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White House Diaries
March
13
1981
March 13, 1981
Friday, March 13, 1981
Nancy off to N.Y. I’m to join her there. The Rev. Jesse Jackson announces he’s staging a march on Wash. Mon. demanding help for Atlanta in this 19 month tragedy of the murders of black children which has so far numbered 20 with 1 missing. Atlanta has a financial problem due to $100,000 a month overtime for police. What Jesse apparently doesn’t know is that we’ve already given Atlanta about $1 mil. and have roughly 40 F.B.I. agents in there on the case. Today I went to the press briefing room and read a statement detailing this & then announced we were giving another $11⁄2 million. & that V.P. G. Bush was going personally to Atlanta.
Finished calling a number of St. Dept. Professionals appointing them to Ambassadorial posts—no Pres. has ever done this personally before. I’m enjoying doing some of the things I’m then told Pres’s. haven’t done before.
Flew into LaGuardia then helicoptered around the lower tip of Manhattan and landed on a heli-pad on the lower west side. The usual lengthy motorcade with police closing off intersections and taking us traffic free through town. One thing was unusual and very humbling; the streets were lined with people as if for a parade all the way to the Waldorf. They cheered & clapped and I wore my arms out waving back to them.
I keep thinking this cant continue and yet their warmth & affection seems so genuine I get a lump in my throat. I pray constantly that I wont let them down.
