AUSTIN, Texas -- A significant part of President Lyndon Baines Johnson's Presidency surrounding the Vietnam War will be in the spotlight over the next few days at his Presidential Library.
The purpose of the event is to honor those who served in Vietnam and take a look at the period as a whole.
A summit, with some big names in international politics, began Tuesday evening with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who spoke at the event.
Kissinger sat front and center during Vietnam serving as the national security advisor and Secretary of State under both presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and ended America's involvement in the Vietnam war.
"There was nobody who wanted war, there was nobody who wanted to escalate the war. They all wanted peace. But the question was, 'Under what conditions can you do that?'," said Kissinger.
It's an answer he says President Johnson was always searching for.
"But his notions of peace were that you made a compromise and that is the one thing that the North Vietnamese were never prepared to do," said Kissinger.
Looking back, Kissinger doesn't regret any actions taken in Vietnam.
The tragedy, he says, was that the nation found itself so segregated.
"The fundamental failure was the division in our country, without that we could have managed it. It's a historic tragedy that America found itself so divided," said Kissinger.
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In May of 1971, during the dedication of LBJs presidential library, Johnson's speech made clear his wish that the library reflect not only the triumphs of his administration but also its failures.
Two years ago the LBJ library hosted the civil rights summit, marking the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act of 1964, which LBJ championed and signed into law.
Kissinger requested to take all questions from the audience, saying it may be one of the last times he is able to speak about his involvement in Vietnam.
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