He sat on yellow porch that overlooked the vast expanse of his ranch. Over the past year he would practice this ritual daily. No more responsibilities, no more briefings, no more protesters, he had time to think. Gradually, his features regressed into a thousand-yard stare.

"Lyndon, I wish you wouldn't smoke."

The voice came from within the house. He had taken up smoking after his Presidential term had expired despite protests from his daughters and his wife. It was his time and he deserved it after all those years.

"Don't forget. Robert will be coming over to visit today."

He hadn't forgotten. How could he forget after all those years they had been together? It seemed like just yesterday that he had nominated his Secretary of Defense Robert Strange McNamara for the World Bank position. Always loyal and never faltering, McNamara left his administration when the two became irreconcilable.

He waited another hour, and soon enough a black car came speeding up the road to the ranch. From the vehicle emerged a man with a black suit and slicked-back hair. McNamara walked up to the porch.

"It's nice to see you're in good health Mr. President."

There was truth in that statement, because McNamara had last seen Johnson on the day of his departure. They had been through hell in their years together, and truthfully he did not expect to Johnson would live another year, especially considering his heart condition.

"How is the World Bank these days, Bob?"

"We're looking right now to expand our fiscal aid program to developing countries. There are also a couple issues with pollution in Brazil that we're looking into."

The two men made banter back and forth, but McNamara began to see that there was something Johnson was holding back. The floodgates were opening and the dam was about to break.

"What could we have done differently, Bob - on Vietnam?"

McNamara knew this was coming for he had thought about it too. They had all thought about it at some time. However, the way he thought about it was different than the way Johnson thought about it. Johnson was breaking the rule of hindsight. McNamara stared at the broken man before him. Johnson was a strong man, but he held a burden that would destroy a lesser man. He remembered the protesters outside the White House.

"Lyndon, you know the danger of dwelling on the past. If you keep thinking about Vietnam you'll kill yourself. I don't want that, your daughters don't want that, and Lady Bird doesn't want that."

Johnson was a nervous wreck, but McNamara pushed on.

"Our decisions as wartime commanders are made with the best information given to us and the best intentions. We do the best we can, but we can't save every life and you know that. Who knows what would have happened if we had not gone in? What if the entire continent of Asia fell into communism? In what position would we be in then? Under the fog of war we all make mistakes, but we can't analyze every possibility. We're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't."

The two men thought back to 1965. Westmoreland wanted troops on the ground to protect American air bases. There were two decisions at the time, two choices with two unknown outcomes. They had to choose, and in the end they would know only one result. They chose, and as Robert Frost said, "...that has made all the difference."