On January 8, 1964, President Johnson delivered his first State of the Union address. Later that same day, Johnson spoke with journalist Drew Pearson and relayed news of the speech's positive reception.
President Johnson: Drew?
Drew Pearson: Good morning!
President Johnson: Did you--
Pearson: I'm out here trying to read your speech, but these benighted Republican papers won't carry hardly any of it.
President Johnson: Well, didn't you hear it?
Pearson: No, I've been traveling on the plane. I'm out in North Dakota.
President Johnson: Well, I'll be damned. A great author like you, and you run off and do that. I--you disappoint me.
Pearson: Well, [chuckling] I'm sorry. I'm out here campaigning for you!
President Johnson: Did you hear what was said?
Pearson: I--
President Johnson: You don't know--you don't even know what's in it, do you?
Pearson: I heard you got a tremendous amount of applause.
President Johnson: I got 81 applauses in 2,900 words. It was for 25 minute speech and it took 41 because of the applauses. And the biggest one, after the introduction and the ovation, was, "We intend to bury no one and we do not intend to be buried."
Pearson: Good. [Unclear]--
President Johnson: Did you ever hear anything like that?
Pearson: Oh, I think that's wonderful.
President Johnson: [Chuckles.] Now, don't go home and go bragging to your grandson.
Pearson: [laughing] I'm not bragging to anyone except about you.
President Johnson: Well, anyway, I said, "We will be prepared for the worst and constantly acting for the best. We will [unclear] strong enough to win a war, and we must be wise enough to prevent one." [President Johnson paraphrases his speech here.]
Pearson: Well, that's wonderful.
President Johnson: "We shall neither act as aggressors, nor tolerate acts of aggression. We intend to bury no one and we do not intend to be buried. We can fight if we must as we've fought before, but we pray that we'll never have to fight again."
Pearson: Well, that's terrific. Well, I knew it'd be a damn good speech, and I tried to get out here in time to hear it--
President Johnson: Yeah.
Pearson: --but I was on the plane.
President Johnson: Thanks much.
Pearson: Yeah, I--
President Johnson: Thank you a lot, and call me when you get back.
Pearson: All right, thank you.
President Johnson: All right.
This is a draft and not a fully edited transcript.
For more White House tapes, go to millercenter.org/presidentialr....