 how far we have come, we have so far yet to train the days ahead, we're going to be challenged to make judgments, to have greater wisdom, to be possessed with more vision. Although we have the greatest nation in all the world, if it is to continue to lead the world, then we must rise up in this critical hour of need. Inventory our resources, list our needs, and try to reach progressive judgments that will result in the greatest good for the greatest number. In mid-summer of 1968, after more than four and a half years as chief executive, President Johnson began his final six months in office. The non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is now ready to be signed. On the morning of July 1, in parallel ceremonies in Washington, London and Moscow, representatives of 57 nations are fixed their signatures to one of the most significant and meaningful documents of the 20th century, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. This treaty is not the work of any one country, but is in fact the product of all nations which shared our concerns over the danger of nuclear proliferation. Agreement has not been easy, where basic security, the technological and economic interests of some of the nations are deeply involved. Yet our collective and resisted determination has today been crowned with success. Today we are here to add another stone to the edifice which one day we all pray will ensure lasting peace to mankind through complete and general disarmament. This non-proliferation treaty is yet another measure, like the test ban treaty and the agreements on outer space for the control of the weapons of mass destruction, that it is now within the power of men to make news. The very effect that the treaty has been commanded by the overwhelming majority of United Nations members and is going to be signed by a great number of states is a convincing proof of their capability to find mutually acceptable solutions of most vital and most complicated international problems. Now at this moment of achievement and great hope, I am gratified to be able to report and to announce to the world a significant agreement and agreement that we've actively sought and worked for since January 1964. Agreement has been reached between the governments of the Union of 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. Discussion of this most complex subject will not be easy and we have no illusions that it will be. I know the fears and the suspicions and the anxieties that we shall have to overcome, but we do believe that the same spirit of accommodation that's 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. Now it's ultimate success hinged upon the final individual ratification of the many nations that had voted for it in the UN, including ratification by the United States Senate. The hard work of diplomacy is most often quiet and unnoticed. Its very nature may require a stubborn dedication to day-to-day accomplishments that make very little news. But without this dedication, achievements like the Test Ban Treaty and the Nonproliferation Act would have never gone beyond the talking stages. Without this same persistence, there would be little hope for the talks in Paris or an eventual rapprochement with the Soviet Union. President Johnson's announcement regarding the discussion on nuclear weapons systems with the Russians would make early and dramatic headlines. But in the final analysis, time, determination, and a stubborn commitment to specifics would be the real keys to man's future beyond the 60s. A similar test had come in Vietnam and one of the men who had served quietly and efficiently in directing the course of that war was General Harold K. Johnson, the retiring Chief of Staff of the United States Army. On the afternoon of July 2nd, President Johnson decorated him with a distinguished service medal, First Oak Leaf Cluster. Harold Johnson has served his country for 35 long years with a dedication and a strength of character that no adversity could ever weaken. And when he was ordered to bow before his Japanese captors, he replied, Americans do not bow. They salute, but they do not bow. But General Johnson has been much more than just a battlefield hero. When he took over as Chief of Staff of the Army, he was faced with an awesome task. The task of directing a logistical build-up that has had few parallels in all the history of warfare, what he accomplished in 1965, literally, literally saved South Vietnam from being cut into by the enemy. And still, he met our demands for forces in other areas of the world all the time, as well as within the United States. And the Army from which he retires today is a stronger, a more responsive, and a much more humane service because Johnny Johnson was its leader. On Wednesday the 3rd, President and Mrs. Johnson and a large contingent of foreign ambassadors, 20 of them from Latin America, arrived at Randolph Air Force Base. On hand to meet them was Texas Governor John Connolly and several officials from San Antonio's Hemisphere 68. Been able to travel down here to visit with us and to take advantage of our invitation to see the hemisphere and to spend an old-fashioned 4th of July with us in Texas. What doesn't symbolize is a confluence of civilizations, the gathering together of talents and dreams from many nations. That, of course, is the theme of the hemisphere, but not of hemisphere alone. It is the living and the eternal theme of the United States of America, a nation that has been made great by the oppression and mingling of all the cultures of the world. Shortly before 11 o'clock on the morning of the 4th, President and Mrs. Johnson and their guests arrived on the grounds of San Antonio's Hemisphere 1968. Here it equal. They are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And since it was issued, that theme, political independence, individual independence, has been the bedrock of our domestic and our foreign policies in this land. It has been, and it remains, America's declaration to all the world. Each generation in America discovers this theme as if it were new. And in a sense, it is new. The thrust of America always, then, is to expand and to adjust the concept of independence to a new and a constantly changing era. The task that we have and the task that every president and the people have in