GEORGE E. REEDY - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/17/1975 - HFSID 206837

GEORGE REEDY
Reedy signed this typed letter, on Marquette University letterhead, to Darlene Fox in 1975. In it, he talks about Lyndon B. Johnson and his 1964 New Orleans speech on Civil Rights
Typed letter signed "George E Reedy/as" in blue ink.1 page, 8¼x10¾, on letterhead from the College of Journalism Office of the Dean Marquette University. Jan. 17. 1975. Addressed to Mrs. Darlene Fox, Woodside, California. In full: "Dear Mrs. Fox: I regret very much that it took so long for your letter to reach me and so long for my reply to return. It has been a number of years since I lived at the address that you had and the Post office slowed down in its forwarding of the mail. To me one the most important things that the late President Johnson ever did was his speech in New Orleans, Louisiana in the campaign of 1964 when he laid the Civil Rights issue directly on the line in a southern audience. In the north, it would not have been a highly regarded speech. But in the south, in the heart of Dixieland, it was a courageous and daring gesture that filled me with tremendous admiration for the man whom I had been serving for so many years. Later he did many things that I did not like - - and I told him so. But my admiration for him never diminished. I believe that that night in New Orleans was one of the most dramatic moments of my life. Sincerely yours, George E. Reedy Dean GER/pf". Reedy was dean of journalism at Marquette University in 1972; he resigned his deanship but remained as a professor and then professor emeritus until 1996. Reedy (1917-1999, born in East Chicago, Indiana) was an American reporter who later became President Lyndon B. Johnosn's press secretary from 1964 to 1965. Reedy was a reporter for United Press International when he joined Johnson's staff in 1951 and worked for Johnson as aide during his vice presidency and early in his presidency. Reedy was at the center of the "credibility gap" between the Johnson administration's public statements about America's involvement in Vietnam and reality. He took a leave of absence over the administration's Vietnam policies in 1965, only to return as a special assistant in 1968, shortly before Johnson's surprise announcement that he wouldn't seek reelection that year. Reedy started a South American newspaper and, in 1970, published The Twilight of the Presidency. This book was a critical look at how the war had affected the presidency; Johnson was reportedly unhappy with it and refused to speak to Reedy ever again because of it. Lightly toned, stained and creased. Folded twice and unfolded. Small tear on right edge along right edge. Otherwise in fine condition.