1960s
March 30, 1960
U.S. Highway 281 – stretching from the Canada border to Mexico, though North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas – Is formally dedicated as the national “American Legion Memorial Highway.”
July 23, 1962
Pitching phenomenon Bob Feller of Iowa – known as the “heater from Van Meter” – is the first alumnus of American Legion Baseball inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown.
July 24, 1963
Future U.S. President Bill Clinton, then a 16-year-old student at Hot Springs, Ark., High School, famously meets and shakes hands with President John F. Kennedy at the White House during American Legion Boys Nation.
March 15, 1969
The U.S. Postal Service officially issues a 6-cent commemorative stamp to honor The American Legion’s 50th anniversary. Sales of the stamp begin on March 17, the 50th anniversary of the end of the Paris Caucus that formed the organization.
Aug. 24, 1969
The Legion’s National Executive Committee establishes the National Emergency Fund as a result of the effects of Hurricane Camille.