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The Dilemmas Of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War In Vietnam

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The dilemmas faced by President Johnson in escalating the war in Vietnam
The Vietnam War was a big conflict between North and South Vietnam, it had alot of world wide consequences. The North was led by a Communist and nationalist system that had fought against the Japanese in World War II and also the French colonial rule in the late 1940s. In 1954, it took control of North Vietnam when the French agreed to a subdivision in the Geneva Accords. The South was led by a non-Communist system and after 1956, it was a part of the Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was unable to join forces with his rule with a mainly Buddhist population. He governed with the support of a military trained by the United States. In the late 1950s, Communist guerrilla forces in the …show more content…

Johnson, who had authority of the White House following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The circumstances of Johnson’s dominance to the Oval Office left him little to no choices, except to implement several unrealized Kennedy ingenuity’s, particularly in the fields of economic policy. But Johnson was just as committed to winning the fight against the Communist party in Vietnam.
For Johnson, the choice to stay with the Vietnam commitment followed the path of his forerunners. He was determined to hold an independent South Vietnam and to have success in Southeast Asia. As senator, he had taken up the "containment theory," which said that if Vietnam fell under communist rule, other nations would do the same. Johnson was kinda sensitive about the judgment of history, and he did not want to be known as the President who lost Southeast Asia to …show more content…

He approved NSAM, on Nov. 26, 1963, which looked to the U.S. government "to assist the Government of South Vietnam to win against the “seemingly supported Communist conspiracy." When the counterattack failed, Johnson began to boost U.S. commitments. Johnson approved OPLAN, calling for stepped up spreading and secret operations against the North to be transferred from the CIA to the military. After they didn't clear Communist from areas around Saigon, Johnson approved NSAM in March of 1964, calling for much more U.S. involvement in South Vietnamese affairs and a bigger use of U.S. force, which involved planning for air strikes for North Vietnam. After several reports that U.S. naval vessels had been reported attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin, Johnson asked Congress for support. By a unanimous vote in the House, Congress decided to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving the President the authority to take any measures necessary to protect armed forces. Johnson would use this as a declaration of war. Even though a lot of people said that he should have been sent to Congress for a final declaration. During the summer of 1964, Johnson campaigned on a peace treaty and had no further intention of escalating the war unless it were absolutely necessary. "Some others are eager to enlarge the conflict," Johnson quotes. The President was full of reassurance, even so the sustained bombing of North Vietnam,

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McMaster also talked about how president Johnson believed that he would be able to control the U.S involvement in vietnam and part of that belief is based of of McNamara's confident assurance. (McMaster 333) Because of Lyndon B John secret decision made in Washington between November 1963 to July 1965, he got the United States deeper and deeper into the war. President Johnson also believed that it would be possible to preserve American credibility even if the U.S armed force withdrew from Vietnam (McMaster 332). He was totally wrong. “After the United States become committed to the war, however, more American soldiers, airmen,... had died in the conflict, it would become impossible simply to disengage and declare America’s credibility intact…”

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The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed by Congress, it allowed President Lyndon B. Johnson to take any action that he thought would help protect the U.S. Troops in Southeast Asia and the individuals in the United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson gained full authority, no one else can take any actions. He was basically on his own. Before the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, Johnson wanted to expand the war, but he was afraid that the other people would not support him. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was also called USS Maddox incident.

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President Lyndon B. Johnson was our 36th president after the beloved John F. Kennedy. He had to pick up the reigns after John F. Kennedy and wanted to show he could be just as good, if not better, of a president as Kennedy or event the 2 presidents before kennedy. His use of rhetoric tries to include the entire country toward one solution. He addresses domestic policy, but instead calls it “justice”.

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His authority and achievements were however shadowed by his increasing commitment of the United States Forces in Vietnam. This did not play out well with the American population. Hostility to the war and the promise Lyndon B. Johnson had towards it started rise into protests and demonstrations. These protest groups were mostly of the youth. In 1968, to the surprise of many, he announced that he would not be seeking re-election.

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That North Vietnamese had ships and they opened fire on the United States vessel. Congress made the decision to use anything necessary to drive North Vietnam away from them. Johnson made it seem the Vietnam War was the American War. He was thinking of himself. In my opinion, I think since he was new in office and need the support of Congress on his side.

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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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In the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson times were extremely confusing. Domestically, the civil rights movement was in full effect and the war in Vietnam was raging overseas. Another major implication on these two mens presidencies was the Cold War and the fight for democracy to rule over communism around the world. Thus, many of the stances these two presidents had on Vietnam involved being aggressive in the war and not letting communism defeat the “free” world. Their decisions were both aggressive and extremely stubborn when the scope of the war began to take shape.

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Johnson's handling of the war, including the escalation of troop levels and the bombing of North Vietnam, drew widespread condemnation and divided the

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The decision not to seek reelection in 1968 was not because of fears that Johnson had of not being reelected because several days before his speech on March 31, 1968, the polls indicated that he would be reelected over all the potential candidates (Jones, P. 1). Therefore, the reason is because of the Vietnam War. Johnson did want to continue the war in Vietnam, but he felt like he needed to continue the commitments made by Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy (Jones. P. 1).

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government to assist the people and the Government of South Vietnam against the Communist conspiracy. (Germany) Most Americans were against the Vietnam War, but Johnson pursued going into war to help South Vietnam. He believed that they should be able to be independent also. This act of courage showed him to be fearless in what others thought.

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The following events would put him in a disadvantage. In August 1964, North Vietnam allegedly attached American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Congress authorized he president to use force, he did. In 1965 President Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam.

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In an interview with Johnson done by Roy Wilkins he says, “Johnson was describing himself as liberated from his southern bonds or as a man who could now fully put the national interest and moral concerns above the political constraints.” ( Dallek,1961-73). This is proof of Lyndon Johnson ignoring the public and politics when supporting the Act by showing Johnson’s feelings towards Southern politics during this time, not caring about what they would think and feeling like he couldn’t do what he actually wanted with the South “watching over

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