Considered perhaps the most important foreign policy statement of the Johnson administration, the speech, billed as Peace Without Conquest, was an attempt to stem the growing alarm across the United States at the sudden escalation of the war by a man who had run for president the previous year on promises of peace. We wish that this were not so. This is not a change of purpose. Lorraine Boissoneault And we will try to make it so. We have no territory there, nor do we seek any. And I would hope that all other industrialized countries, including the Soviet Union, will join in this effort to replace despair with hope, and terror with progress. Test 3 Primary Sources . South Vietnam appeared to be losing to insurgent forces supported by North Vietnam, President Johnson made the decision to send U.S. combat forces We are there because we have a promise to keep. Have I done everything I can to help unite the world, to try to bring peace and hope to all the peoples of the world? As far back as 1961 I conferred with our authorities in Viet-Nam in connection with their work there. He had witnessed the Civil War firsthand as a boy, which contributed to his desire to avoid sending men to the meat-grinder trenches in Europe. Terms of Use Ask yourselves that question in your homesand in this hall tonight. . . But that is in the hands of others besides ourselves. The central lesson of our time is that the appetite of aggression is never satisfied. How far is LBJ willing to go? . We will do this because our own security is at stake. And we will do only what is absolutely necessary.Because we fight for values and we fight for principles, rather than territory or colonies, our patience and our determination are unending. We can do all these things on a scale never dreamed of before. We should not allow people to go hungry and wear rags while our own warehouses overflow with an abundance of wheat and corn, rice and cotton. And all this happened because electricity came to our area along the humming wires of the REA. Large-scale raids are conducted on towns, and terror strikes in the heart of cities. Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foun Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civi National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, A Colorblind Society Remains an Aspiration. 1The text of the reply to the 17-nation declaration of March 15 was released by the White House on April 8, 1965. In the Event of a Moon Disaster: "The Safire Memo". Ask yourselves that question in your homes and in this hall tonight. For help, refer to the notes in the margins. Around the globe, are people whose well-being rests on the belief that they can count on us if they are attacked. On January 30, just one week after Wilsons speech, Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare, meaning U.S. merchant and passenger ships would once again be targeted by German U-boats. The sudden escalation in American involvement was strongly criticized by many across the nation, especially a small, but highly influential minority in the media. Well, this can be their world yet. The battle would be renewed in one country and then another. I know how difficult it is for reason to guide passion, and love to master hate. To dishonor that pledge, to abandon this small and brave nation to its enemies, and to the terror that must follow, would be an unforgivable wrong. We will not grow tired. Central to his military policy in Vietnam, Johnson points to the bombing of the north. We wish that this were not so. I think on the one hand, Wilson didnt want the Germans to win, he was an Anglophile, Kazin says. Most of them want the same things for themselves and their families. We are also there because there are great stakes in the balance. In areas that are still ripped by conflict, of course development will not be easy. What irony, if any, exists in the phrase in italics, we must fight if we are to live in a world where every country can shape its own destiny. peace without conquest We have stated this position over and over again, fifty times and more, to friend and foe alike. We have no territory there, nor do we seek any. Special Message to Congress on U.S. Policy in Southeast Asia, To Fulfill These Rights: Commencement Address at Howard University, Check out our collection of primary source readers. There will be turbulence and struggle and even violence. And we will try to make it so. Our objective is the independence of South Viet-Nam, and its freedom from attack. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241950, The American Presidency ProjectJohn Woolley and Gerhard PetersContact, Copyright The American Presidency ProjectTerms of Service | Privacy | Accessibility, Saturday Weekly Addresses (Radio and Webcast) (1639), State of the Union Written Messages (140). We fight because we must fight if we are to live in a world where every country can shape its own destiny. Why does he work so hard to persuade Americans that the war in Southeast Asia must be fought? Viet-Nam is far away from this quiet campus. Why must this Nation hazard its ease, and its interest, and its power for the sake of a people so far away? For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions In recent months attacks on South Viet-Nam were stepped up. While China and the Soviet Union began sending aid to the North, the United States became ever more involved in the South. We want nothing for ourselvesonly that the people of South Viet-Nam be allowed to guide their own country in their own way. It is not pleasant to say this. Thus, it became necessary for us to increase our response and to make attacks by air. They will not yield either in principle or in action. Lyndon B. Johnson: Remarks of the President at The Johns Hopkins University (April 7, 1965) 26.3 Herbert Block, "Our Position Hasnt Changed