[ Released January 6, 1966. Dated January 5, 1966 ]
YOU ONCE WROTE that, "The people will live on." Thanks to you, the people live on with a deeper insight into their nation, their fellow citizens, and their own inherent dignity. You spoke to them in verse. You sang to them of their traditions. You wrote to them of Lincoln's greatness and of the greatness of the land that produced him.
And now, in return, we say "Happy 88th Birthday" to you. It does not ring with poetry, but it comes from deep within a nation's heart.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
[Carl Sandburg, Flat Rock, N.C.]
Note: The text of the telegram was posted on the bulletin board in the Press Room at the White House. It was not made public in the form of a White House press release.
Lyndon B. Johnson, The President's Telegram Greeting Carl Sandburg on His 88th Birthday. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239193