The series contains film and sound recordings related to the motion picture film, "The President: June 1968," including silent film footage that was not used in the finished film. The finished film is a narrative account of President Lyndon B. Johnson's activities for the month of June, 1968.
The film begins with narration describing the immediate response by President Johnson and his administration upon receiving news of Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination. It includes footage from President Johnson’s televised address to the nation following the shooting of Senator Kennedy, as well as footage of the funeral and audio from President Johnson’s official statement on Kennedy’s death.
The film contains multiple scenes concerning President Johnson’s campaign to control guns and violence following Senator Kennedy’s death. Footage includes a televised address to the American people concerning violence and weapons control; scenes of President Johnson meeting with members of Congress on the subject; a meeting of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, also known as the Eisenhower Commission; and the signing of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.
Other pieces of legislation shown being signed into law are the Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968, known also as the Tax Bill, and the Inter-American Development Bank bill.
The film contains footage of marches, speeches, rallies and demonstrations associated with the Poor People’s Campaign.
Multiple award presentations and ceremonies are included in the film. Footage includes scenes from Mrs. Johnson’s speech at the Beautification Program Awards and from President Johnson’s speeches at the Presidential Scholar Awards and the National Rural Electric Scholars Awards. Other ceremonies shown in the film include the swearing-in of George Ball as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and the arrival ceremony for President José Joaquín Antonio Trejos Fernández of Costa Rica.
The film contains multiple scenes concerning relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Among these scenes are President Johnson’s speech at the Glassboro State College Commencement; a speech by Soviet Ambassador Anatoly F. Dobrynin; the signing of the Consular Convention Between the United States and the Soviet Union, also known as the Consular Pact; President Johnson’s address before the United Nations General Assembly regarding the U.N. Nuclear Arms Proliferation Treaty; and the presentation of the Swords to Plowshares Award to President Johnson for his peaceful use of atomic energy.
Other scenes from the film include: a visit to the White House from the Shah of Iran; President Johnson’s briefings and discussions of the Paris Peace Talks with Cyrus Vance and Averell Harriman; Mrs. Johnson’s speech at the convention of the American Institute of Architects in Portland, Oregon; and President Johnson’s dedication of the J. Percy Priest Dam in Nashville, Tennessee. The film also includes footage of a meeting between President Johnson and his aides with Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Senator Eugene McCarthy to brief the candidates on national concerns.
