Lyndon B. Johnson, Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union (January 12, 1966). In Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966, Book 1 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1966), 3-7.
[In this excerpt from his 1966 State of the Union Address, LBJ defended his dual war: on poverty at home and on communism abroad.]
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the House and the Senate, my fellow Americans:
Our Nation tonight is engaged in a brutal and bitter conflict in Vietnam. Later on I want to discuss that struggle in some detail with you. It just must be the center of our concerns.
But we will not permit those who fire upon us in Vietnam to win a victory over the desires and the intentions of the American people. This Nation is mighty enough, its society is healthy enough, its people are strong enough, to pursue our goals in the rest of the world while still building a Great Society here at home....
Because of Vietnam we cannot do all that we should, or all that we would like to do.
We will ruthlessly attack waste and inefficiency. We will make sure that every dollar is spent with the thrift and with the commonsense which recognizes how hard the taxpayer worked in order to earn it.
We will continue to meet the needs of our people by continuing to develop the Great Society....
Tonight the cup of peril is full in Vietnam.
That conflict is not an isolated episode, but another great event in the policy that we have followed with strong consistency since World War II.
The touchstone of that policy is the interest of the United States — the welfare and the freedom of the people of the United States. But nations sink when they see that interest only through a narrow glass.
In a world that has grown small and dangerous, pursuit of narrow aims could bring decay and even disaster.
An America that is mighty beyond description — yet living in a hostile or despairing world — would be neither safe nor free to build a civilization to liberate the spirit of man....