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Essay On Johnson's Loss To The Vietnam War

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Johnson’s Loss to the War Lyndon Johnson, as he was admitted to office, had a very strong idea about what he wanted his presidency to be like. He had to come after one of the nation’s most recognized presidents, and tried to retain that image in his own as a ploy in his political campaign. Plans to reshape the economy and revitalize it, make the domestic front more stable, and bring an end to most unemployment. The unfortunate case with his presidency though was that the Vietnam War had prevented any of his measures to improve America, and his decisions in it broke his future campaigns for office. The Great Society was one key plan that Johnson had created. It was a concept of enacting multiple bills enforced to improve the infrastructure of the nation. It’s influences were focused with a few major acts: The Higher Education Act of 1965 that gave federal funds to colleges and universities, the Housing and Urban Development Act that provided funds to health and recreation centers, the Medicare bill that provided health insurance and aid to the elderly specifically, the Economic Opportunity Act that was a wide-swept …show more content…

McNamara was originally the Secretary of Defense, but was replaced by Clark on March 1st of 1967 once his attitude on the war changed. Johnson wanted someone to support all his decisions in the war even as he didn’t want it himself, and with McNamara having a sudden policy shift, that support was falling flat quickly. Clark had previous ties with the president before being chosen as he opposed people who wanted to halt Operation Rolling Thunder in Vietnam. What the public saw from this was the president casting out a very logical official and replacing him with someone who followed the rest of the crowd and had no passion until others held one. This undermined the people’s vision of him then, and approval ratings fell even lower at the supposedly dishonest

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During the 1960’s when Lyndon B Johnson was president the Great Society was successful. One example to prove that the Great Society was successful is written in document C by Joseph A Califano Jr. and he states, “Great Society's food stamp program helps feed more than 20 million men,women, and children in more than 8 million households. Since it was launched in 1967, the school breakfast program has provided a daily breakfast to nearly 100 million schoolchildren.” This quote boldly illustrate how amazing the great society is by providing food for the poor. Another great example of how the great society was successful by Joseph A Califano Jr. states, “The Voting Rights Act of 1965. .

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All things considered, it is not a fair assessment to call it “Johnson’s war” bearing in mind Nixon interfered, but to a certain point it is reasonable to call it so, because of the Tonkin Gulf resolution and because of Operation Rolling Thunder. The Tonkin Resolution put too much power into Johnson’s hands and allowed him to start a war without officially declaring one. In addition, Operation Rolling Thunder was a fail and helped the Viet Cong in finding a way to attack the American troops without showing themselves. Nixon going behind Johnson’s back and making a deal with the enemy made the war, to a certain degree, his fault as well. All in all, the Vietnam War should not be looked at as all Johnson 's fault, the blame is divided between

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Johnson entered the office of the presidency as the successor to John F. Kennedy. Following JFK’s tragic death, Johnson wished to enact policies that drew inspiration from the “New Frontier” (PBS 2014). This collection of initiatives and programs make up The Great Society. There was a major focus on Civil Rights and constant battles regarding that subject throughout Johnson’s term. Johnson pushed for reforms in education and an individual’s ability to afford it.

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President Johnson made the Vietnam War his own by manipulating information, and the media to get congress to help support him in fighting the war. He didn’t want to go to war with Vietnam, but he felt that if the U.S. did not help South Vietnam, it would be a failure on him to have let Vietnam become a communist country. He was determined to keep the North Vietnamese communists from taking control over the government of South Vietnam. He feared that if America did not do anything to help contain communism, that it would spread throughout the world. This was also known as the “Domino Theory,” in which President Johnson strongly believed in.

