Lyndon B Johnson served as the president of the United States after the killing of John F Kennedy in 1963. Some analysts remember Johnson for the role he played during the Vietnam War. Johnson was determined to assist general Khanh, the leader of the South Vietnamese army, to overcome the threat of the NLF. After winning the 1964 election, Johnson increased the number of the United States troops in Vietnam. Nevertheless, this move did not get the support of some Americans.
After the well known Bay of Pigs fiasco, he felt he was advised that he needed a foreign policy success. The arena in which he was to succeed was to be Vietnam. President Kennedy wanted to be strong in Vietnam, to show off America's power. The president's role in the Vietnam War remains the most controversial aspect of his public
This compelled a sense of unity, which in turn helped groups organize to change how the nation viewed the war. Country Joe McDonald’s song emphasizes a misunderstanding between the young radicals of society and their leaders, “And it’s 1,2,3, what’re we fighting for? / Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn” (14-15). An increasingly noticeable ‘generation gap’ started to widen as U.S. News & World Report “assured its readers that Vietnam was a “local war... Big war is not threatened” (Lynskey 89). However, when President Johnson and other military advisors mixed-up events, possibly deliberately, to claim that North Vietnam had just attacked the US naval force in the Gulf of Tonkin- an incident which later proved to be a minor naval clash (Prados 1) and used this conflict as a premise to launch a full scale invasion of the communist state, the antiwar movement consolidated with great speed.
Another event that impacted the public’s view of government dishonesty during this time was President Nixon’s involvement with the infamous Watergate scandal which eventually led to his resignation on August 9, 1974. Furthermore, when President Nixon began his presidency, people believed he would work to bring an end to America’s involvement in the Vietnam. Yet, this was not the case as Nixon increased bombing raids and authorized the invasion of Cambodia. When the war started, the American people were led to believe that the war was a necessity to ensure the protection of the nation as a whole.
Question B – Why did the USA become increasingly involved in Vietnam between 1964 and 1968? The USA became increasingly involved in the Vietnam War between 1964 and 1968 for a number of different reasons. After Kennedys reign of presidency, Lyndon Johnson took hold of a difficult situation in Vietnam. The South Vietnamese government was very corrupt, the Viet Cong were making large gains in rural areas of South Vietnam and guerilla tactics were proving very hard to combat. One key reason why the US became progressively involved in Vietnam was the fear of the Domino theory.
President Kennedy increased US involvement in Vietnam for many reasons, varying from his strong hatred of communism to his need for proving the doubters that thought he was an insufficient president wrong. Historians such as Sanders, Betts and Bornet argue and stress several factors that lead to increased US involvement, stating that some factors had a greater influence over Kennedy’s involvement in Vietnam. For instance, Kennedy’s campaign rhetoric, the domino theory and insurgency in the 3rd world are all other explanations for Kennedy’s decisions in Vietnam, but some reasons have more significance than others. Kennedy was born in to a wealthy, Irish Catholic, democratic family. His catholic family loathed communism, he was taught to hate it as it went against his religion and jeopardised his family’s wealth.
"The Silent Majority Speaks: Antiwar Protest and Backlash, 1965-1972," Peace & Change 17 (1992): 402-433. The author of this article goes into detail about the state of politics in the 1960’s and how many campus-based groups throughout the country were involved with black activism and antiwar protests. It covers the fundamental working class and the division in different cultures in America during this time, while also focusing on specific political party movements during this time based on the “silent majority” and New Deal democracy. Lawrence, Mark Atwood. Review of Foley, Michael S., Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance during the Vietnam War.
During the 1960s our nation was going through many important events. From the Vietnam War to national politics, and even civil rights, our country was changing a lot. In particular, the year 1968, was when our country went through a major turning point. The Vietnam War split the country, causing protest and unrest nation and worldwide. College campuses were a new place of protest and freedom.
The U.S provided military advisors and support and the first U.S troops entered Vietnam in March 1965. They sent in 2,000 military advisors, a number that grew to 16,300 in 1963. The military condition started to deteriorate and by 1963 South Vietnam had lost the fertile Mekong Delta to the Viet Cong. Convinced that the communists where escalating the War, Johnson began the bombing campaign against North Vietnam. Air strikes commenced and he sent the first U.S ground combat troops to
To help counter that threat Truman started secretly sending money as well as supplies to help back the French forces against Ho Chi Minh's forces (Schomp The Vietnam War 5). This led Ho to seek help from China and the Soviet Union, which made Ho favorable towards communism (Schomp The Vietnam War 5). Although the United States was not directly involved in the war until 1955, they did still indirectly play a role in the move against Ho Chi Minh's forces. In an attempt to regain control, France left the French educated, strongly anti-communist Bao Dai in control of the region ("Vietnam War"). This enraged Ho Chi Minh, and his forces immediately rose up seizing the northern city of Hanoi, creating the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ("Vietnam War").