Photo from the Warren Times-Mirror and Observer The front page of the Monday, April 1, 1968 edition announced the decision by President Lyndon Johnson to drop out of the 1968 presidential race. He had made the decision in a televised address the night before.

He’s actually one on a relatively lengthy list — James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Rutherford Hayes, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman and LBJ — to be eligible for another term in the White House and decline to seek it.

But what unfolded Sunday after noon was unprecedented for its timing.

The most recent two examples of a president not seeking another term come in 1968 — Lyndon Johnson — and 1952 — Harry Truman.

Both of those men made their decision in March, very early in the primary process.

Photo from the Warren Mail An editorial cartoon poking fun at Harry Truman’s decision in March 1952 to drop out of the 1952 presidential election.

One primary had been held when Johnson famously said “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”

Archive CBS coverage of the speech, which also included an announcement of a bombing pause in Vietnam, sounded similar to what we’ve heard this week — that Biden is now a lame duck, that what has happened is unprecedented; a general surprise at the outcome.

Sixteen years earlier, Harry Truman had made a similar announcement after he, according to Politico, lost the New Hampshire primary.

The Warren Times-Mirror and Observer editorialized LBJ’s decision with under a headline “It Took Courage.”

“President Johnson’s unexpected announcement that he will not be a candidate for reelection leads on to look for answers as to why a man would not want to be President of the United States,” the editors commented. “And while the answers to thai question may be many, there can be no more than a few that would bring him to take such final and drastic action.”

The editors sought to answer their own question — raising economic concerns that had prompted austerity measures for programs from the Forest service to environmental initiatives and outdoor recreation.

Curiously, one word was not part of their answer that – with hindsight – may have been more important than anything else – Vietnam.

“To a man with the President’s dedicated desire to serve the best interests of his country the need for such austerity must have been extremely frustrating,” they included. “Especially if he felt that his official actions had contributed to this need. And it is easy to understand why such frustration and the least possible personal incrimination would bring him to the decision to step aside.

“But such a step took courage. Such a display of courage that even those who have opposed him must have experienced some feeling of admiration as they witnessed the old warrior laying down his sword.”

LBJ’s speech was on March 31, 1968 and the paper led the April 1 edition with the headline “Johnson Will Not Seek Nomination” and sub-headlines including “President Orders Halt to Bombing” and “Announcement Stuns Nation.”

“President Johnson stunned the nation and the world Sunday night by announcing, ‘I shall not seek – and will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president,'” the story starts.

Johnson said he reached this conclusion because “with America’s sons in the field far away with America’s future under challenge here at home, with our hopes – and the world’s hopes – for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office.

(Writer’s Note: Boy isn’t that a refreshing perspective).

His announcement came at the end of a nationally broadcast speech.

In the early part of the 40-minute talk he disclosed that he is halting nearly all air and sea action against North Vietnam in an effort to bring peace talks.

Johnson called this cessation of bombardments “the first step to de-escalate the conflict.”

Throughout these passages, Johnson lamented that “there is division in the American house now” which he argued imperils the future of the land.

There were tears glistening in Johnson’s eyes as he made his bombshell announcement.

He did it calmly, tapping his desk occasionally in emphasis, with the eyes of his family fixed on him.

Truman’s statement to step aside was much more succinct.

The Warren Times-Mirror reported his move under headlines of “DEM LEADERS ON DESPERATE HUNT FOR STANDARD BEARER” and “Large Number Possibilities Mentioned in Expanding List Of Potential ‘Favorite Sons.'”

“President Truman bowed out of the Democratic presidential race with 14 words and there were just about that many names mentioned as entries or possibilities,” an Association Press story in the Times-Mirror reported on Monday, March 31, two days after the announcement.

“Truman told surprised party leaders Saturday night at the Jefferson-Jackson day dinner in Washington: “I shall not be a candidate for re-election … I shall not accept a renomination.

“Then came the names – entries, potentials, ‘favorite sons’ – and there was no assurance just where the list would end,” the report said.

The report continued: “The impact of Truman’s announcement was felt immediately in Nebraska and Wisconsin … which hold presidential primaries tomorrow. …”