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1450 Words | 6 Pages

Not only that, President Johnson also had to deal with domestic problems that arose in the United States because of the Vietnam War. So now, not only does President Johnson have to deal with the Vietnam War, he also has to deal with the social unrest in the country he is president of. These problems open a door for Richard Nixon to take advantage of, and he does. Not only that, President Nixon will get re-elected in 1972, and win by a landslide. The social

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So Johnson settles with ground troops and thought if they could increase the number of troops send to Vietnam, that would cause Vietnam not to outlast the United States. Johnson major drawbacks were that Vietnam leader was not going to give up so easy and that Hanoi was going to take all the bombs and kills that the United States was going to do to them. Knowing that Johnson has caused an even bigger problem with all the casualties that happen. He did not want to run another term, he wanted to step down and be with his family. He was also scared he would be shot in office.

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Great Society refers to Lyndon Johnson’s expansive reform program that sought to reduce taxes, ensure civil rights, give aid to public education, provide medical care for the elderly, and eliminate poverty (Nash 858). LBJ’s program was quite successful compared to the administration under Kennedy. Johnson, through many manipulative means, was able to get congress to support many of his reform policies that Kennedy was unable to. Johnson believed in the Keynesian theory that tax cuts would inevitably stimulate the economy due to people having more money to spend (Nash 858). He pressed for a tax cut and soon the tax bill was passed.

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The Great Society Program was good for so many reasons like the poverty for people has drooped down from 22.2% to 12.6%. Now say that Lyndon B. Johnson have not did this program; then, the poverty percent for people would go up past the years. He also had made this for families that are poor to have their kids have a head and have to start the same time as the kids in a rich family. Lyndon made the food stamp act of 1964. This act

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What options were available to President Johnson? To President Nixon? What were the advantages and disadvantages? When Johnson took the presidency he could have stopped support to South Vietnam, but he didn’t.

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When the Great Society was proposed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 it was an attempt to eliminate domestic diversity, and poverty, while also providing

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In a sense, he bulldozed President Johnson into doing irrational bombings in Vietnam. McNamara convinced Johnson that bombings should be the only direct response to escalation. Although McNamara sometimes had doubts, he was usually supportive of whatever bombing strategies were proposed. McNamara skillfully withheld the realities of Vietnam from Johnson and the public, so he could continue fighting the war his way. He wanted to send thousands of more troops and spend millions arms.

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By the time that Johnson announced he would no longer be running for reelection, nearly 4000 Americans had died in combat, as well as 58,000 enemies and 14,000 allies. Secretary of State Dean Acheson reported to Johnson that “victory in Vietnam was not feasible within the limits of public tolerance” (New York Times 2). With disapproval rates soaring, Johnson was forced to reduce American involvement in the war by “rejecting major troop reinforcements, reducing the bombing, [and] gradually shifting the burden of the fighting to the South Vietnamese.” Through his actions, the President “hoped to salvage his policy...until the end

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Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society stands as a defining moment in American history, focused on social reform on a large range of issues. While the fix of racial equality and quality of life for the American people were undeniably important themes, a closer look reveals that Johnson’s ideals were deeply rooted in a commitment to improving educational quality and opportunity for the American people. Examining Johnson's own statements and the design of the Great Society's educational programs makes it clear that fostering a more educated citizenry was the cornerstone of his uplifting plan. LBJ’s focus for reform was on improvement in education systems for children.

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The New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society were two very ambitious and transformative programs being implemented in the United States during separate eras. While both aimed to address issues in society and improve the lives of American citizens, they had significant differences in their core principles and goals. For starters, the New Deal, which was implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s sought to relieve some of the devastating effects of the Great Depression. It focused on immediate relief, recovery, reform, and introduced various policies and programs, including the creation of public work projects, labor reforms, and the creation of social security. The primary goal was to increase economic growth, create jobs, and restore the public’s confidence in our government.

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The New Deal was a list of programs that were created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt by way of executive order and was passed by Congress. The programs were designed to provide financial relief to Americans who were living in poverty from the Great Depression. The Great Society was developed by Lyndon Johnson; the main objective was to eliminate poverty and racial injustice. However the Great Society also included several goals like clean air and water, and education.. The Government programs such as the New deal and the Great Society where installed to give protection and relief to American who were struggling with poverty and racial injustice.

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