Lyndon Johnson Expresses Doubts About Vietnam War
Speaking to his special assistant for national security, McGeorge Bundy, in a May 27, 1964, recorded telephone conversation, President Lyndon B. Johnson expresses his worry that the war in Vietnam is turning into another Korea.
Related Speeches & Audio (10)
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Lyndon Johnson Expresses Doubts About Vietnam War
Lyndon Johnson Expresses Doubts About Vietnam WarAudio Clip (1:13)
Audio Clip (1:13)
Speaking to his special assistant for national security, McGeorge Bundy, in a May 27, 1964, recorded telephone conversation, President Lyndon B. Johnson expresses his worry that the war in Vietnam is turning into another Korea.
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Lyndon Johnson Considers Troop Increase in Vietnam
Lyndon Johnson Considers Troop Increase in VietnamAudio Clip (5:02)
Audio Clip (5:02)
In June 1965, shortly after a coup in South Vietnam led to the 10th change of government in the war torn country, an attack by the North Vietnamese destroyed three U.S. aircraft at Danang. During a recorded telephone conversation with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara on July 2, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson contemplates whether the war can be won.
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Nixon Orders Invasion of Cambodia
Nixon Orders Invasion of CambodiaAudio Clip (1:02)
Audio Clip (1:02)
On April 30, 1970, President Richard Nixon asks the American people to support his decision to send troops into Cambodia in response to North Vietnam’s invasion of the country.
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McNamara Briefs President Johnson on Tonkin Gulf
McNamara Briefs President Johnson on Tonkin GulfAudio Clip (1:00)
Audio Clip (1:00)
On August 4, 1964, as events in the Tonkin Gulf unfold, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara apprised President Lyndon B. Johnson of the situation in a series of phone calls. In the third secretly recorded phone call of the day, McNamara reports that two U.S. destroyers deployed in the Gulf east of Vietnam are under attack. While McNamara did not know it at the time, the information he relayed was later determined to be false.
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Nixon on Vietnam War
Nixon on Vietnam WarAudio Clip (3:34)
Audio Clip (3:34)
On March 26, 1971, President Richard Nixon holds a meeting in the Oval Office with his National Security Council to discuss the war in Vietnam. The meeting is secretly recorded. Among the many topics he raises, Nixon recounts a prior conversation with House majority leader Hale Boggs on setting a date for the final withdrawal of U.S. forces.
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Robert F. Kennedy Questions South Vietnam Coup
Robert F. Kennedy Questions South Vietnam CoupAudio Clip (4:44)
Audio Clip (4:44)
On October 29, 1963, in a recorded meeting with President John F. Kennedy and the National Security Council, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy voices his concern about supporting the impending South Vietnamese coup to overthrow Ngo Dinh Diem. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Gen. Maxwell Taylor, and CIA Director John McCone echo RFK’s doubts.
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John F. Kennedy on Coup in South Vietnam
John F. Kennedy on Coup in South VietnamAudio Clip (6:06)
Audio Clip (6:06)
On October 29, 1963, President John F. Kennedy meets with the National Security Council to discuss whether to support the overthrow of South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem. During the secretly recorded conversation, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and the president craft a detailed plan involving Henry Cabot Lodge, ambassador to South Vietnam, Gen. Paul D. Harkins and the general of the South Vietnamese military, hoping to avoid setting off a civil war in the country.
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Ford Offers Clemency to Draft Evaders
Ford Offers Clemency to Draft EvadersAudio Clip (1:20)
Audio Clip (1:20)
On September 16, 1974, President Gerald Ford signed a proclamation that would offer Vietnam War draft evaders the chance to earn clemency by performing alternative service for their country. In a speech to the American people, Ford defends his decision as one that's best for the nation.
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Nixon Reelected to Presidency
Nixon Reelected to PresidencyAudio Clip (1:03)
Audio Clip (1:03)
On November 7, 1972, incumbent President Richard Nixon won a second term in a landslide victory over Democrat George McGovern. In a brief statement from the Oval Office, President Nixon promises to bring "peace with honor" in Vietnam and to usher in a "new era of peace" with the Soviet Union.
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Lady Bird Johnson Critiques the President
Lady Bird Johnson Critiques the PresidentAudio Clip (2:30)
Audio Clip (2:30)
President Lyndon B. Johnson holds a press conference on March 7, 1964, and takes questions on a range of topics, from the pending civil rights bill to the war in Vietnam. Afterward, in a recorded conversation with the president, Lady Bird Johnson evaluates her husband’s performance and awards him a “B+.”
Related Videos (10)
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Raymond Torres
Raymond TorresVideo Clip (2:52)
Video Clip (2:52)
Navy medic Raymond Torres joined the Navy to attend medical school and was assigned to a Marine Corps company. While tending to wounded Marines during the Khe Sanh battle, Torres was critically injured when a grenade exploded near him.
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Preserving the Footage
Preserving the FootageVideo Clip (2:04)
Video Clip (2:04)
By recovering footage buried away for decades to develop the Vietnam in HD series, see how history is preserved transferring the delicate film to HD.
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Charles Brown
Charles BrownVideo Clip (3:07)
Video Clip (3:07)
Raised in the segregated South, Charles Brown thought his best shot at a better life was to join the Army. He was stationed with the 101st Airborne Division and quickly appointed platoon sergeant, leading search and destroy missions through the jungles of Vietnam.
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Remembering Vietnam: A Premonition
Remembering Vietnam: A PremonitionVideo Clip (1:31)
Video Clip (1:31)
Air Force Pilot Keith Connolly recalls a story about a fellow pilot and friend who had a premonition that he would not return from the war.
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The Seawolves
The SeawolvesVideo Clip (4:56)
Video Clip (4:56)
A surprise phone call reunites two Vietnam war veterans, George Heady and Al Billings, with films of their service in the Navy Seawolves helicopter unit.
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Elizabeth Allen
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Video Clip (3:11)
Psychiatric nurse Elizabeth Allen volunteered for the Army and requested frontline duty in Vietnam.
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Karl Marlantes
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Marine Karl Marlantes left behind a Rhodes scholarship to volunteer for service in Vietnam.
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Joe Galloway
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Reporter Joe Galloway covered the Vietnam War from the frontlines while embedded with the Command Unit of the 1st Cavalry Division.
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Barry Romo
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Fresh out of high school, Barry Romo enlisted in the U.S. Army to serve in Vietnam. Romo was awarded a bronze star for his efforts but grew disillusioned with the war and later joined a controversial group called Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
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Arthur Wiknik
Arthur WiknikVideo Clip (3:42)
Video Clip (3:42)
As an 18-year-old draftee, Arthur Wiknik was rushed through officer candidate's school. After one month in Vietnam he found himself in the middle of the battle of "Hamburger Hill"--one of the most notorious battles of the war.
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