LBJ and Vietnam

Intro

• - north and south vietnam had been divided after ww2
• - being ruled by france
• - Ho Chi Minh led the communist resistance and seized north vietnam
• - french were weak after ww2 and USA stared paying 80% of french costs and sending military aid (containment) nd french pull out 1954
• - Diem installed under kennedy and assassinated under Kennedy
• - USA had alienated themselves to the Vietnamese

P1: LBJ getting started

• - 22nd Nov 1963 Kennedy assassinated and LBJ sworn in
• - 16500 US advisors in SV
• - LBJ continues policies in SV as it would be a big blow to US prestige to pull out
• - LBJ wanted to focus on his Great Society program and did not want to spend billions on a war
• - He wanted to have war on a limited scale and force compromise and guarantee peace in SV but his escalation tactics did not work and the war was long and expensive

P2: Gulf of Tonkin incident

• - 1964 the incident at the Gulf of Tonkin provided an excuse for the Johnson administration to send troops into NV
• - This incident was when NV launched and attack upon the C. Turner Joy and USS Madox, 2 american ships that had been patrolling the coast of NV
• - the first attack occurred on August 2nd 1964
• - the second attack was alleged to have taken place on august the 4th but was proven to have never have happened

P3: Gulf of Tonkin resolution

• - LBJ administration used the incident to obtain a congressional resolution
• - this gave LBJ broad and vague war powers, which granted him the power to take "any necessary steps" without having to declare war
• - He immediately began bombing NV, however this only gave the vietcong more recruits
• - LBJ that a swift victory would stop the domino effect in asia

P4: NLF

• - NLF created on the 20th dec 1960
• - the communists in the north supported the NLF and sent them help
• - in a series of White Papers the government in washington comndemnd the NLF saying that they were merely a puppet organisation
• - NLF had hige success winning over the rural part of Vietnam and the poorer population
• - Saigon and US launched the "strategic Hamlet" program to cut the NLF off from their largest supporters, they rounded up villagers and kept them in so called "safe Hamlets" and used search and destroy tactics
• - this only increased the NLF's support and made the US look weak and paranoid

P5: Escalation

• - In early 1965, NLF attacked 2 US army installations and LBJ ordered sustained bombing missions over NV
• - Called ORT, lasted three years, more bombs dropped on NV than were dropped during all of ww2
• - did not really affect the vietcong as they didn't have many vehicles and used underground tunnels that the army couldn't navigate
• - ORT used phosphorous napalm bombs and when this failed to burn down the jungle cover the USAF started operation ranch hand, using agent orange which resulted in crippling disabilities for the civilians
• - US army could not win the hearts and minds of the country

P6: Tet offensive

• - Communist party move to a protracted war strategy
• - vietcong launched a surprise attack on US strongholds, overwhelming them
• - the US embassy in Saigon fell briefly
• - shock that previously safe areas of SV were now targets
• - Although the tet offensive was a disaster for the vietcong, LBJs credibility fell

P7: the anti-war mvt

• - Began small, with people dismissing the folk singers and hippies
• - TV reporting starts to turn more and more people against the war
• - Draft dodging gave the war a bad name
• - mai lai massacre and agent orange made the US look bad
• - Huge marches on washinton
• - LBJ dismissed this mvt focusing on military and red scare pressure instead

P8: 1968 election, LBJ steps down

• - LBJ faces opposition within his own party
• - RFK to run against him on an anti-war platform
• - LBJs domestic success (race and great society) were overshadowed by Vietnam
• - LBJ bows to pressure and announces on TV that he will not run for re-election

Conc

• - LBJ seemed to make all the wrong calls during his presidency however he had pressure from the military, red scare, and pressure to withhold the USAs global image of being the worlds most powerful country