Lyndon Johnson on Free Trade

1950s: Urged extension of the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act

That was the case when Eisenhower asked for a renewal of government reorganization powers vested in the Executive, when he submitted to Congress a resolution condemning Communist bad faith with respect to international agreements, when he urged extension of the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act, once again when he sent the Administration's Mutual Security bill to Congress.

In supporting the Administration on these and other matters, Johnson proved conclusively that his talk about "politics of responsibility" meant just what it said. "The President must wonder at times," he commented sardonically, "whether he could not do a better job for his country if he were not weighed down by the Republican Party."

Expand world trade: goods should move freely across borders

1. We must maintain our margin of military safety and superiority
2. We must take new steps toward the control and the eventual abolition of arms
3. We must make increased use of our food as an instrument of peace
4. We must assure our pre-eminence in the peaceful exploration of outer space
5. We must expand world trade. We are willing to give our trading partners competitive access to our market, asking only that they do the same for us
6. We must continue recent progress toward balancing our international accounts
7. We must become better neighbors with the free states of the Americas
8. We must strengthen the ability of free nations to raise their standard of living
9. We must strengthen our Atlantic and Pacific partnerships
10. We must bridge the gap between the East and the West.