In late June, a thirteen-member group of House Republicans, led by Representative Gerald Ford, called for a stronger U.S. stand in Vietnam, labeled the Kennedy-Johnson policies in Southeast Asia a failure, and threatened to make the war an issue in the upcoming campaign. The group charged that the administration was following a “Why Win?” policy in Vietnam, suggested that the time had come for a congressional resolution on the war, and called for an absolute commitment “to insure a victory for freedom.” A centerpiece in that commitment should be American command of all military operations in
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