"A GREAT LEADER IS DEAD, WE MUST MOVE ON"

LBJ ASKS FOR HELP, STRENGTH & PRAYERS

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On November 28, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a Thanksgiving address* to the Nation from the Oval Office.  The President said...

"I come before you to ask your help...your strength...your prayers that God may guard this Republic and guide my every labor."

It had been just six days since his predecessor, President John F. Kennedy, was gunned down as he rode in a motorcade through the streets of Dallas, Texas.  It was, without doubt, the saddest Thanksgiving in America's history.

LBJ continued...

"A great leader is dead, a great nation must move on."

*The speech was the work of Horace Busby who had been on LBJ's staff since 1948.  Horace Busby (1924-2000) served LBJ as both a speechwriter & "idea man."   He was also deputy to McGeorge Bundy, national security adviser.  HB resigned his position in Sept 1965.

SOURCE

"Thanksgiving, 1963:  the long weekend that defined LBJ's presidency," by Josh Zeitz, November 26, 2015, Politico, www.politico.com/

 

 

JFK & LBJ  

The White House

August 31 1961

Photo by Abbie Rowe

JFK Library Image  

"ALL I HAVE I WOULD HAVE GIVEN GLADLY NOT TO BE STANDING HERE TODAY"

NEW PRESIDENT SPEAKS TO CONGRESS

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On November 27, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke to a joint session of Congress.  It was only five days earlier when he assumed the office on the death of John F. Kennedy.

Ashley Barrett describes the new Chief Executive as "humbly" standing "before his former colleagues" and exhibiting "an air of self confidence and diligence."

President Johnson began with these words...

"All I have I would have given gladly not to be standing here today.  The greatest leader of our time has been struck down by the foulest deed of our time."

Barrett says that LBJ rejected early drafts of the speech by JFK speechwriter Theodore Sorensen because they "moved to celebrate Kennedy."  President Johnson turned to "his longtime speechwriter and friend, Horace Busby*."

The tone of the speech shifted from the past to the present and future.  President Johnson said...

"On the 20th day of January, in 19 and 61, John F. Kennedy told his countrymen that our national work would not be finished...'in the life of this administration...but...let us begin.'   Today in this moment of new resolve I...say...let us continue."

*Horace Wooster Busby, Jr. (1924-2000) served as special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson 1964-65.  HWB was hired by LBJ in 1946.  After leaving the White House, Mr. Busby was a political consultant to Mobil Oil and American Airlines.

SOURCES

"LBJ Adviser Horace 'Buzz' Busby Jr., 76, Dies," by Adam Bernstein, June 1, 2000, www.washingtonpost.com/

"Lyndon B. Johnson, Let Us Continue (27 NOV 1963)", by Ashley Barrett, Baylor University.

"Lyndon B. Johnson, Let Us Continue", American Rhetoric, Top 100 Speeches, www.americanrhetoric.com/

TODAY IN THIS MOMENT OF NEW RESOLVE I SAY LET US CONTINUE

LBJ ADDRESSES JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-four years ago tomorrow, November 27, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke to a joint session of Congress.  It was just five days before that he had assumed the office on the death of John F. Kennedy.

Ashley Barrett describes the new Chief Executive as "humbly" standing "before his former colleagues" and exhibiting "an air of self confidence and diligence."

President Johnson began with these words...

"All I have I would have given gladly not to be seated here today.  The greatest leader of our time has been struck down by the foulest deed of our time."

Barrett says that LBJ rejected early drafts of the speech by JFK speechwriter Theodore Sorensen because they "moved to celebrate Kennedy."  President Johnson turned to "his longtime speechwriter and friend, Horace Busby*."

The tone of the speech shifted from the past to the present and future.  President Johnson said...

"On the 20th day of January, in 19 and 61, John F. Kennedy told his countrymen that our national work would not be finished...'in the life of this administration...but...let us begin.'   Today in this moment of new resolve I...say...let us continue."

*Horace Wooster Busby, Jr. (1924-2000) served as special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson 1964-65.  HWB was hired by LBJ in 1946.  After leaving the White House, Mr. Busby was a political consultant to Mobil Oil and American Airlines.

SOURCES

"LBJ Adviser Horace 'Buzz' Busby Jr., 76, Dies," by Adam Bernstein, June 1, 2000, www.washingtonpost.com/

"Lyndon B. Johnson, Let Us Continue (27 NOV 1963)", by Ashley Barrett, Baylor University.

"Lyndon B. Johnson, Let Us Continue", American Rhetoric, Top 100 Speeches, www.americanrhetoric.com/