Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War

LBJ Wins the Election of 1964

Waiting for November

• LBJ easily won the election due to his smart reaction to the attack on the USS Maddox.
• Shortly after, a military camp in Pleiku, South Vietnam got raided by North Vietnam, killing 8 American soldiers, which led to...

Operation Plan 34B

Operation Rolling Thunder

1965 - 1968

• South Vietnamese mercenaries were sent into North Vietnam to raid coasts and sabotage what they could.
• USS Maddox deployed to examine the reaction of North Vietnam to the sabotaging mercenaries - attacked by North Vietnamese torpedoes.

Deployment

• The first sustained assault by the U.S. on North Vietnamese territory.
• Major expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnamese War.
• 640,000 tons of bombs dropped onto North Vietnam.
• Cost the U.S. more than it cost Vietnam.
• Resulted in the NLF attacking U.S. airbases in South Vietnam

• On March 8th, 1965, Johnson ordered 3,500 troops to enter the Vietnam War.

• After being informed of having an inadequate number of men, 75,000 were deployed in June.

• A month later, 100,000 additional troops were deployed - another 100,000 ready, just in case.

Turning Point for Americans

• Young men were being drafted into the war at a rapid pace, which concerned many citizens about the future.
• The new technology made it easier than ever to send images from the war, which were broadcasted on TV - horrified people watching at home.
• The U.S. was doing France's job.

• LBJ saw this as an opportunity to appear to be a stronger leader, gain political popularity, and ordered the bombing of North Vietnam.

Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War

Near the End of LBJ's Term

• People began protesting and wanted the United States to leave Vietnam.
• 550,000 men in Vietnam at the end of LBJ's Presidency.
• 58,000 deaths.
• 153,000 wounded.
• 2,500 missing.

Sources Continued

4. “Operation Rolling Thunder”. History.com. http://www.history.com/topics/operation-rolling-thunder. 23 September 2013

5. “Lyndon B. Johnson”. Wikipedia, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson#Vietnam_War. 23 September 2013

6. “Lyndon Johnson in the Vietnam War”. Shmoop. http://www.shmoop.com/vietnam-war/lyndon-b-johnson.html. 23 September 2013

7. Steve Ember. “American History: Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War”. Learning English, 2011. http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/american-history-lyndon-b-johnson-and-the-vietnam-war-133122408/116230.html. 23 September 2013

Background Information

Sources

1. “Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam”. History Learning Site, 2008. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/johnson_vietnam.htm. 23 September 2013

2. Marc Selverstone. “Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War”. Miller Center of Public Affairs. 2008. http://presidentialrecordings.rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/essays?series=Vietnam. 23 September 2013

3. “Johnson and Escalation (1964-1966). Sparknotes. http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/vietnamwar/section6.rhtml. 23 September 2013

LBJ Approval Ratings

South Vietnam

~45% drop in five years

• 36th President of the United States.
• Took Office after the assassination of John. F. Kennedy.
• Elected in 1964.
• LBJ believed that it was America's duty to stop the spread of all communism.

"I knew from the start that I was bound to be crucified either way I moved. If I left the woman I really loved—the Great Society —in order to get involved in that bitch of a war on the other side of the world, then I would lose everything at home. All my programs.... But if I left that war and let the Communists take over South Vietnam, then I would be seen as a coward and my nation would be seen as an appeaser and we would both find it impossible to accomplish anything for anybody anywhere on the entire globe." -LBJ.

• The American public began to turn against the war after realizing it wasn't benefiting the U.S. or South Vietnam, a ridiculous amount of troops were still in Vietnam, and the U.S. economy began to decline, due to the military spending too much money.

• LBJ did not run for reelection due to his inability to end conflict in the Vietnam War.

• General Khanh (South Vietnam leader) told LBJ that his army wasn't strong enough to defeat the NLF.
• LBJ told Khanh that he wouldn't take any action until November 1964, after the Presidential election ended.

Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War