1968 Lyndon B. Johnson - Vietnam War

America entered the war in South Vietnam to prevent a communist takeover. This was part of a wider containment strategy to stop the spread of communism. According to the U.S. domino theory, if one state went Communist, other states in the region would follow. It was a long and very costly war. We were not in the war to win, but rather to outlast the North Vietnam and the communist. In the end, over 9 million military personnel would serve on active duty in Vietnam with over 47,000 hostile deaths and 75,000 severely disabled. In the midst of the war, President Johnson explained our role to congress in his State of the Union Address.

"We have chosen to fight a limited war in Vietnam in an attempt to prevent a larger war--a war almost certain to follow, I believe, if the Communists succeed in overrunning and taking over South Vietnam by aggression and by force. I believe, and I am supported by some authority, that if they are not checked now the world can expect to pay a greater price to check them later .... I think I reveal no secret when I tell you that we are dealing with a stubborn adversary who is committed to the use of force and terror to settle political questions.

I wish I could report to you that the conflict is almost over. This I cannot do. We face more cost, more loss, and more agony. For the end is not yet. I cannot promise you that it will come this year--or come next year. Our adversary still believes, I think, tonight, that he can go on fighting longer than we can, and longer than we and our allies will be prepared to stand up and resist.

Our men in that area--there are nearly 500,000 now--have borne well "the burden and the heat of the day." Their efforts have deprived the Communist enemy of the victory that he sought and that he expected a year ago. We have steadily frustrated his main forces. General Westmoreland reports that the enemy can no longer succeed on the battlefield.

So I must say to you that our pressure must be sustained--and will be sustained-until he realizes that the war he started is costing him more than he can ever gain."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=28338
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http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/johnson.html