the decades to come then is to protect and to deepen the independence of individual human beings as well as the country itself. So this American vision of individual and political independence has, in the past two centuries, become the world's dream tool. And this is clearly apparent today in the nation south of the United States and that we will be visiting over the weekend. Their people are dedicated to bringing about individual and political independence while retaining the richness of singular national identity. Individual and political independence while retaining the richness of singular national identity. One man who had struggled hard to achieve this dream for his country was Bolivia's president, Rene Barrientos. In Texas for the July 5th celebration of Bolivia Day at Hemisphere 68, President Barrientos accepted President Johnson's invitation to attend a luncheon and conference session at the LBJ Ranch informally about Bolivia's new environment of political and social stability. Her recent attempts at economic integration with her neighbors and President Johnson's forthcoming trip to El Salvador to attend the concluding session of the Organization of Central American States. Just after dawn on the morning of July 6th, Air Force One, carrying President and Mrs. Johnson and their daughter, Lucy Nugent, plus a group of Central American ambassadors sped south from Texas toward the tiny republic of El Salvador. At 11 a.m. Washington time, President Johnson stood on the threshold of his first visit to Central America, the store's intercontinental hotel, headquarters for the summit meeting of the Organization of Central American States. During the 1950s, the countries of Central America neither the population nor the financial resources to make headway on their own. All of them were agricultural states depending on commodities like coffee, cotton, bananas or sugar that sold cheaply on the world market. With the decision to form their own common market, the Central Americans began pooling their resources to develop a number of economic institutions that could cut across old national boundaries, knock down tariff walls to create a modest but substantial industrial base. I'm very proud to have been a part of this adventure. But this was, and this is, your vision. What you have made of it is now a vivid example for all the world to see. In seven short years, you have established a common market. You have founded a bank. You have created an Organization of Central American States to oversee your joint enterprise. You have established a monetary council. Because of what you have built in these years, trade among your countries has been multiplied almost seven times. Investment is already up 65%. 4,000 miles of roads have opened new marketing for your people. There are half again as many children in primary school. Your movement in secondary schools has doubled. The effects of what you have done will one day be felt in the most remote mountain hamlet. Your example has given hope and given guidance to a movement that now reaches every continent. You know better than I that much remains to be done here in Central America. The gap between what exists and what ought to exist is still unacceptably wide. You are moving. You are moving to close it. We in the United States want to move with you. And today, I have brought with me approval of a 30 million loan to the Central American Fund for Economic Integration. I've also approved loans totaling 35 million more to help you carry forward programs of social justice and of economic progress. With the summit conference in session, Mrs. Johnson, her daughter Lucy and other First Ladies joined Mrs. Fidel Sanchez for a picnic luncheon and an archaeological tour through some ancient Indian ruins. The most delightful surprises of the Johnson family visit to Central America was Lucy Nugent's film camera. Seemingly, she was everywhere and once with it. Her mission? A record of the trip that would eventually find its way to her husband, Pat, who was serving with the Air Force in Vietnam. Her residence was formally signed at mid-afternoon on July 6th. It pledged further support and acceleration of the Central American Common Market. The region would also continue its efforts to achieve an integrated transportation and communications network. And together, each country would use the most modern techniques available to expand and improve agricultural production, educational facilities and health services. These established priorities recalled an important commitment that had been made at Punta del Este in April of 1967. Only free men working with the institutions of representative government could best satisfy the future aspirations of the Latin American people. Sunday morning, after attending church services in San Salvador's Metropolitan Cathedral, President Johnson plunged into the huge crowd at the Plaza Barrios, an American highway for a scheduled stop at a teacher's training center where he would dedicate El Salvador's new educational television network. President Johnson paid a visit to the new Lyndon B. Johnson Primary School. It's a pleasure to be back at school. These colorful roles and the happy voices of you children revived many happy and bright memories for me. Even the Latin names Maria and Carmen and Pepe and Luis and Carlos rang of those days in my own native South Texas when I was a school teacher in a Mexican school. My entire life has been enriched by my Latin friends. So it makes me very happy to be able to come here with your great president, this morning, to see a school that bears my name. Muchos Gracios Mis amigos. On behalf of the people of our country we want to give to the people of your country this new piano. The first person to play it was his daughter Lucy. The stop of the day was at the burden Los Chorros Park for barbecue luncheon and Mrs. Sanchez. The usual jet-aid round robin President Johnson delivered four of his fellow presidents to their home country. This is where the president from five Central American nations and today we have had the chance to look into the faces of the people of these great countries. And until we reach the day when all of our children grow, until all of our children have all the education that they can take, until all of our men and women who want to work have