Memorandum for Secretary of State, Secretary of Agriculture
I have today issued an Executive Order transferring the duties of the Director of the Food-for-Peace Program to the Secretary of State, and providing for the appointment of a Special Assistant to the Secretary to assist him in the execution of this additional responsibility.
As you know, I have always taken a deep personal interest in the Food-for-Peace Program. I regard the Food-for-Peace Program as the primary tool in our battle against hunger and privation abroad. Its accomplishments to date have more than met the hopes of its creators and have immeasurably aided the United States by advancing the cause of peace and understanding. But the time has now come to simplify and strengthen its operation within the Executive Branch--a step which I have taken today.
The administration of the Food-for-Peace Program will be transferred to the Secretary of State to coordinate, consolidate and carry out the program more effectively as part of our entire national effort for peace and progress throughout the world.
In the last four years, under your direction and leadership and under the direction and leadership of Mr. Richard Reuter, the Director of the Program, the Departments of State and Agriculture have worked together in a true example of interagency harmony and cooperation. I know that this same spirit will prevail in the future and that with your joint support the program will flourish and become stronger than ever.
I am happy that the progress of the program will be assured by Mr. Reuter's continuing direction as the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for the Food-for-Peace Program.
I am today directing the Secretary of State to recommend what additional steps should be taken to further strengthen the Food-for-Peace Program as an integral part of our foreign policy program.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
Note: The President referred to Executive Order 11252 "Food-for-Peace Program" (1 Weekly Comp. Pres. Docs., p. 409; 30 F.R. 13407; 3 CFR, 1965 Supp., p. 181).
The recommendations of the Secretary of State were embodied in the President's message to Congress on food for freedom, dated February 10, 1966 (2 Weekly Comp. Pres. Docs., p. 194).
The memorandum was released at the Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Md.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Memorandum on Steps Taken To Strengthen the Food-for-Peace Program Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241181