Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War
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Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency was defined by the Vietnam War. When Johnson assumed office in 1963 following John F. Kennedy's assassination, the U.S. was already providing military support to South Vietnam, but under Johnson, American involvement escalated dramatically, with troop deployments rising from 16,000 to over 500,000 by 1968.
Johnson's Great Society Vision
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Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the presidency in November 1963 following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
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As president, Johnson sought to build a "Great Society" by launching an ambitious domestic program aimed at eradicating poverty and racial injustice.2
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The Great Society included initiatives such as the War on Poverty, which established programs like the Job Corps and Head Start, and landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.1
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Johnson also signed into law Medicare and Medicaid to provide healthcare to the elderly and poor, and expanded federal funding for education through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Higher Education Act.2
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These sweeping reforms constituted the largest expansion of the welfare state since the New Deal.3
However, as the Vietnam War escalated, the increasing costs began to undermine Johnson's ability to fund his Great Society programs, and domestic unrest related to the war and urban riots damaged his political standing.1
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Combatting Global Communism
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Lyndon B. Johnson was a committed anti-Communist who believed in the containment theory, which held that if Vietnam fell to communism, other Southeast Asian nations would follow.
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As a senator, he had supported efforts to prevent the spread of communism, and as president, he continued this stance.1
Johnson was deeply concerned about being remembered as the president who lost Southeast Asia to communism, which influenced his decisions to escalate U.S. involvement in Vietnam.1
He sought to assist the South Vietnamese government in defeating the "externally directed and supported Communist conspiracy" through actions such as covert operations and planning for air strikes against North Vietnam.1
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Johnson's anti-Communist position was a key factor in shaping his administration's foreign policy and military interventions in Vietnam.2
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The Gulf of Tonkin Incident: Catalyst for Escalation
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The Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964 was a pivotal event that led to a major escalation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. On August 2, the USS Maddox reported being attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats while conducting intelligence gathering operations in the Gulf of Tonkin.
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Two days later, the Maddox and USS Turner Joy reported a second attack, although the details were unclear and doubts later emerged about whether this second incident actually occurred.1
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The Johnson administration portrayed these events as unprovoked aggression by North Vietnam.4
On August 7, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Johnson broad authority to take military action in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.1
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This resolution became the legal basis for Johnson's subsequent escalation of U.S. military involvement, including the deployment of combat troops and the sustained bombing of North Vietnam.3
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Escalating U.S. Military Commitment
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Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson rapidly escalated U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. In February 1965, after Viet Cong attacks on U.S. military installations in South Vietnam, Johnson authorized Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
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The goal was to disrupt North Vietnamese supply lines and weaken their resolve, but the bombing failed to have a significant impact.1
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Simultaneously, Johnson began deploying large numbers of U.S. ground troops to South Vietnam. In March 1965, 3,500 Marines were sent to defend the U.S. air base at Da Nang.3
By June, 82,000 combat troops were stationed in Vietnam, and the number increased to 184,000 by the end of 1965.1
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Troop levels continued to rise over the next two years, reaching a peak of approximately 540,000 in 1968.1
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Despite the massive infusion of American troops and resources, the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces struggled to make significant gains against the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong insurgency. The enemy's tactics, their familiarity with the terrain, and their ability to blend in with the local population made it difficult for the U.S. to achieve decisive victories.1
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As the war dragged on with rising casualties and no clear end in sight, domestic opposition to the conflict grew, putting increasing pressure on the Johnson administration.1
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The financial burden of the war, which reached $25 billion by 1967, also began to undermine funding for Johnson's Great Society programs and fueled inflation.1
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Insisting on Achievable Victory
kunc.org
Despite growing opposition and setbacks like the Tet Offensive, President Lyndon B. Johnson maintained that the Vietnam War was winnable and that the U.S. was making progress. In public statements and press conferences, Johnson and his administration continued to express optimism about the war effort, even as the situation on the ground deteriorated.
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Johnson insisted that the U.S. was "not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves."1
He also asserted that the U.S. was winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people and that the war was necessary to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.2
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Behind closed doors, however, Johnson grappled with the reality of the war. He reportedly lamented to his wife, "I can't get out, I can't finish it with what I have got. So what the hell do I do?"2
Despite his private doubts, Johnson publicly maintained a confident facade, fearing that admitting the war was unwinnable would damage his political standing and embolden the anti-war movement.1
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As the war dragged on and casualties mounted, the credibility gap between Johnson's optimistic pronouncements and the reality on the ground widened, fueling public distrust and opposition to the war.1
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Johnson's insistence that the war was winnable, even in the face of contrary evidence, ultimately undermined his presidency and contributed to his decision not to seek re-election in 1968.1
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Tet Offensive Shocks America
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The Tet Offensive, launched by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces on January 30, 1968, was a major turning point in the Vietnam War. The surprise attacks targeted more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the capital, Saigon.
