Lyndon B. Johnson photo

Remarks of Welcome to the Vice President Upon His Return From Europe

April 10, 1967

Mr. Vice President, Mrs. Humphrey, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

Mr. Vice President, you will see here this morning, assembled to greet you, a large part of the Government of the United States, as well as many of our most distinguished private citizens.

We have with you here the Cabinet, the Under Secretaries, the heads of many of the most important agencies. We have the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and other Members of the leadership in Congress, as well as many of the leading Members.

Their presence here this morning speaks, more eloquently than any words of mine, of the importance your country attaches to the mission that you and your charming wife have just completed.

For more than 2 weeks now you have been the authentic voice of America in the council halls of our European allies.

You have told both the leaders and the peoples of seven friendly nations that America is still the daughter of Europe and that we intend to continue doing our share as we pursue our common destiny.

You have also carried to them, with great eloquence and ability, our conviction that peace, like freedom, is indivisible. Neither the New World of the Americas nor the Old World of Europe can ever hope to fulfill either its dreams or its ambitions, until the ancient world of Asia has become a full and equal partner in the forward movement of men.

No one knows better than you, Mr. Vice President, that this conviction lies at the very roots of American policy in Vietnam, and throughout Asia. I believe that that conviction and that policy are much clearer today in the minds of our friends in Europe, because you and Mrs. Humphrey were there to personally express it to them.

During these past 2 weeks, you have been more than America's spokesman: You have also been America's eyes and ears. You left here bearing an American message to the people of Europe, and now this morning you return with Europe's message to the people of America.

Within a few hours, I expect to depart on a similar mission to our friends in Latin America.

Between us, we will then have shared within a few weeks a degree of consultation and discussion with other nations that is unequaled--so far as I can recall--in American history.

There is good reason for these consultations. I think it was very well expressed during your visit to Europe.

"The essence of statesmanship," you said, "is not a rigid adherence to the past, but a present and probing concern for the future."

We have that concern.

We hope that others share it.

We seek their advice and recommendations, as earnestly as we ask them to consider ours.

In all of this, Mr. Vice President and Mrs. Humphrey, you have played a profoundly important part. You have served as a bridge for better understanding--and better understanding among nations, in this nuclear era, is really the best hope of mankind.

Mr. Vice President and Muriel, we welcome you home. We were very proud of you. We followed you every step of the way. We are so glad to have you back.

And now you can pick up for the next week some of the problems here that I will leave with you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:05 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White House where Vice President Humphrey received a formal welcome with full military honors. The Vice President responded as follows:

Mr. President, Your Excellencies, Members of the Cabinet, Mr. Speaker, leaders of the Congress, and my fellow Americans:

Mr. President, I am sure you know, first of all, that my heart is filled with appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity that you have afforded me, because it has been, indeed, a high honor to represent you and our beloved country these past 2 weeks in several of the nations of Europe.

But, as you have indicated, it is so good to be home once again and to be with fellow Americans to continue our efforts in the cause of peace and freedom.

Now the purpose of my mission was to listen, to look, and to learn--and where, if called upon--to explain. In so doing, I was given the opportunity to see Europe as it is more than two decades after the end of World War II--20 years after the inception of the Marshall Plan--and to years after the signing of the Rome treaties.

I saw a new Western Europe that has achieved an unprecedented degree of well-being, prosperity, and security, and an increased sense of identity and pride. That Europe, Mr. President, is testimony to the soundness of our policies, past and present, and to the genius and industry of the people and of the nations of that continent.

My discussions with European leaders covered the Kennedy Round trade negotiation, which now is entering its final stage--discussions toward a nuclear nonproliferation treaty--relations between East and West--the building of a larger European unity-the revitalization of the NATO alliance--the responsibility of the rich nations to the poor--the need for modernizing our international monetary system-and, above all, the strengthening of international institutions for peace.

I found the leaders of Western Europe ready and eager to join with us in meeting these challenges-but as our equal partners. I gave them our assurance that a full and equal Atlantic partnership--a partnership based on true equality--was and continues to be the objective of American policy. I assured them that we welcomed a growing sense of "Europeanism" and independence. I expressed our confidence that this new assurance and vitality would be directed toward cooperation internationally as well as within Europe's own borders.

Mr. President, as you have stated on several occasions in these past months, we are entering a new era in our relations with the peoples of Europe.

We are, in a sense, at the end of the postwar period. Now, in this last third of the 20th century, we are moving forward in a period of productive partnership in the West and of peaceful engagement with the East.

There are concerns, yes, and there are questions. There is the need for an even closer relationship between ourselves and our European partners. But there is even more a common basis of understanding, and agreement on fundamental principles and values, and a willingness to work together which I believe can open the road ahead.

Twenty years ago the most that any of us dared even hope for was the revival and the renewal of a war-torn continent.

Today, our expectations have been fulfilled and far beyond. I believe that if we and our partners can maintain our unity, our cohesion, and our Common will, the next 20 years can bring to full realization the final healing of Europe's old wounds and divisions--the replacement of the Iron Curtain with an open door--and a chance to meet the new priorities of nation building and peaceful development all around the world.

Mr. President, I shall give you a full report on my mission. In the meantime, I bring back to you and to the American people my firm belief that our friends in Europe remain our good friends and that we do have reason for optimism.

While I have this moment, Mr. President, may If wish you a very successful and, indeed, a most productive voyage to Latin America where the mission that you undertake is of the greatest significance.

It is a high honor and a rare privilege to be your partner in these endeavors.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks of Welcome to the Vice President Upon His Return From Europe Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237650

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