"Where Do You Stop?" LBJ Tapes, Vietnam War, President Johnson talks with Senator Mike Mansfield

This conversation is from 5:05 P.M., the afternoon of June 8, 1965, between President Lynson Johnson and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield. Four days earlier had been a significant one. The U.S. commander in Vietnam, Gen. William Westmoreland, had requested from Johnson an additional 44 battalions of U.S. troops—a request that, if granted, would dramatically expand the U.S. combat presence in Vietnam. In this call, President Johnson is asking Senate Majority Leader Mansfield [D–Montana] for advice on whether to approach Congress about escalating the Vietnam War. Earlier, Mansfield had sent President Johnson a memorandum supporting Johnson’s decision to exclude the Hanoi-Haiphong area from bombing and urging Johnson to pursue a negotiated, diplomatic solution to the war in Vietnam. Before the call, Johnson had retired to the Mansion for an afternoon nap, but unable to sleep, had decided to call Mansfield from his bedroom to discuss a range of issues, so, you will hear more than just Vietnam talked about, but its all inside baseball which I find interesting. A final note is that you will have picked up on by now – if you have listened to the other tapes – is that Johnson frequently employs this technique of telling his caller that other people do not know what Johnson is thinking, or that he hasn’t shared or discussed these thoughts with others, so that the caller will feel special. At least that’s my assessment.