On This Day

Today in History, March 31st

On March 31, 1968, Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would not seek reelection. Plus the Treaty of Kanagawa and the Eiffel Tower's opening.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published March 31, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

March 31 is best known as the night in 1968 when President Lyndon B. Johnson told a national TV audience that he would not run for another term. The date also saw Commodore Matthew Perry sign the Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan in 1854 and the Eiffel Tower’s official inauguration in Paris in 1889.

The big story: LBJ Says He Will Not Run Again (1968)

At 9:01 p.m. on March 31, 1968, Lyndon B. Johnson went on national television to talk to the country about Vietnam. Most of the speech was about the war. Earlier drafts had been about winning it; the version he read leaned toward ending it. Johnson announced that U.S. planes and ships would stop attacking most of North Vietnam, sparing nearly 90 percent of its people, and he named veteran diplomat W. Averell Harriman to represent him at any peace talks. Then, near the end, came the surprise that even his closest advisers had not expected. He said he would not seek, and would not accept, the Democratic nomination for another term. The gamble on talks paid off in part: North Vietnam agreed in April to open negotiations. The war itself went on for years, and Johnson’s party had to find a new candidate for the fall election.

More events on March 31

Year	What happened
1492	Spain’s rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella, issued an order expelling all Jews from their kingdoms.
1774	Parliament passed the Boston Port Act, closing Boston’s harbor as punishment for the Boston Tea Party.
1776	Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John, asking Congress to “remember the ladies” as it moved toward independence.
1854	Commodore Matthew Perry signed the Treaty of Kanagawa, opening Japanese ports to American ships and ending Japan’s long isolation.
1889	The Eiffel Tower was officially inaugurated in Paris.
1918	Daylight saving time began in the United States under the new Standard Time Act, and clocks moved ahead one hour.
1943	Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! opened on Broadway. It ran for 2,212 performances.
1959	The Dalai Lama crossed into India after fleeing Tibet during the failed uprising against Chinese rule, and was granted asylum.
1995	Pop star Selena was shot and killed in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the president of her fan club.
2014	The International Court of Justice ruled that Japan’s Antarctic whaling program was not scientific research and ordered it to stop issuing permits for it.
2016	Architect Zaha Hadid died.

Born on March 31

1732: Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer of the Classical era.
1928: Gordie Howe, Canadian hockey star known as “Mr. Hockey,” who played a record 1,767 NHL games.
1948: Al Gore, 45th U.S. vice president and co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.