Remarks Upon Signing the Ratification of the Chamizal Convention.
December 20, 1963
I know that I speak for all of you when I say how grateful we are to Mrs. Kennedy for
the very fine job she has done in redecorating this Treaty Room where we meet today.
I see in front of us the chandelier that once was in the White House during Theodore Roosevelt's
administration.
The story went that the President, before they had air conditioning, was troubled by
the wind blowing the chandelier pieces together and the tinkling noise.
So he told them to take it down to the Capitol.
The butler said, "Well, what will I do with it at the Capitol?"
The President said, "Give it to the Vice President.
He needs something to keep him awake."
After Mrs. Kennedy had observed me for a while as Vice President, I guess she decided I no
longer needed a chandelier to keep me awake, and she asked me if I would bring the chandelier
back.
By that time, Senator Mansfield realized that he didn't want to be charged with giving away
Senate property, liquidating the Senate, so he very generously agreed to make a loan to
the White House.
So for the information of all of you, the chandelier that you are now viewing is on
loan to the White House from the Senate.
We are glad to welcome Secretary Wirtz back this morning, and we are very happy to see
the Senators who have participated in the ratification of this treaty present with us.
This is a moment of which we can all be proud.
We are particularly delighted to have with us the distinguished Ambassador from our neighboring
country, the beloved Antonio Carrillo Flores, from Mexico.
We are taking the final step in bringing to a close a problem which has been a thorn in
the side of our relations with Mexico for almost a century.
The way in which the thorn has been removed is a real tribute to the good will between
the people and the leaders of our two countries.
It indicates that old and distasteful problems can be solved if men of honor seek to understand
the other man's viewpoint.
I recall the first visit that I made to President Adolfo Lopez Mateos in Mexico before he took
the oath of office as President.
He raised the Chamizal question and we agreed there that we would start to work on it.
Through the administrations of President Eisenhower and President Kennedy great progress was made
which resulted in the Senate, under the leadership of Senator Fulbright, ratifying this treaty
by an overwhelming vote.
I hope that other problems in our hemisphere, and for that matter throughout the world,
will be solved with similar tolerance and trust.
I think it is always good if we just put ourselves in the other man's position and try to estimate
how we would feel if he were in our place and we were in his place, and then make our
judgments accordingly.
That is what we have done in this situation.
We think great benefits will flow not only to Mexico but to the United States, and, of
course, most of all, to the State of Texas where this land is located.
Mr. Ambassador, we welcome you here for this historic occasion.
We say thanks to the Members of the Senate who made it possible.
We express gratitude to Secretary Rusk for the leadership he has given.
We are even delighted to have the television cameras here for this informal press meeting.
While this is the Treaty Room, I would like you to also know that this is the room where
President Johnson met with his Cabinet for the first time, President Andrew Johnson.
This is also where President Lyndon Johnson signed his first treaty.
In order to do it, I came in here the other night, and looked in the door.
My daughter, Lucy, was sitting at the head of the table studying plane geometry.
I asked her mother if she couldn't arrange to put a desk across the hall, to make a study
room out of it, so that if we needed the Cabinet Room it would be available.
So we picked up plane geometry and Macbeth and a few other things and hauled them across
the hall.