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Monday, November 21, 2011

KENNEDYS BEGIN WHIRLWIND TEXAS TOUR

November 21, 1963


KENNEDYS BEGIN WHIRLWIND TEXAS TOUR


Houston, Texas (JFK+50) President & Mrs. John F. Kennedy's whirlwind tour of Texas began this morning as they arrived in San Antonio.




      JFK & Jackie Arrive in Texas
San Antonio International Airport
              November 21, 1963
      Photo by Cecil Stoughton
              JFK Library Photo


JFK has scheduled a 2 day, 5 city tour to attract voters for his 1964 re-election bid & to raise money for the 1964 campaign.


At the Brooks Air Force Base, the President helped dedicate the Aerospace Medical Health Center.


JFK spoke about America's effort in space:


"A country as rich & powerful as this....should be second to none. This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space & we have no choice but to follow."


The President is accompanied by his wife, Jacqueline, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson & his wife Lady Bird.


Other dignitaries traveling across Texas with JFK include Texas Governor John B. Connally & Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough.




               The Connallys & Kennedys
                                Texas Tour
                        November 21, 1963


Continuing to Houston, JFK stopped at the Rice Hotel where he spoke to a meeting of the League of Latin American Citizens.


Mrs. Kennedy also spoke to the group, but in their native Spanish language.


This evening the President will deliver a speech at a dinner honoring Texas Representative Albert Thomas.




                            Rice Hotel
                      Houston, Texas


November 21, 1963


JFK DECLARES WAR ON POVERTY


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Economic advisers at the White House today were informed that President Kennedy intends to make poverty a top priority of his legislative agenda in 1964.


The administration's War on Poverty program most likely will be directed through the Department of Health, Education & Welfare.


War on Poverty will include social programs such as medical assistance for senior citizens & improvement in the nation's educational system.


As JFK said in his inaugural address of January 20, 1961:


 "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."