[316] Truman's statement garnered a response from Martin Luther King Jr., who wrote a letter to Truman stating that he was "baffled" by Truman's accusation, and demanded a public apology.[317] Truman would later criticize King following the Selma march in 1965, believing the protest to be "silly" and claiming that it "[couldn't] accomplish a darn thing except to attract attention."[318] In 1963, Truman voiced his opposition to interracial marriage, believing that daughters of white people would never love someone of an opposite color.[319][320]
Upon turning 80 in 1964, Truman was feted in Washington, and addressed the Senate, availing himself of a new rule that allowed former presidents to be granted privilege of the floor.[321]

Medicare
After a fall in his home in late 1964, Truman's physical condition declined. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare bill at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum and gave the first two Medicare cards to Truman and his wife Bess to honor the former president's fight for government health care while in office.