“MR. NIXON AND I HAVE NOT ALWAYS AGREED ON EVERYTHING”

JOHNSON, Lyndon Baines. Typed document signed. [Washington, D.C.: White House], 1969. Five legal-size leaves (each measures 8-1/2 by 14 inches) in typescript on the rectos, staple-bound. WITH: Single letterhead leaf (measures 7 by 9 inches) in typescript on the recto. $1400.

Scarce five-page official press release signed by President Johnson on the top leaf, dated in print January 15, 1969, only five days before he left office, a typed transcript of his Remarks on his projected budget that were made by him in the White House the day after he delivered his final State of the Union message, accompanied by a February 5 typed letter on Johnson letterhead signed by his personal secretary to a major political supporter, stating Johnson “was delighted to autograph for you a copy of his remarks [sic] at the time he signed the Budget Message.”

Boldly signed by President Johnson in his last days in office, this five-page typed document contains an official press release from the Office of the White House Press Secretary. It presents the Remarks of the President upon Signing of the Budget Message and is dated in print, "January 15, 1969"—the day after Johnson delivered his State of the Union message and just five days before he left office. In Johnson's 1969 Budget Message, which was his sixth and final budget message, he projected a "budget for 1969 to be in a net balance of $2.4 billion. (The fiscal year 1969 began on January 1, 1969, even though the President had released his Fiscal Year (FY) 1969 budget almost a year earlier.) The FY1969 budget would not be implemented by President Johnson; it would instead be presided over by President Nixon, who took office on January 20,1969… Congress in the late 1960s had no independent budget process of its own… It was not until 1974 that Congress put in place the modern procedures that govern federal budgeting for Congressional purposes (as part of the Congressional Budget Impoundment and Control Act enacted in that year). This legislation created both the Congressional Budget Office and the standing budget committees in the House and Senate" (Social Security Office). In his Remarks, Johnson summarizes his projected budget, graciously pays tribute to his staff and states: "I am very proud that I can have this last ceremony," while he also acknowledges, regarding his successor, "Mr. Nixon and I have not always agreed on everything." Accompanying this document is a typed letter on Johnson's letterhead, signed by his personal secretary and addressed to a leading supporter of Johnson and Hubert Humphrey. Recipient Charles Horn was founder and president of Federal Cartridge Corporation in 1922 and served as longtime chairman of the Olin Foundation. During WWII Horn's company's TCOP plant earned the "E" award for excellence in war production. In 2004 Minnesota congressman Mark Kennedy honored Charles Horn on the floor of Congress as "a true American icon. A successful businessman who gave generously to his community, Horn will long be remembered… as an innovator and a dedicated philanthropist" (Congressional Record: Volume 150, No. 26). The text of the accompanying typed letter to Charles Horn reads: "February 5, 1969. Austin, Texas. Dear Mr. Horn: President Johnson was delighted to autograph for you a copy of his remarks [sic] at the time he signed the Budget Message, and I enclose it [the Remarks] herewith. Sincerely, [signed] Mary Rather [typescript] Mary Rather, Personal Secretary [at lower left] Mr. Charles Lilley Horn, 2700 Foshay Tower, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402. cc Honorable Hubert H. Humphrey."

Faint foldlines to fine document and letter, presidential signature dark and clear.