NO SOLDIER ever performed his duty with more bravery and no statesman ever charted new courses of action with more dedication than Hugh Dryden.
He was a scientist who understood nonscientists. He looked out on the unknown and was not dismayed. He never lost what Einstein called "a holy curiosity," for he was far more interested in becoming a man of value than merely a man of success.
Whenever the first American spaceman sets foot on the moon or finds a new trail to new stars, he will know that Hugh Dryden was one of those who gave him knowledge and illumination. On that day devoutly to be wished when peace comes to the world, this space adventurer will be among those honored for having helped bring it about.
He and I were side by side in the creation of the American space program 7 years ago. For me his passing is a deep personal loss and a reason for national sorrow.
Note: The statement was read by Joseph Laitin, an assistant press secretary, at his news conference at 10:45 a.m. on Friday, December 3, 1965, at Austin, Tex. It was not made public in the form of a White House press release.
Dr. Dryden served as Director of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics from 1948 to 1958 and then as Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration until his death on December 2, 1965.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President on the Death of Dr. Hugh L. Dryden. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/240953