Three significant DSs from President Lyndon B. Johnson regarding the nomination and appointment of Clark Clifford as the United States Secretary of Defense. The first document, one page, 7 x 11, White House stationery, no date [January 19, 1968], issued to the Senate of the United States: “I nominate Clark M. Clifford, of Maryland, to be Secretary of Defense.” The second document, partly printed, one page, 21 x 17, appoints “Clark M. Clifford, of Maryland…[as] Secretary of Defense.” Both are signed boldly at the conclusion by President Johnson, with the commission countersigned by Secretary of State Dean Rusk and retaining its original large wafer seal. Both documents are individually and impressively framed to overall sizes of 26.5 x 22 and 35 x 31.5; the nomination document is matted with an official TLS from President Johnson, one page, 6 x 8, White House letterhead, sent to Clifford’s wife, Margery ‘Marny’ Kimball on January 20, 1968, and reading: “I hope the fact that you left this ‘Commission’ here last night doesn’t indicate that you have lost interest in having it. I am sending it to you on the assumption you still want it.” In overall fine to very fine condition.
As confirmed by the offered appointment, Clark Clifford became Secretary of Defense on March 1, 1968, following the resignation of his predecessor, Robert McNamara. His assignment came during a critical period in the Vietnam War and coincided with the Tet Offensive, a massive and coordinated series of attacks by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong that swayed U.S. public opinion and revealed that the war was far from over. Clifford's advice to avoid further escalation played a key role in convincing President Johnson to cap U.S. troop increases and to start peace negotiations with North Vietnam. This guidance marked a pivotal shift in U.S. policy, initiating a gradual withdrawal that was subsequently adopted by the administration of Richard Nixon the following year.
