Letter of Transmittal DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: November 25, 1957 I am pleased and honored to transmit to you the Report of the First Annual Conference of the President's Council on Youth Fitness and the President's Citizens Advisory Committee on the Fitness of American Youth held at the United States Military Academy, West Point, N. Y., on September 9-10, 1957. At that meeting the members of the President's Citizens Advisory Committee appointed by you came on their own time and at their own expense to discuss the status of youth fitness in our Nation and to make specific recommendations for appropriate action. This report contains the consensus of those assembled at West Point and in addition those lines of action which the Council will undertake to carry out the recommendations. It is the hope of the Conference that the coming year will see substantial progress made toward the achievement of your objectives in youth fitness. I am confident that under the Chairmanship of the Secretary of the Interior this will be done. Respectfully, THE PRESIDENT Richard Nixon THE WHITE HOUSE SUBJECT AREAS OF DISCUSSION AND ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS Youth Fitness and Special Interest Organizations Youth Fitness Facilities and Programs SUMMARY OF ACTION ON SPECIFIC TOPICS COMMON TO ALL DIS- Membership of President's Council on Youth Fitness. Letter from President Eisenhower . Remarks of the Executive Director, President's Council on Youth Fitness, Mr. Shane MacCarthy Fitness of American Youth Introduction Background Following the recommendation of the Conference on Fitness of American Youth called by President Eisenhower at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., June 18 and 19, 1956, Executive Order 10673, dated July 16, 1956, amended March 25, 1957, and November 21, 1957, established the President's Council on Youth Fitness and the President's Citizens Advisory Committee on the Fitness of American Youth. The reasons for issuing that Executive order were set out in its preamble as follows: 1. “Recent studies, both private and public, have revealed disturbing deficiencies in the fitness of American youth; 2. “Since the youth of our Nation is one of the greatest of our assets, it is imperative that the fitness of our youth be improved and promoted to the greatest possible extent; 3. "Such fitness is the responsibility of the government at all levels, as well as the responsibility of the family, the school, the community, and other groups and organizations; 4. "It is necessary that the activities of the Federal Government in this area be coordinated and administered so as to assure their maximum effectiveness and to provide guidance and stimulation; 5. "A comprehensive study and a reevaluation of all governmental and nongovernmental programs and activities relating to the fitness of youth are necessary in the interest of achieving and maintaining higher standards of youth fitness." President's Council on Youth Fitness The Executive order, as amended, provides: "Section 1. There is hereby established the President's Council on Youth Fitness (hereinafter referred to as the Council), which shall be composed of the Secretary of the Interior, who shall be the Chairman of the Council, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. |