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🚨LBJ Sworn In for First Full Term as President

Jan. 20, 1965 - Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas began his first full term as President today with a pledge that the nation aspired “to nothing that belongs to others” but sought only “man’s dominion over tyranny and misery.”

Johnson spoke for 22 minutes after being sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren at 12:03 p.m. A crowd of thousands, seated and standing in the east plaza of the Capitol grounds in near-freezing temperatures, saw the ceremony and the Inaugural Address.

Johnson said Americans could “never again stand aside, prideful in isolation” because “we believe that every man must someday be free.”

But “change has brought new meaning to that old mission,” he said. And “if American lives must end and American treasure be spilled in countries that we barely know, then that is the price that change has demanded of conviction and of our enduring covenant.”

This, a clear reference to the American-supported guerrilla warfare against Communist insurgents in South Vietnam, was one of the few topical references in a speech that was more philosophical and reflective than specific.

Later, Johnson defined his conception of a “Great Society.” He said:

“It is the excitement of becoming — always becoming, trying, probing, falling, resting, and trying again — but always trying and always gaining.”

Before the President took his oath, Hubert Humphrey, the former Senator from Minnesota, was sworn in by Speaker of the House John McCormack as Vice President. Up to that moment, McCormack had been first in the line of succession to the Presidency.

Mrs. Lady Bird Johnson, a colorful figure in a brilliant red outfit, held the family Bible on which her husband’s left hand rested as he repeated the words that reaffirmed him as the 36th President of the United States. Johnson had asked his wife to hold the Bible.

After the ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson watched the Inaugural parade for about 2½ hours.

They were in a heated reviewing stand in front of the White House, and behind bullet-proof glass. Stringent protective measures were invoked all day as the President appeared before large crowds.

Johnson obviously enjoyed himself as he waved to the marchers, greeted friends visiting his reviewing stand, and at one point put his beagle, Him, in the President’s chair for the television cameras.



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© 2024 by Joe Rubenstein

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