Aug. 5, 1964 | LBJ Speech at Syracuse University

Aug. 5, 1964 - Just 12 hours after announcing that he had ordered a U.S. air strike against North Vietnamese naval installation, President Johnson defined for the world the meaning of America’s stant.
Addressing a large audience at Syracuse University, Johnson said he had a message to convey to “any who may be tempted to support — or to widen — the present aggression.”“There is no threat to any peaceful power from the United States of America,” said Johnson. “But there can be no peace by aggression and no immunity from reply.”
The President added: “This is what is meant by the actions that we took yesterday.”
The President, accompanied by Mrs. Johnson, had journeyed to the northern New York community to dedicate the new $15 million Samuel I. Newhouse Communications Center on the university campus.
En route to Syracuse, Johnson read the latest intelligence reports summarizing results of the U.S. attack on the North Vietnamese coast.
As soon as the ceremony was over, he hurried back to Washington.

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