Ball knew that the key members of the Johnson team were opposed to a political solution for one primary reason: it would require a withdrawal of the American military presence, which, they argued, would humiliate America and cripple its credibility among friends around the world. Ball took the opposite line. Far from damaging the country’s credibility, a political settlement would actually enhance it, because the allies, most of whom questioned Vietnam’s importance, would “applaud a move on our part to cut our losses.”
