Vietnam: Prolonging the Agony

A presidential candidate may not need a policy, but a President does. Nixon’s election seems, in part, to have been due to his skill at gathering the support of those discontented voters who, for a variety of reasons, wanted to bring the Vietnam War to an end; but precisely because he avoided committing himself to any policy, he is now in trouble. For now, he must decide.

The general position seems clear. If the new Administration eliminates as realistic alternatives either a major reescalation or total withdrawal—and both the military situation in Vietnam and the political situation at home seem to require that right now the Administration foreclose these possibilities—then it has no choice but to persist in negotiatio...