Press release, Remarks by Vice President, Conference of Federal Executive Board Chairmen, State Department Building, Washington, D.C.
Images (8)
Document
| id |
id
502334119
|
|---|---|
| contentType |
contentType
document
|
| source |
source
import
|
Source image fields (6)
Extracted text
OCR Page 1 of 8REMARKS BY VICE PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON
CONFERENCE OF FEDERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD CHAIRMEN
STATE DEPARTMENT BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D. C.
THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1963, 10:45 A.M.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THAT ALL MAY SERVE THEIR COUNTRY
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to this conference. The work
you are doing is of vital importance to the health of our country.
If the word "government" means anything, it means the power of the people's
elected representatives to have their decisions carried out. It is your task to see that
this is done with equal competence in every part of the nation.
Throughout most of our country's history, the civil service was a leisurely
place where a person could earn a small income with relative security -- and still
have spare time during the working day to do something else.
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote "The Scarlet Letter" while working in the Custom
House in Salem, Massachusetts. Herman Melville wrote "Moby Dick" while holding
down a government job in New York City.
Many a young civil servant just out of college probably has similar ambitions
but I doubt that they have the spare time any more. For our government today requires
more from those working for it than at any other time in its history.
There are now 2-1/2 million civilians working for the United States Govern-
ment. More than 90 per cent are outside the National Capital area. These public
servants outside Washington provide the chief source of day-to-day contact between
government and the people.
How good a job these public servants do determines the honesty, efficiency
and competence of the Government of the United States.
In the world today, we no longer deal with just a few European powers. We
deal with more than 100 independent nations on every continent. Most of them are
governed by non-white leaders.
At the same time, we are witnessing at home a major struggle to assure
equal opportunities for every American, regardless of his color, or creed, or
national origin.
As the largest employer in the country, the United States Government must
play a major role in bringing this struggle to a successful conclusion -- a conclusion
that will make us a better country. And it will, I hope, make us better individuals.
One of the saddest stories I ever heard about the waste and heartbreak caused
by racial discrimination in our country was that of a young Southern Negro who
finished at the top of his high school class, but was going back to his family's tenant
farm instead of on to college.
(more)
Terms
Subject
Speeches, addresses, etc.
Relations
belongs_to