in space, it continues its dedication toward fulfilling human needs in the coming years. At a nursing home in Beaumont, Texas, the president signed a proclamation declaring March Senior Citizens Month, and he took the opportunity to review some of the social welfare achievements of his administration. In 1968, 24 million senior citizens received a payments increase that marked the highest level of social security benefits in the program's history. Under the Johnson administration, more than 90% of Americans aged 65 and over have become eligible for retirement benefits. Federal government commitments to special housing programs for senior citizens now total some $3 billion. Medicare, a landmark in social welfare legislation, and one of President Johnson's most significant accomplishments paid the combined hospital and doctor bills of more than 11 million people in fiscal 1967 alone. But this has not been all, for President Johnson has pledged to continue the battle for greater social security benefits, better medical care, and more meaningful opportunities for the nation's elderly. The president's weekend trip ended with a stop in Puerto Rico for a brief rest and a round or two of golf with his Vietnam-bound son-in-law, Patrick Nugent. However, even on vacation, the affairs of his country traveled with him. Two days before, the president's commission on civil disorders released the findings of its investigation into the causes of urban unrest. The commission called for a massive nationwide effort, building on the base of what has already been accomplished to solve the deep-rooted problems that give rise to urban discontent. In Vietnam, the allies have begun sweep and clear operations to regain pacification areas near the cities. But more significantly in March, as a result of the recent communist offensive, the administration would start a complete review of the Vietnam situation. Returning to Washington, the president centered his attention on the seven-month-old copper strike. The dispute had begun to threaten America's balance of payments and was cutting into strategic defense production. The president invited the differing labor and management factions to sit down at the bargaining table with the fullest cooperation of his administration. By the month's end, a preliminary agreement would be negotiated, and a final settlement of the strike would be forthcoming. From copper, the president's concerns shifted to an even more precious metal and a problem of the utmost importance, gold. Foreign speculation in gold had reached dangerous proportions by mid-March. At the request of the United States, the London gold market was temporarily closed and a conference of the seven gold pool nations was called in Washington. The result of this meeting was to establish in effect a two-price system for gold, an official rate of $35 announced for governments, and a freely fluctuating private exchange rate. This coupled with Congress's passage of a bill removing the compulsory 25% gold backing for U.S. currency enabled the administration to avert the most serious threat to the stability of the dollar in 30 years. The nation's balance of payments was further stabilized when President Johnson signed into law a bill amending the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945. This new measure grants to the Export-Import Bank of the United States the extra financial horsepower necessary to continue the successful promotion of American exports. To an underprivileged child, a trip to the circus can bring the excitement and happiness of a storybook world come to life. During March, some of Washington's business and civic leaders helped provide that experience at a special performance of Ringling Brothers Barnman Bailey Circles. The First Lady, who is National Chairman of Project Head Start, played hostess to the group which included many Head Start boys and girls. Perversial events in the month occurred over nationwide television when Secretary of State Dean Rusk gave testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Secretary had agreed to appear on behalf of a foreign aid appropriations bill but wound up in a two-day marathon defining the administration Vietnam policy. Two men instrumental in carrying out this policy were honored at the White House that week with the nation's highest award. Major Mo Gieske and Lieutenant McGinney stand in the long unbroken rank of heroes who have been this nation's pride and have been this nation's strength from the beginning when America itself, as Lafayette once said, was a dream that every man carried in his heart. I look at these two gallant marines and I see America. I see in their countenance the answer to aggression. I see in their face the certainty of freedom and I see in their presence the hope and the promise of peace. In the domestic area it was a month of concentrated activity. The president penned into law six bills during this period ranging from fire prevention research to veterans pension benefits. From a visitor's center in the nation's capital to a wilderness preserve in California. Along with the signing of legislation that had been passed, the president turned his energies toward those proposals yet to be acted upon. In addition to being the chief executive, the president has a critical role in the legislative process. The president's recommendations are transmitted to Congress in the form of special messages. On four separate occasions during March, White House couriers left for Capitol Hill carrying special presidential messages to Congress. These communications requested legislative action in four diverse areas. The health message proposed expanded maternal and infant care programs for the benefit of poor and disadvantaged families. It also called for more intensified training of doctors, nurses, and other health professionals. The conservation message urged Congress to act promptly on anti-pollution measures to keep the nation's water supplies pure and to continue the work of the new conservation by bringing more recreation land within easy reach of urban centers. The message on the American Indian asked for broad programs of self-help, self-development, and self-determination for the forgotten American. The District of Columbia message proposed a strengthened police force, more job opportunities, and better educational facilities for residents of the nation's first city. This brought the number of special messages the president had sent to Congress since January to 14, with more to come in the following months. These messages would involve some $78 million in requests covering the full range of America's needs. During the previous month, the president had sent to Congress a special message on agriculture, aimed at bringing new prosperity to rural America. On March 18th, he traveled to a