Lyndon B. Johnson photo

Remarks at the Swearing In of William S. Gaud as Administrator, Agency for International Development.

August 03, 1966

Mr. Gaud and family, Mr. Justice Fortas, members of the Cabinet, ladies and gentlemen:

We have come here this afternoon to place a successful program in the hands and under the direction of a very successful man.

I am sure that our friend, Mr. Gaud, knows that his new job is one of the most difficult ones in Washington.

But I know that he also believes, as I do, in the words written many years ago by Sir Walter Scott:

"The races of mankind would perish did they cease to aid each other. From the time the mother binds the child's head till the moment some kind assistant wipes the brow of the dying, we cannot exist without mutual help."

For 20 years now the principle of foreign aid has been a cornerstone of America's international policies in the world. Yet no program of the United States Government has been more criticized and no program has been less understood.

Perhaps we have been prisoners of our own emotions. Perhaps the champions of foreign aid have been too romantic, and perhaps on occasions we have claimed too much. Perhaps the critics have been too fearful, or too frustrated, or too disturbed, and allowed too little.

So this afternoon let's try to meet on the middle ground of reason and reality.

I think it is realistic to say that four Presidents since World War II have recognized that foreign aid protects and advances the interests of this country.

I think it is realistic to say that these same Presidents and the majorities in the Congress have understood that every dollar spent through this program produces more return than any other dollar we spend abroad.

And I think it is realistic to say that foreign aid has been an important force for good in this world in which we live. It has helped to build the foundations for peace and stability in our time.

Bill Gaud is an extremely realistic and practical man. He knows his job. He joined the Agency for International Development in 1961. He was the Administrator for the Near East and South Asia. In 1964 David Bell and I asked him to become the Deputy Administrator of this most important Agency.

So Bill Gaud expects to be told by some people that the countries we try to help have needs so great that we must be prepared to help them forever--at a cost of countless billions of dollars.

Bill Gaud expects now to be told by others that many countries are so hopeless and so helpless that we should stop throwing good money after bad, and we should end the entire program and phase it out as soon as we can.

But Bill Gaud knows, I think, what this AID program has achieved, and he knows its realistic potential for the future.

We remember, for instance, that in 1949 some of our leading news analysts were calling American aid to Japan a two-billiondollar failure. One major magazine declared "the American taxpayer must now prepare himself for an indefinite period of vast appropriations."

Well what happened, instead, was that our major economic aid to Japan ended within 5 years. And recently, Japan declared its intention to repay $490 million of that postwar assistance. And last year, Japan's own foreign aid program to less fortunate countries totaled more than $240 million itself.

Another example is Taiwan. American aid has not made the people of this island wealthy. Their per capita income is less than 10 percent of ours. But thanks to our aid and thanks to our efforts and thanks to their work, they can now continue their growth without any further economic aid from us at all.

For the past 5 years, Taiwan's economy has been growing at an average rate of 8.8 percent per year.

No people in history have been more generous with their treasure and resources than have the American people since the end of World War II.

We know that the rich nations do have an obligation to the poor nations. We know that mankind must be helped to escape the darkness of poverty, ignorance, and disease.

But we also know that the bulk of the development task must be done by the countries which desire our help. No amount of aid can substitute for their own toil and their own determination to help themselves.

So in his new position Bill Gaud must give us his vision, his energy, and his judgment in achieving an even greater success for an even more successful program. He is succeeding a good and able man who is devoted to the public interest, and a man that I have been proud to call my friend for years. And Bill Gaud is the best qualified man in this country, I think, to carry out this difficult but this most challenging assignment.

I am grateful that he has agreed to undertake it, and he shall have my support every inch of the way.

Note: The President spoke at 5:45 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White House. In his opening words he referred to William S. Gaud, incoming Administrator, Agency for International Development, and Supreme Court Associate Justice Abe Fortas, who administered the oath of office. Later he referred to David E. Bell, outgoing Administrator.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks at the Swearing In of William S. Gaud as Administrator, Agency for International Development. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239260

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