donald ritchie: the gallup poll's and other polls we were following with public opinion. president johnson felt pretty convinced that the american public was with him. when he started sending troops in, he had about 60% to 65% support in vietnam. he had won the presidency by a 60% vote. everybody came on board in this case, but of course he won the presidency promising not to get involved in the war and send troops. while it is true that the public opinion showed that the public did not want south vietnam to fall to communism, the public was much more ambiguous about this. they certainly did not want to send their sons to fight in vietnam. there was no great desire to have another korean war fought in vietnam. so while there was support for the principle that america needed to stand up for non-communist countries, small countries that were in threat there was also this sense, why , are we the only ones fighting. why isn't the rest of the world fighting? where are the other western democracies? why do we have to pay for this all the time? and of course president johnson by

but first, donald ritchie discuss the significance of the hearing. >> what is his book? donald: it was experts from the hearings they convened on the 1966.m war in early it was both proponents and supporters of the war, people like dean rusk and general maxwell taylor, and opponents like general gavin.

ut first donald ritchie discusses the significants of the hearing. > you brought a book with you called "vietnam hearings." what is this book? >> it was printed in 1966. it's now 50 years old and it was a book i used when i was course on american history in the 19. i was at the university of this book d we used because these -- it was excerpts senator hearings from fullbright convened in the early 1966 and it was both the proponents, the supporters of like dean and general maxwell taylor and gavin. cannon and general and we could teach this by showing the students both sides of the argument. were being they interrogated by senators who are on both sides of the argument. got to look at what the issues were and get some idea of defense was and what the opposition was to the war in vietnam. really useable wasn't at came out that that's sly partisan and why the hearings were so important because they presented oth sides of the issues and it enabled the american people to hear from people who thought the great idea to people thought the war was a terrible -- for people who thought the war co

but first, donald ritchie discuss the significance of the hearing. >> what is his book? donald: it was experts from the hearings they convened on the 1966.m war in early it was both proponents and supporters of the war, people like dean rusk and general maxwell taylor, and opponents like general gavin. we could teach this by showing the students both sides of the argument. they were being interrogated by senators on both sides of the argument, so you got to look at what the issues were and got some idea of what the defense wasand what the opposition to the war in vietnam. it was one of the first really usable books that came out. it was not enormously partisan one way or the other about the war, and that is why those hearings were so important, because they did present both , and it the issues enabled the american people to hear from people who thought the war was a great idea to people who thought the war was a terrible idea to the people who thought the work of the one to people who thought there was no possible way the war could be people thought it was a communist co

donald ritchie: time for one more question. >> i'm a historian. i am interested in the flow to opposition. of only how party structure all but how our perceptions evolved. -- looking into primaries in the 20th century, i wondered if you had thoughts on the -- on that? professor balogh: the attachment -- the party has changed dramatically. there was, i guess, the comment about the rise of independence, the last time i checked, a number of people who identified as independents is a must equal or is equal to republicans and democrats. in the broadly speaking, 20th century, there is much more willingness to change parties. basically disregard the party labels. i think that what has most works against parties in the 20th century is the ability for people running for office to find out about voters in ways that do not rely on parties. i think that is crucial. , what do parties really do when it comes to informing? discipline,t party but there is another side of parties, that is to provide information to people running about with their voters want them i

but first, donald ritchie discuss the significance of the hearing. >> what is his book? donald: it was experts from the hearings they convened on the vietnam war in early

we begin with senate historian emeritus donald richie. mr. ritchie: the vietnam hearings were some of the most extraordinary hearings ever held by congress. they were an investigation in to a war that was still being fought. congress and the senate wanted to know why we were in vietnam, what the administration's policies were, and they wanted to hear from opponents of the war. they give equal status to critics as they did supporters. it was a real debate and that is something that does not happen in wartime. in wartime, everyone rallies around the flag and there is general agreement. the reason was, we never had a declaration of war or a congressional debate. in august, 1954, there had been an incident. president lyndon johnson could use that to get congress to pass the gulf of tonkin, resolution, authorizing him to retaliate. they will see them rallying around the flag in support of the president during a period of crisis. it was done very quickly. senator fulbright brought it to the floor just after an hour's hearing. debate.it was passed w

. >> donald trump is celebrating third straight victory in the campaign trail.with all of the votes now counted trump to clear winner of lessons republican caucuses in nevada with 46 percent of the vote. marco rubio earned 24 percent while ted cruz came in third with 21 percent. and cousin john kasich finished way behind the leaders. of the two so-called supporters were photographed outside the las vegas caucus site wearing ku klux klan plan wrote the men were holding signs saying they were members of the new england police tablets association. when doors trump in december group released a statement saying the nde pba denies refutes any reference to those depicted in these pictures as supporters members or in any way associated with the new england police benevolent association or our affiliates. >> bill weld forming his support behind john kasich tonight he says trump has released certain amount of energy into the campaign but the case it carries necessary demeanor. >> i think a sick has a lot of hillary clinton continued his report from democratic leadership today so that minority lea

donald ritchie: >> the vietnam hearings were the most extraordinary hearings held by congress. they were an investigation into a war that was still being fought. the congress and particularly the senate wanted to know why we were in vietnam, what the administration's policies were and they wanted to hear from opponents of the war. they gave equal status to critics s of the war. >> two presidents that opposed president johnson policy. first a february 1966 abc news special report that includes the testimony of the former ambassador to the soviet union. then retired general and a chairman is questioned. >> in korea we learned air and naval power alone cannot win a war and inadequate ground forces cannot win either. it was incredible we forgot that lesson so soon we were on the verge of making the same tragic

ut first donald ritchie discusses the significants of the hearing. > you brought a book with you called "vietnam hearings." what is this book? >> it was printed in 1966. it's now 50 years old and it was a book i used when i was course on american history in the 19. i was at the university of this book d we used because these -- it was excerpts senator hearings from fullbright convened in the