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Although the offensive was a military failure for the communists, with an estimated 50,000 troops killed, it had a profound psychological impact on the American public and political establishment.2
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The scope and intensity of the attacks contradicted the Johnson administration's optimistic assessments of the war's progress, leading many Americans to question whether the war was winnable.1
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The Tet Offensive is often credited with turning the tide of public opinion against the war and eroding support for President Johnson's Vietnam policies.2
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Cronkite's Influential Vietnam Commentary
nytimes.com
Walter Cronkite's critical report on the Vietnam War in February 1968 marked a significant turning point in public opinion. Cronkite, the anchor of the CBS Evening News and widely considered "the most trusted man in America," traveled to Vietnam after the Tet Offensive to assess the situation.
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Upon his return, he delivered a rare, candid editorial, stating that the war would likely end in a stalemate and that negotiation was the only realistic way forward.1
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Cronkite's somber conclusion that the U.S. was "mired in stalemate" and that "the only rational way out" would be a negotiated settlement shocked many Americans who had trusted the Johnson administration's more optimistic reports.4
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President Johnson reportedly said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America," underscoring the influence of Cronkite's opinion.4
The broadcast contributed to growing public disillusionment with the war and increased pressure on the Johnson administration to change course.1
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Antiwar Protests Intensify
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As the Vietnam War escalated under President Lyndon B. Johnson, the anti-war movement in the United States grew rapidly. Protests against the war began to emerge in 1965, primarily among college students, civil rights activists, and leftist groups.
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Student organizations like Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) played a key role in organizing early demonstrations and teach-ins on college campuses.3
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By 1967, anti-war protests were growing in size and frequency as the war dragged on with rising casualties and no clear end in sight.3
Graphic television coverage of the war's brutality turned more Americans against the conflict.4
Revelations that the Johnson administration had misled the public about the war, such as through the Pentagon Papers, further fueled anti-war sentiment.4
Massive demonstrations, such as the October 1967 March on the Pentagon and the 1968 protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, attracted hundreds of thousands of participants and brought the anti-war movement to the forefront of national attention.1
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The growing opposition put increasing pressure on the Johnson administration to reevaluate its Vietnam policy and contributed to Johnson's decision not to seek re-election in 1968.1
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Johnson Declines Re-election Bid
nytimes.com
In March 1968, facing mounting criticism over the Vietnam War and plummeting approval ratings, President Lyndon B. Johnson made the stunning announcement that he would not seek re-election.
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The decision came as a surprise to many, as Johnson had been expected to run for another term.1
Several factors contributed to Johnson's decision:
- The Tet Offensive in January 1968 had shattered public confidence in the war effort and contradicted the administration's optimistic assessments, despite U.S. and South Vietnamese forces regaining lost ground.34
- Domestic opposition to the war had grown into a massive anti-war movement, with large-scale protests and increasing criticism from politicians, civil rights leaders, and the media.15
- Johnson's approval ratings had plummeted from over 70% in mid-1965 to below 40% by 1967, as the war's costs and casualties mounted.13
- The war's growing financial burden, reaching $25 billion by 1967, was undermining Johnson's Great Society programs and fueling inflation.1
- In the New Hampshire Democratic primary, anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy had won a surprising 42% of the vote, demonstrating the depth of opposition to Johnson's Vietnam policies.12
- Robert F. Kennedy, a prominent critic of the war, had entered the race for the Democratic nomination, posing a serious challenge to Johnson.12
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He then declared, "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."2
Johnson's decision not to run reflected the profound impact of the Vietnam War on his presidency and the recognition that the conflict had become a political liability.1
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The war had overshadowed his domestic accomplishments and left him deeply unpopular.1
By choosing not to seek re-election, Johnson hoped to focus on ending the war and healing the nation's divisions in his remaining time in office.2
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LBJ's Enduring Domestic Legacy
johnsoncitytx.org
Lyndon B. Johnson died of a heart attack at his Texas ranch on January 22, 1973, at the age of 64.
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As death approached, Johnson was haunted by the shadow of the Vietnam War, even as he hoped to be remembered for his domestic achievements like the Great Society programs.3
Johnson's legacy remains complex and divided. He is praised for his landmark legislation on civil rights, voting rights, and social welfare, which transformed American society and reduced poverty and racial injustice.1
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At the same time, his presidency was marred by the disastrous escalation of the Vietnam War, which claimed over 58,000 American lives and left the nation bitterly divided.1
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Historians and the public continue to grapple with the contradictions of Johnson's tenure. While his approval ratings have fluctuated over time, his domestic accomplishments are widely recognized as a significant expansion of the New Deal and a key part of his legacy.4
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However, the Vietnam War remains a stain on his record, overshadowing his civil rights and Great Society successes in the eyes of many Americans.5
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