US Presidency
1967

That is crime and crime must be dealt with forcefully, and swiftly, and certainly, under law. Innocent people, Negro and white, have been killed. Damage to property, owned by Negroes and whites, is calamitous. Worst of all, fear and bitterness which have been loosed will take long months to erase. The criminals who committed these acts of violence against the people deserve to be punished, and they must be punished. Explanations may be offered, but nothing can excuse what they have done. There will be attempts to interpret the events of the past few days. But when violence strikes, then those in public responsibility have an immediate and a very different job: not to analyze, but to end disorder. That they must seek to do with every means at their command: through local police, State officials, and, in extraordinary circumstances where local authorities have stated that they can not maintain order with their own resources, then through Federal power that we have limited authority to use.