 The President's remarks concerning the new beautification stamp from the East Room of the White House October 5th, 1966. Thank you, Byrd, Larry O'Brien, my friends. I want to thank each of you for coming here this morning and all of you for letting me participate in the unveiling of this new stamp. I really have no extended formal speech to make to you, but I overheard this morning that Lady Bird and Larry O'Brien were over here in the East Room playing post-office. And I thought I'd better get over here and play with them. I want the Postmaster General to know that I really have no objection to his departing from Custom as he observed this morning by giving the first album this beautiful stamp to the President's wife instead of the President. That's exactly what I would have done if he had presented this album to me. And by doing that, you, Larry, just eliminated the middleman. This is a very proud moment for all of us and protective for me. This word beautification has become popular, I think, only recently. But Lady Bird and I have been working together on what is now called beautification for more than 30 years. We really began it back when we were with NYE in Texas and we originated the idea of the little highway parks to dot our roadsides. And before the year 1935 was out, we had more than 400 of them from one end of that state to the other. Johnson had as much influence with me then as she does now. And I think that you can see the results of that influence every time you ride through Texas and every time you see the national capital. I don't think that any spring in my memory has been as beautiful to me as the one that we've just had. You could hardly turn a quarter or ride through a pasture in our state or past a park or down a thoroughfare or an avenue in this city without seeing some new flowers or some new shrubbery or some new trees that were put in by the dedicated members of the beautification committee that Lady Bird worked with here in Washington. And to Mayor Lasker, Lawrence Rockfall and the others who have contributed so much to this effort in the nation's capital and in every hamlet in this land, I express to you this morning the gratitude of appreciative people for your leadership and for your dedication and for your generosity. I hope, as I believe all of us hope, that as Washington becomes ever more beautiful, that it's going to be a model and an inspiration to every other community in this land. We have many problems in our country that are going to tax our resources, problems that will take many years for their solution. We cannot wipe out overnight slums that it took us 100 years to deteriorate. But I think anyone can plant a tree. Everyone can put a flower box in their window. And I hope that this beautiful new stamp will serve as a constant reminder for all of us to do just that. Beauty is not a very easy thing to measure. It does not show up in our profit and loss statements. But it is one of the most precious possessions that Americans have. Ugly surroundings breed warped and shrunken spirits. There, I think, should be sometime in every day of every life to watch the sun set or to smell the flowers or to listen to the birds while they sing. And that's really what the beautification program is all about. And you oughtn't have to go to Wyoming to do it, either, Senator McGee. I'm pleased that efforts are being made in areas where we have populations where we can all enjoy some of these things with our children. I'm pleased that the design of this stamp, as Larry pointed out, also commemorates Thomas Jefferson for no one understood it better than he did. And to each of you who have contributed to this maximum beauty for a great nation, for great people, I am very thankful. And I'm especially pleased to have the chance to work with Ms. Johnson.