 By 22 March , President Johnson had informed Wheeler to " forget the 100 @,@ 000 " men . The President and his staff were refining a lesser version of the troop increase – a planned call @-@ up of 62 @,@ 000 reservists , 13 @,@ 000 of whom would be sent to Vietnam . Three days later , at Clifford 's suggestion , Johnson called a conclave of the " Wise Men " . With few exceptions , all of the members of the group had formerly been accounted as hawks on the war . The group was joined by Rusk , Wheeler , Bundy , Rostow , and Clifford . The final assessment of the majority stupefied the group . According to Clifford , " few of them were thinking solely of Vietnam anymore " . All but four members called for disengagement from the war , leaving the President " deeply shaken . " According to the Pentagon Papers , the advice of the group was decisive in convincing Johnson to reduce the bombing of North Vietnam . 
