I was among the hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of young people who chanted those words as the horror of the Vietnam War dragged on despite rapidly growing opposition in 1967. I was morally outraged at the slaughter of innocent children in my name, and particularly by the unforgivable decisions of a president who had shown such sober, even bold and inspiring leadership in the past — in passing the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, as prime examples.
I've never wavered in my belief that calling out Lyndon Johnson that way was the right thing to do. Yet it ultimately led to LBJ abandoning his re-election bid in 1968, and thus to the election of Richard Nixon (aided by some seditious conspiracy) and 50-plus years of mostly horrible foreign and domestic policy — starting with Nixon prolonging, worsening and expanding the same horrific slaughter of innocents I had been protesting.
