Ike: Support LBJ on Vietnam

May 13, 1965 - Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower called today for general public support of the policies of the Johnson Administration in Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, and all points of tension with the Communist world.

Eisenhower, beginning two days as a “politician in residence” at Grinnell College in Iowa, acknowledged that air raids such as are now being carried out against military objectives in North Vietnam had been recommended by Barry Goldwater, the Republican Presidential candidate last year, before and during the election campaign.

“Time changes everything,” Eisenhower said. “While I quite agree that Barry Goldwater was talking about this kind of a military campaign even before he got the nomination, probably at that moment it was untimely and shocking to the American people. But many of the things he recommended are now being done.

“What President Johnson is now doing in Vietnam I think is firm and reasonable, and I think it is the right thing to do.

“I’ve got to support the President in this matter because nobody else can speak for this nation on foreign policy questions.”

As for the Administration’s recent military intervention in the Dominican Republic, the former Republican President said, “I think he [President Johnson] was right.”

He went on to say that “here was a situation that was instigated by Communists, and it was right for him to move in to protect American lives and to provide for their evacuation where possible.”

In ceremonies at the college chapel in midafternoon, Eisenhower received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Grinnell.

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