229. Editorial Note
On March 2, 1964, the White House announced that President Johnson had appointed 37 prominent citizens to a Public Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations, which would advise Special Trade Representative Herter in the upcoming Kennedy Round negotiations. The announcement noted that Herter had said that the Committee would be “a major channel for the exchange of advice and information between my office and the American public. The Committee’s contribution will add to the value of our increasingly frequent consultations with individuals, companies and associations concerned with trade negotiations.” (White House press release, March 2; Johnson Library, National Security File, Subject File, Trade—General, vol. I [2 of 2], Box 47)
Bundy forwarded to Bill Moyers a copy of the White House press release and a March 9 memorandum from Herter to President Johnson, which suggested that the President make “some brief comments to this important group on the occasion of their first meeting.” In a March 18 memorandum to Moyers, attached to these materials, Bundy agreed that “a brief, informal meeting with this group of fat cats seems to me a pious idea and one which can do the President some good. A carefully balanced comment of about four sentences would be all he would need to add to a personal handshake for each mogul.” (Ibid.)
President Johnson received the Committee at the White House on April 21. For text of his remarks on that occasion, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963–64, Book I, pages 505–506.