By this time, the perceptions of the American public in regards to Vietnam had begun to change, i.e. the American public began to see the war as the U.S. vs. Vietnam, rather than Capitalism vs. Communism. The rising economic costs of the war, the growing gap between the official and unofficial accounts of the war, and the impact of the generation change—all of these were contributing factors to the anti-war movement. Moreover, the policy began to see Vietnam as not posing a threat to American security. The policy goal of every president was a stalemate, aiming to avoid domestic consequences of seeming to have sold out Vietnam to communism, as conditioned by McCarthyism. On the other hand, to go all out and win the war, the Americans feared, would probably cause China and Russia to-enter the war. Nixon’s justification was peace with honor.