As to Lyndon Johnson...there is also the question of how much weight we should give his decision to escalate the war against Vietnam after the 1964 election- in which he was re-elected in a landslide as, effectively, the "peace candidate", on the pledge "we seek no wider war", and at a time when he could have withdrawn all US troops with little or no political consequences. Had he ended US involvement in 1964, and focused his administration entirely on winning the wars against poverty and racism-including Northern segregation- It is my contention that Lyndon Johnson would have ended his presidency with widespread popular acclaim and be remembered today as "the second Lincoln".