Hubert Humphrey’s memo of 17 February only infuriated LBJ and caused him to stop listening to the vice president’s counsel on Vietnam. When Humphrey, not fully appreciating Johnson’s ire, two weeks later gave him another cautionary memorandum, LBJ responded: “We don’t need all these memos.” From that point on, the vice president of the United States, the nation’s second-ranking public official, was banished from all Vietnam policy discussions.
