Lyndon Johnson

• “The challenge we face in [Vietnam] today is the same challenge we have faced with courage and that we have met with strength in Greece and Turkey, in Berlin and Korea, in Lebanon and in Cuba.”

Lesson: Soviet aggression and expansionism was at the heart of the Cuban Missile Crisis and future crises during the Cold War.

“The Communist Challenge in Southeast Asia” (speech at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, August 5, 1964).

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•  “There were times when [Khrushchev] was guilty of dangerous adventure. It required great American firmness and good sense — first in Berlin and later in the Cuban Missile Crisis- to turn back his threats and actions without war.”

Lesson: Crises require “firmness and good sense.”

“Recent Events in Russia, China, and Great Britain,” (radio and television Presidential address, October 18, 1964). [N.B. Speech made after Khrushchev had been removed from power.]

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•  “In this pursuit we have defended against Communist aggression—in Korea under President Truman—in the Formosa Straits under President Eisenhower—in Cuba under President Kennedy—and again in Vietnam.”

Lesson: Syntactically equates the Cuban Missile Crisis with other crises of the Cold War, suggesting American military power defuses crises.

“State of the Union” (speech at U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., January 12, 1966).

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