BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Bill Moyers on LBJ's Path to War Pt 1 of 2| PBS

Bill Moyers considers a President's decision to escalate troop levels in a military conflict. Through LBJ's taped phone conversations and his own remembrances, Bill Moyers looks at Johnson's deliberations as he stepped up America's role in Vietnam. Bill Moyers Journal airs Friday nights at 9 pm on PBS. Check your local listings.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11202009/profile.html

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• afghanistan
• vietnam
• obama
• lbj
• lyndon b johnson
• war
• bill moyers
• moyers journal

[CommanderUTube]

Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There's nothing to do but to stand there and take it.

( Lyndon B. Johnson )

If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read "President Can't Swim."

( Lyndon B. Johnson )

[boots920]

Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning.

Erwin Rommel

What would have been gained if the US won the war in Vietnam ? 0 benefit to US taxpayers.

Same thing applies to Iraq and Afghanistan

[GaryHMan]

He kept circling the option back to "getting in" too much, and there were too many "yes men". Not enough thinking "outside the box". Everybody always likes to see these Boogeymen everywhere. Sometimes you just have to let a country develop its own dang govt. How'd that 'domino theory' work for ya?

[Keithed200]

I don't think there's been a president as tragic as LBJ. Powerful, well-intentioned, and capable of doing so much good only to be crushed by hubris.

[BruceK10032]

Bundy had an interesting idea. What might have gone differently had the US sent only volunteers, not draftees? The massive opposition to the war in the US might never have materialized.

[GrifterUno]

Bill, You rule!!!...Keep it up. We need you!!!

[Taospark]

I love this inside look but I think LBJ's actions, however reluctant and even-handed at first, are unforgivable because he made the decision that got 25,000 people killed and ultimately cost us the national honor he wanted to protect.