Aug. 28, 1964 - President Johnson chose “to be a Congressman instead of a soldier,” whereas “Barry Goldwater stayed in the service for four long years,” Representative William E. Miller declared today.
The Republican candidate for Vice President compared the Johnson and Goldwater military records in challenging the manner in which a filmed biography of the President depicted his World War II service.
The film, shown at the Democratic National Convention last night and seen by a nationwide television audience, related how Mr. Johnson went from the House of Representatives into the Navy as an officer.
In a speech to a luncheon rally of 450 Republicans at Olean, N.Y., Mr. Miller said that “his heart was bleeding when Lyndon Johnson had to vote to send American boys to war and he said he would go himself.”
“But what they didn’t show in the film,” Mr. Miller said, “was that six months later he was back home again before the shooting even started. They showed Lyndon Johnson as the warrior who went off — until a decree was made that you couldn’t be a Congressman and in the service.”
Citing Mr. Goldwater’s military service, Mr. Miller said that “today he is a Major General in the Air Force Reserve.”
“He knows war like no man in this country, and he hates it almost more than any man in this country,” Mr. Miller asserted.
The Vice-Presidential nominee defended Mr. Goldwater, the Republican Presidential candidate, against Democratic charges that Mr. Goldwater was “trigger-happy” and followed policies that could plunge the nation into war.
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