Letter to the Postmaster General Requesting the Issuance of an Adlai Stevenson Commemorative Stamp.
Dear Mr. Postmaster General:
Our Nation has lost one of its most rare and inspiring talents with the passing of Adlai E. Stevenson. In the generation since the Second World War, he touched the lives, the minds, and the hearts of his countrymen as few other Americans have done at any time. He called us to greatness--and we shall never forget either the man or his call.
As Governor, as a national leader, as an international statesman, Adlai Stevenson enlarged our horizons as Americans and helped to light the hopes of mankind all around the world. His place is secure in the hearts of all who knew him and in the history of these times. I believe it is fitting that we pay the honor that we can to this most exceptional man. So, I am, by this letter, requesting that you immediately undertake to develop and issue publicly a commemorative postage stamp appropriate to the life and works of Adlai Ewing Stevenson.
Sincerely,
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
[Honorable John A. Gronouski, Postmaster General, Washington, D.C. ]
Note: On July 24, 1965, the White House released a letter to the President from Postmaster General Gronouski which stated in part, "I am pleased to notify you that plans are now under way to issue a five-cent memorial stamp in honor of Adlai E. Stevenson ....
"We are now making plans to issue the stamp on Saturday, October 23, in Bloomington, Illinois, where he is buried. I feel this will be an appropriate date of issuance, since it will coincide with the nationwide observance of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations on October 24" (I Weekly Comp. Pres. Docs., p. 4).
See also Items 355, 356, 359.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Letter to the Postmaster General Requesting the Issuance of an Adlai Stevenson Commemorative Stamp. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241405