Lyndon B. Johnson photo

Remarks of Welcome at the White House to President Bourguiba of Tunisia

May 15, 1968

Your Excellency, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

This morning America welcomes a friend:

--a patriot who has brought his country into independence,

--a leader who has given North Africa and the Mediterranean a vivid example of what modern men can achieve in an ancient land,

--a statesman who has worked for just peace throughout his region and in the world at large.

You have come, Mr. President, to a land that deeply admires what you and your people have accomplished in 12 years of nationhood.

America's friendship with Tunisia demonstrates that a nation of great size and power can play a role in the development of a smaller nation--without in any way detracting from its liberty of choice or its independence of action.

The United States neither has nor desires political dominion in North Africa and the Middle East. What we seek is what the war-weary people of the Middle East most desire themselves, that is, the hope of a better life and justice and peace.

Last June I reconfirmed our commitment to these goals in the Middle East. I committed us to pursue a peace based on five principles:

--first, the recognized right of national life;

--second, justice for the refugees;

--third, innocent maritime passage;

--fourth, limits on the wasteful and destructive arms race; and

--fifth, political independence and territorial integrity for all.

I restate these principles today. Many debates and many discussions have taken place since last June 19th. The United Nations Security Council passed its important resolution on November 22d. Our commitment to those principles--and to that resolution--has not changed. It will not change.

America respects and supports the aspirations of people who are new to independence, who work to preserve and to strengthen their freedom. It is a particular pleasure to welcome the great leader of such a nation as this, this morning.

Mr. President, we are pleased and proud to have you in America.

Note: The President spoke at 11:37 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White House, where President Habib Bourguiba was given a formal welcome with full military honors. The Tunisian President responded as follows:

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

Mr. President, we have been very deeply moved by the very kind words which you have just said, the feelings which you have expressed, and that significantly cordial welcome which has been given to us by yourself, Mr. President, as well as by the Government and the people of the United States.

Those words and that welcome bear witness to the fact of the consideration and the esteem that you have toward Tunisia and its people.

It is very sincerely that I am expressing to you my gratitude for all those manifestations of friendship.

The visit which I am making today to the United States is a very glad occasion. It is a true pleasure for me to be again in this hospitable land and to convey to you as well as to the great American people the feelings of friendship and of appreciation of the Tunisian people.

This mutual esteem and trust which is characteristic of the relationships between our countries are based on our common dedication to the same ideal of dignity, of progress, and that of peace and justice. They also reflect our respect for moral values, as well as our firm determination to continue working for the safeguarding of peace in the world and for a greater understanding among men.

Without recalling the beginnings of our diplomatic relations which date back, as you know, to 1789, I want to say that the United States for us is, first of all, the country which gave to our cause a precious measure of support during the dark days of our struggle by recognizing in our national movement the true and authentic expression of the aspirations of the Tunisian people.

We do not forget that the United States was the first nation to recognize our independence and the first to help us to preserve it and to strengthen it.

Today, 12 years after its succession to sovereignty, which is synonymous with responsibility, the Tunisian people will look back with pride on the road that it has traveled.

The Tunisian people have been untiringly active with a view to assure to the greatest extent possible the well-being of each and every one and also a full measure of dignity.

The Tunisian people have built a modern state and have undertaken a true social revolution based on the enhancement of men and women, on the renovation of structures, and with the cooperation of all those countries which respect our sovereignty.

In this endeavor, we have always been guided by the same principles which we had laid down more than 30 years ago. We have been unswerving with regard to the objectives to be attained. But we have been first and foremost concerned with the most efficient means to reach such goals.

We have gone forward without diminishing ideals, without prejudice, and without bearing grudges of any kind. We have refused to lead our people into dreamlike ventures inspired by demagoguery or the seeking of prestige.

On the contrary, we have always worked along the more realistic methods which are much more difficult because they require as much dynamism, courage, and as much dear thinking and as much integrity.

In that phase of our struggle for development and well-being, your country, Mr. President, has given us assistance with no strings attached and thus it helped us to face in better conditions the problems that go hand in hand with economic and social development in a country which was not richly endowed by nature.

Mr. President, I have mentioned to what extent Tunisia is indebted to the United States, but the truth must be said that all the nations that cherish security, democracy, and well-being also have been and are indebted toward your country. The world shall never forget the decisive role played by the United States during and after World War II so that liberty and moral values might emerge triumphant. Nor has the world forgotten the important contribution made by your great Nation in the struggle against hunger and underdevelopment in general.

The position of superpower which is yours today in the world has imposed very heavy responsibilities which you have assumed with great courage and fortitude. I know that those responsibilities may be a source of gratification, but at the same time they are a hard burden.

Regardless of that, you have accepted them so as to preserve the balance of powers and forces in the world and to safeguard peace throughout the world.

In a manner similar to that of other countries, Tunisia has always been concerned with maintaining friendly relations with the United States on the basis of mutual esteem and a fruitful cooperation, while always preserving its freedom and its independence.

Tunisia today can congratulate herself on having been fully successful in that manner, in that way which is the dialogue among the peoples.

In this century of technological advances, we must all join our efforts so as to make sure that men shall be triumphant over technique. The important thing is to have a sincere and loyal cooperation among all the countries. That might be the way to avoid a catastrophe that would doom the whole of mankind.

As far as we are concerned, we are convinced that it is possible to bring together all the peoples in a peaceful competition so as to build a better world, a more human world, and a more brotherly world.

In conclusion, Mr. President, I would like to renew the expression of my thanks and to take advantage of this opportunity to bring to the Nation of the United States the friendly greeting of the Tunisian people.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks of Welcome at the White House to President Bourguiba of Tunisia Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237460

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