Lyndon Charles Johnson Peace Without Conquest Sparknotes

On April 7th, 1965, Lyndon Baines Johnson delivered his iconic speech, “Peace Without Conquest.” This speech was his first about the war in Vietnam and was given at John Hopkins University. The speech was given because the reluctance to the Vietnam war was growing. This was due to Operation Rolling Thunder, which had just started.
At the beginning of his speech he explained the war itself and how it started, “…North Vietnam has attacked the independent nation of South Vietnam.” He then explained the “unparalleled brutality” going on, in order to get everyones hearts to understand why we are at war. He went into grave detail about the everyday life of Vietnam people. Then Communist China came in. He explained how Vietnam is a small part of the bigger picture when it came to the war. But the question everyone wanted an answer too,”why are we in South Vietnam?” was finally brought up. Johnson claimed that we have a pledge to help out South Vietnam. He spoke about how American

presidents, since 1954, have helped out South Vietnam and defended their independence thus making this situation a must, because we made a “promise.” He went on to say that if we did not stand with them, to defend their country, it would be an “unforgivable wrong.”
Johnson also said that even if the US retreated, the battle would continue and only grow.

This was because the “appetite of aggression is never satisfied.” To even further his idea of this being a moral obligation he brought up the Bible. “…in the words of the Bible: ‘Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.’” He explained that the US’s only objective is to maintain the freedom of South Vietnam. Since attacks in Vietnam were growing stronger we had to send in attacks by air. Johnson then made an extremely bold statement, “We will not be defeated. We will not grow tired. We will not withdraw, either openly or under the cloak of a meaningless agreement.” This statement was a strong statement of the US’s investment in the war. Of course we go into every war not wanting to withdraw but in this instance this statement made waves. Many people believed we should have NEVER gone into this war in the first place and now the president made the statement that we will NOT withdraw under any

circumstance.
He said that his overall goal was to have peace in the world which can only happen if South Vietnam was independent. Johnson went on to bring up how impoverished these people were. He eve n said that the average life expectancy was 40 years old. He went on to acknowledge the fact that peace cannot only be won by fighting because negotiations come along with it. Johnson went on to explain to the United Nations were working for the same cause as us. He even said that the US would donate One Billion dollars to the cause and that he hoped other nations, such as the Soviet Union, would as well. He also wanted to help out Asia’s poor by sending them clothes and food.
Johnson explained how the world will never be truly at peace and there will instances were other countries will fear our intentions. However, he said we will never try and take their land or dictate their people. But we will stand up for any nation that is being wrongfully taken over. This is because it would jeopardize the security of our own nation. He went on to state that we, as a nation, had a dream and now we had the power to uphold this dream. A “dream” of no wars, for things to be settled diplomatically, for there to be no hunger. He acknowledged how hard it would be but was still confident in “our dream.” He compared how we used to not have electricity and now we do to “our dream” coming true. Electricity was impressive, healthy children in a classroom was impressive, a large harvest in a desolate land was impressive, and a dam being built over water was impressive. “These -- not mighty arms -- are the achievements which the American Nation believes to be impressive.” This means that the status of your people is more impressive than how big of a military power you are.
Johnson mentioned the bible again by quoting Deuteronomy 30:19,“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” Back in 60s quoting the Bible would not have seemed abnormal. However, in todays society it is seen as an ill-mannered choice.
Johnson’s overall message was that we need peace without conquest. Conquest means invasion, killing, or conquering. His goal was to not louse lives in battle but to help a nation and bring out peace. No president every wants to take his country to war but sometimes it is necessary to maintain the safety of their people. Overall this speech was significant at the time because it helped the people understand Johnson’s intentions in the Vietnam War and his intentions for the United States.