worked at decent wages, then we will not have this charge, our obligation or our responsibilities to these people. In this area the world, the farms and above all a chance. During his tour of Central America President Johnson turned his attention towards Capitol Hill and a huge number of measures that still needed congressional approval. At mid-month he would make a radio and television address urging passage of the farm aid bill. Then in a meeting with the future farmers of America he kicked off a varied list of unpassed measures that were still needed by the American people. We have a treaty to stop the spread of nuclear weapons in the world and nothing could be more important to young people than stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. We have a higher education act that exceeds and excels and we hope that the Congress can soon act on that. We should turn our attention to the returning veterans and encourage them to help us in the slum classroom in the teachers corps and in the police ranks that are depleted and in the firemen ranks. We should enact a dangerous drug act which will stop the cruel traffic in LSD in marijuana. Now this is just a part of the program for tomorrow that we have submitted in more than 20 messages to the Congress this year. Our problems do not wait and they're not partisan problems Democratic or Republican problems they're American problems problems for all of us. They affect all of our people regardless of the labels we have our own political philosophy. In mid-July, President Johnson honored his new Army Chief of Staff General William C. Westmoreland with the Distinguished Service Medal 2nd Oak Leaf Project. His presence, regard for him is already written large on the record of these past five years. Freedom was in jeopardy and the struggling people had been brought almost to their knees by aggression. When William Westmoreland was called to urgent duty his mission was to deny aggression its conquest it was a mission simple enough to state. But to execute that mission he had to fight the most complex war in all American history. And now today we are stirred by the hope of peace a stable peace in which the people of Southeast Asia can live out their lives and develop their institutions as they will. But let us never forget that when peace comes with freedom intact it will come only because brave men stood firm on the battlefield in an hour of awe and anguishing doubt. On July 18th President Johnson arrived in Honolulu for a series of meetings with South Vietnam's president William Van Thu. Our meetings over the past two and a half years you have stressed your country's policy of reconciliation and peace. Since we met in Canberra last December formal talks have begun in Paris we devoutly hope that they are the first steps on the difficult path to peace an honorable peace under which the people of your country will determine their own future. Let's present our pledge to help your people defeat aggression stands firm against all obstacles and against any deception. We want you to take back to your countrymen our hope and our conviction that their courage and their faith will be rewarded with a just peace with full freedom. We've been ten hours together about past the time that presidents normally exchange views in state visits the political aspects of our visits started in a divided exchange between the presidents and our about the negotiations in Paris we went into some detail in reviewing the armed forces of South Lebanon and the substantial increase that they reached 765,000. Summarized I would say this that we are resolutely determined to continue to pursue every avenue that might lead to peace and the two presidents are in full agreement and are cooperating fully with our foreign ministers and our negotiators to that end. I now take great pleasure in saying to you that we think it was a good working understanding there were no great differences that appeared there are no points of division the big rumors about meeting here to stop the bombing or to pull out or do these things are just pure absolute tomorrows fiction and they're not the product of either person and they never appeared in any of our discussions of any kind. On his way back to Washington by way of Texas to Cincinnati to address the state of the national governor's conference essentially his speech was a report on the meeting with president and a plea to the governor for increased federal state cooperation but again and again he would refer to the unfinished work still pending before the current session of Congress bills that could not be postponed two days after his return to the capital city president Johnson met with West Germany's minister on top of their agenda were discussions on the current crisis in Czechoslovakia where the Soviet Union was seeking to head off liberal reforms instituted by president Alexander Dubcek and the new communist leadership in Prague as August approached armed intervention had become a grim possibility in keeping with his policy to brief the major presidential candidate president Johnson met with the republican standard bearer Richard Nixon and third party candidate George Wallace July 31st the Bethlehem Steel Company announced an across the board increase of almost 5% in steel mill products in an afternoon press conference president Johnson called the move unreasonable if it was allowed to stand the resulting price increases would exceed one half billion dollars to the American consumer and defeat the government's efforts to reverse the current inflationary trend during the closing days of the month president Johnson signed a number of important bills into law among them the juvenile delinquency prevention act and an air pollution bill for the district of columbia he also launched a new program called veterans in public service designed to convert citizen soldiers into teachers policemen, firefighters health workers and conservation putting those who were able and willing to work at work on some of the nation's toughest problems although we have the greatest nation in all the world if it is to continue to lead the world then we must rise up in this critical hour of need inventory our resources list our needs and try to reach progressive judgments that will result in the greatest good by the greatest number