Lyndon B. Johnson photo

Remarks to a Group of Mayors of the Nation's Larger Cities.

October 15, 1966

ON MONDAY morning, I leave for a long and crucial journey to Asia. For nearly 3 weeks my thoughts will be turned to our role in the Pacific--to our "foreign" policy.

But the days are long past when there can be any sharp division between a nation's foreign policy and its domestic policy.

For America's voice in the world does not come from its military and diplomatic strength alone. People look to us for leadership because they know what we have done at home.

If the United States can speak with authority and conviction in Asia next week, it is in part because of the work that American Governors and mayors and city managers are doing back home. You help set an example which the world admires.

We would be foolish and shortsighted to let foreign problems--even Vietnam--turn us away from our urgent goals at home. Helping America's cities is one of our chief goals. And in our quest for more livable and more beautiful cities, there will be no slowing down or turning back.

What have we accomplished?

--From 1961 to 1964, our Federal programs with a direct impact on cities rose from $5.6 billion to $8.3 billion--an increase of 48 percent.

And here is what happened during the last 3 years:

--From 1964 through 1967, our Federal programs for urban areas will go from $8.3 billion to to $14.6 billion--an in-crease of 76 percent.

That does not sound like a slowdown to me.

Between FY 1964 and the end of FY 1967, we will have raised expenditures on vital domestic programs from $7 billion to $14.7 billion--more than double.

That does not sound like a slowdown to me.

For the first time in history, American cities have a voice in the Cabinet and a department devoted to urban affairs.

The new demonstration cities program promises major help to you. It will offer two new tools to rebuild your cities.

--Special grants to revitalize the center city and the people who live there.

--Special grants to encourage metropolitan planning.

The rent supplement program will bring private builders into the low-income housing field.

When I spoke to you last March, I did ask that Governors and mayors and local officials review their plans to see if, for the short term, they could defer or postpone capital plant investments.

I believed then--and I even more strongly believe now--that exercising prudence and restraint in the short term will mean happier prospects for the long pull.

I know that many problems beset us. I know the crises we are called upon to meet. They form a large part of my daily schedule.

But I believe that we here in this room are the most fortunate generation of Americans. We have the wealth and power to make slums and crowding and urban decay only a memory. And we can do it in our lifetime.

Note: The President met with approximately 30 mayors of large cities at about noon in the Cabinet Room at the White House. As printed above, this item follows the text released by the White House Press Office.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks to a Group of Mayors of the Nation's Larger Cities. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/238107

Filed Under

Categories

Location

Washington, DC

Simple Search of Our Archives