°Â°ÍÂí×ÜͳÔÚÃñȨ·å»áÉϵÄÖ÷Ö¼Ó¢Ó ¡¡¡¡thank you. thank you very much. (applause.) thank you so much. please,please, have aseat. thank you. ¡¡¡¡what a singular honor it is forme to be here today. i want to thank,first and foremost, thejohnson family for giving us this opportunity and thegraciousness with which michelle and ihave been received. ¡¡¡¡we came down a little bit latebecause we were upstairs looking at some of the exhibits andsome of theprivate offices that were used by president johnson and mrs. johnson. and michellewas in particular interested to-- of a recording in which lady bird is critiquing presidentjohnson’sperformance. (laughter.) and she said, e, e, you need to listento this. (laughter.) and she pressed the button and nodded herhead. some things do not change --(laughter) -- even 50 years later. ¡¡¡¡to all the members of congress,the warriors for justice, the elected officials andmunity leaders who arehere today -- i want to thank you.
¡¡¡¡four days into his suddenpresidency -- and the night before he would address a jointsession of thecongress in which he once served -- lyndon johnson sat around a table withhisclosest advisors, preparing his remarks to a shattered and grieving nation. ¡¡¡¡he wanted to call on senators andrepresentatives to pass a civil rights bill -- the mostsweeping sincereconstruction. and most of his staffcounseled him against it. they said itwashopeless; that it would anger powerful southern democrats and mitteechairmen; that itrisked derailing the rest of his domestic agenda. and one particularly bold aide said he didnotbelieve a president should spend his time and power on lost causes, howeverworthy they mightbe. to which, it issaid, president johnson replied, “well, what the hell’s the presidencyfor?”(laughter and applause.) what the hell’s the presidency for if not tofight for causes youbelieve in?
¡¡¡¡today, as we memorate the 50thanniversary of the civil rights act, we honor the menand women who made itp