I AM grieved to learn of the death of Herbert Lehman, a distinguished leader who ably and effectively served his State and Nation. Perhaps his best epitaph can be the citation on the Presidential Medal of Freedom which he was to receive here tomorrow:
"Citizen and statesman he has used wisdom and compassion as the tools of government and has made politics the highest form of public service."
Note: The statement was appended to the transcript of the Press Secretary's morning news conference of December 5 with the notation "released at 1 p.m."
President and Mrs. Johnson attended the funeral services held at Temple Emanu-El in New York City on December 8.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President on the Death of Herbert Lehman. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239445