at All," Washington Post Our resources are equal to any challenge. Mr. Garland, Senator Brewster, Senator Tydings, Members of the congressional delegation, members of the faculty of Johns Hopkins, student body, my fellow Americans. But we cannot and must not wait for peace. It wasnt that they wanted the Germans to win, but they didnt think this cataclysm was one that American intervention would remedy, says Michael Kazin, the author of War Against War: The American Fight for Peace 1914-1918. The complexities of this world do not bow easily to pure and consistent answers. We know that air attacks alone will not accomplish all of these purposes. Every night before I turn out the lights to sleep I ask myself this question: Have I done everything that I can do to unite this country? We fight because we must fight if we are to live in a world where every country can shape its own destiny. Each day these people rise at dawn and struggle through until the night to wrestle existence from the soil. Speech on the North Atlantic Treaty Its object is total conquest. | | ,  $ w ~ $ $ 9 " ,e O 0  L $ $  | : Vietnam Schaible LBJ Peace without Conquest Speech Directions: Read the following excerpts from the speech. 24.4Douglas MacArthur, Speech before Congress (April 19, 1951) 24.5Herbert Block, "Weve Been Using More of a Roundish One," Washington Post (May 1951) "Peace without Conquest" Speech at Johns. 'Peace without Conquest': Lyndon Johnson's But we will use it. The Presidency LBJ "Peace Without Conquest" Vietnam Speech We are also there because there are great stakes in the balance. It is a very old dream. " " " " " " " " " ' ' ' ;. The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, are all symbols of human failure. This team will be headed by Mr. Eugene Black, the very able former President of the World Bank. This is the principle for which our ancestors fought in the valleys of Pennsylvania.1 It is the principle for which our sons fight tonight in the jungles of Viet-Nam. We often say how impressive power is. Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Have I done everything I can to help unite the world, to try to bring peace and hope to all the peoples of the world? Even Senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin, one of the most vocal isolationists in the legislature, remarked, We have just passed through a very important hour in the history of the world. Then there was Senator Francis Warren of Wyoming, whose reaction was one of incredulous dismay: The President thinks he is president of the world. And finally, Senator Lawrence Sherman, also a vehement isolationist, who dismissed the speech as outright folly: It will make Don Quixote wish he hadnt died so soon.. Why choose this as our goal? But it is our best and prayerful judgment that they are a necessary part of the surest road to peace. . And, if we are steadfast, the time may come when all other nations will also find it so. But we cannot and must not wait for peace to begin this Most of them want the same things for themselves and their families. Johnson states clearly that American military forces will stay in Vietnam no matter how long it takes: We will not be defeated. What connections can you make to contemporary presidents? The battle would be renewed in one country and then anotherTo withdraw from one battlefield means only to prepare for the nextThere are those who say that all our effort there will be futile--that China's power is such that it is bound to dominate all southeast Asia. But trained men and supplies, orders and arms, flow in a constant stream from north to south. WebThe peace without victory speech was the culmination of years of desperate diplomacy on Wilsons part. WHY ARE WE IN VIETNAM ?We are there because we have a promise to keep. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'wikisummaries_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_9',121,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-wikisummaries_org-large-mobile-banner-1-0');Tensions ran high until 1963, when South Vietnam's government was overthrown and the conflict with communist forces escalated. Peace Without Conquest - livingston.org 2. Great social change--as we see in our own country now--does not always come without conflict. President Johnson is justifying his decision to send combat troops and why the American people need to support the fight against communism in this faraway Southeast Asian country. . Johnson's rationale for the war, and his strategy for fighting it, were best laid out in a speech he delivered at Johns Hopkins University on April 7, 1965. The complexities of this world do not bow easily to pure and consistent answers. Our objective is the independence of South Viet-Nam, and its freedom from attack. U.S. military personnel there increased from about 23,000 in January, 1965, to over 180,000 by the end of the year. Yet the infirmities of man are such that force must often precede reason, and the waste of war, the works of peace. However, no nation need ever fear that we desire their land, or to impose our will, or to dictate their institutions. Not heroic sacrifices, not martyrs for a cause, but gruesome, unnecessary deaths. To dishonor that pledge, to abandon this small and brave nation to its enemies, and to the terror that must follow, would be an unforgivable wrong. Well, we will choose life. | The first reality is that North Viet-Nam has attacked the independent nation of South Viet-Nam. For most of history men have hated and killed one another in battle. Considered perhaps the most important foreign policy statement of the Johnson administration, the speech, billed as Peace Without Conquest, was an attempt to stem the growing alarm across the United States at the sudden escalation of the war by a man who had run for president the previous year on promises of peace.