convention of the National Farmers Union in Minneapolis to re-emphasize his support for the key issue in his farm recommendations. I have asked Congress to find the ways to give the farmer more bargaining power in the marketplace. You want parity, you want a fair deal, you want an even chance to share in the rich and good life of this nation. And so long as I am your president, you will always have my understanding, my admiration, and my wholehearted support in fighting with you to try to reach these goals. During the month of March, the president continued to strengthen America's international ties. The arrival of three foreign chiefs of state provided him with an opportunity to reaffirm America's continuing support for the developing nations of the world. Prime Minister Mohammed Ibrahim Igal of the Somali Republic, a devoted advocate of peace in his part of the world, has won the respect and admiration of his American counterpart. President Alfredo Stresner of Paraguay, whom President Johnson first met at Punta del Este in 1967, has been instituting democratic reforms in Paraguay's political apparatus. His endeavors have not gone unnoticed in a country founded on the principles of democracy. Liberian president William Tubman has been the senior statesman of African affairs for almost a quarter of a century. Discussing matters of mutual concern from the Peace Corps to the Organization for African Unity, the two presidents restated their desire for the maintenance of friendly cooperation between their two nations. The president's response to foreign dignitaries went far beyond the level of state visits during March. In private conferences and public receptions, the president exercised that special brand of face-to-face diplomacy that has trademarked his years in office. But the major concern of any free nation's foreign policy is to maintain peace and security for itself and for its neighbors. Throughout March, the attention of this nation remained on Vietnam, where the security of all of Southeast Asia was hanging in the balance. As the close of the month approached, the president began preparing the most dramatic and what would subsequently become the most effective of his many offers to Hanoi for talks in that troubled part of the globe. During the last week of the month, General Creighton Abrams, the deputy commander in Vietnam, arrived in Washington for two days of intensive discussions with the president. The thorough review of the Vietnamese situation begun during March was now complete. After a late evening session with members of the National Security Council, the president's mind was made up. With a speech that in many ways presaged the broadcast he would make to the nation two days later, the president turned his attention to the America of the future. Speaking before a gathering of young Democrats in Washington, President Johnson discounted the pessimism of doubters who fear the fabric of American society has worn thin. In the president's view, the road ahead will not be smooth, but it will lead to a better dawn. There will be many dark moments. There'll be many long nights, but the principles that brought this nation into existence, the traditions which have guided us, the things in which we believe, the strength that we have, are going to be used to protect the weak and to lift up the helpless and to see that might doesn't make right in this world because aggressors start to march across any part of it. And with your help, and with God's guidance, we are going to build here a safer, a better, a freer, a more prosperous America for our children than was built for us. And that's saying a lot. Thank you and goodbye. The president knew by the end of March that building this America he spoke of, the America of tomorrow, would require his fullest energies and all of his time. In an election year, his office could become either a political target for the new core of presidential aspirants or a central clearinghouse for partisan causes. His own efforts had to be devoted toward binding the divisions, freeing the American agenda, and striving for peace and stability in Southeast Asia. On the last evening in March, 1968, the stage was set. Shortly before 9 p.m. Washington time, in the midst of last-minute electronic preparations, President Johnson put the finishing touches on his address to the nation, finally with the reassuring presence of his family seated nearby, the president was ready to deliver one of the most important speeches of his entire life, a speech that would alter the course of world history. Good evening, my fellow Americans. Tonight I want to speak to you of peace in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. No other question so preoccupies our people. No other dream so absorbs the 250 million human beings who live in that part of the world. No other goal motivates American policy in Southeast Asia. First addressing himself to the continuing problem of Vietnam, the president outlined plans for a unilateral American de-escalation of that conflict. I have ordered our aircraft and our naval vessels to make no attacks on North Vietnam, except in the area north of the demilitarized zone where the continuing enemy buildup directly threatens allied forward positions and where the movement of their troops and supplies are clearly related to that threat. The area in which we're stopping our attacks includes almost 90% of North Vietnam's population and most of its territory. Thus there will be no attacks around the principal populated areas or in the food producing areas of North Vietnam. Even this very limited bombing of the North could come to an early end if our restraint is matched by restraint in Hanoi. The president issued an appeal for unity among the American people. He went on to speak in moving words of the future he foresees America attaining, but it was in the final moments of his speech that he voiced the syllables which stunned the nation and reverberated around the world. To a disbelieving audience of countless millions, President Johnson announced the decision that had been many months in the making, but only resolved within himself in the final hours of March. With America's sons in the field far away of America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace and the balance every day. 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, the presidency of your country. Accordingly, I shall not see and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. But let men everywhere know, however, that a strong and a confident and a vigilant America stands ready tonight to seek an honorable peace and stands ready tonight to defend an honored cause. Whatever the price, whatever the burden, whatever the sacrifice that duty may require. Thank you for listening, good night, and God bless all of you.