Revolution and still not clear today, a confrontation between vietnamese ships and american ships which then led to a resolution ran through by Lyndon Johnson to a complete lack of focus and strategy on how to bring it to a close. And im very sympathetic because the one thing that overrode most of Lyndon Johnsons thinking appropriately was chin fa, that we certainly didnt want to have a confrontation athat would lea to a real conflict there. So it cautioned all of our actions so that it was a very gradual escalation which then not only didnt harm the enemy but strengthened their resolve and that led, of course, to all kinds of implications and repercussions. The new age, the use of drugs, demonstrations right out here on this mall there was a Million People or how ever many it was that it really split our society in a way that we sometimes forget. Mass arrests, demonstrations, chicago that all of us can look back and see on cspan but it was a tumultuous time and most of it was bred by
And bad . The legacies of vietnam is that we, before we get into a conflict, we better have a strategy and a capability to win. And this was one of these gradual drip, drip, drip involvements, started out with the thing called the gulf of tonkin resolution, still not clear today, confrontation between vietnamese ship or ships and american ships, which then led to a resolution rammed through by linden johnson, a complete lack of focus and strategy on how to bring it to a close. And im very sympathetic because the one thing that overrode most of linden johnsons thinking appropriately was china, that we certainly didnt want to have a confrontation and a conflagration that would lead to a conflict there. So, it cautioned all of our actions so that it was a very gradual escalation, which then not only didnt harm the enemy, but it strengthened their resolve. And that led, of course, to all kinds of implications and repercussions, the new age, the use of drugs, demonstrations right out here o
Theater, National Archives staff and volunteers will present each of you with a lapel pin. United states of america vietnam War Corporation is an initiative and the lapel pin is the nations lasting memento of thanks. Tonights program is one in a series of events we are presenting in conjunction with our new exhibit, remembering vietnam, which just opened upstairs. The exhibit is a media rich exhibition of the vietnam war, featuring historic analysis and newly discovered iconic original documents, some footage, and artifacts illuminating 12 critical episodes in the war that divided the peoples of the United States and vietnam. Remembering vietnam draws on remembering vietnam draws on National Archives records for all parts of our agency. President ial library, still photography, sound recordings, electronic records. The title of the exhibit, remembering the non bering yet non vietnam was inspired by a quote, all wars are fought twice, the first on a battlefield, the second time in memor
I know that we can talk a lot about your background and your history as an ap reporter. Given the time constraints, i want to jump into your photos of president bush. Tell the story of how you became the official White House Photographer. I love how you got the job. Mr. Draper i will give you the long story. Because it is fascinating to me. I never planned on being the White House Photographer. It was an opportunity that presented itself. Back when i was a Staff Photographer at the ap and most of my career has been in the journalism newspaper wire service business, i was assigned to cover the campaign president ial campaign in 2000. I was assigned to cover governor bush, who was running for office. I was among many journalists traveling on the campaign trail for nearly 18 months. And it was not until the very end of the campaign that it was decided actually, realized that i had a shot at the white house job, which i was very happy and satisfied with my position at the ap. I blame every
James good evening. I hope you will excuse all of this, but i have been taking time off from my job to look into something important to all of us that seems to be confused. What i mean is missiles, highperformance airplanes. Why do we have so many . Why do we need both . Where are we going with all of this . A fellow asked me that question in london not so long ago. It is not a simple question, and i couldnt get him a simple answer. That is the reason for all this homework. It seems to me that weve got to understand just what we are building, how each of these missiles and airplanes add to our deterrence strengths, and why we have developed them and what they do. I would like to tell you what i wish i had been able to tell that fellow in london not very long ago. Some of you may remember i was a bomber pilot in world war ii. That was back when the air force inventory was a relatively simple one. There were longrange heavy bombers like this one. I flew one of these, a b24. This is some