President Johnson Regrets the Intervention

“I have nothing in the world I want except to do what I believe to be right. I don’t always know what’s right. Sometimes I take other people’s judgments, and I get misled. Like sending troops in there to Santo Domingo. But the man that misled me was Lyndon Johnson, nobody else! I did that! I can’t blame a damn human. And I don’t want any of them to take credit for it. . . . I’ll ride it out.”

1. Recording of telephone conversation between Johnson, Fortas, and McNamara, 23 May 1965, 5:10P.M., WH6505.29, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. All conversations are from the Johnson Library