Johnson requests tax surcharge for Vietnam War, poverty programs 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 10 1967)


Video: 'President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1967 State of the Union Address, 1/10/67. MP588.'

(Tuesday, January 10, 1967, 9:33 p.m. EST; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his State of the Union address, tonight asked Congress to impose “a surcharge of 6 percent on both corporate and individual income taxes” to help pay for his “Great Society” anti-poverty programs as well as the war in Vietnam.

“I wish I could report to you that the conflict is almost over,” Johnson said. “This I cannot do. We face more cost, more loss, and more agony.”

Also of interest: National Educational Television, the forerunner of the Public Broadcasting Service, operated as a true network for the first time tonight as it carried Johnson’s address.