Why did Johnson escalate key involvement in Vietnam Charlotte Woolcott Johnson’s escalation in Vietnam was a defining moment of his presidency. Many things influenced him to escalate, including the cold war context, the advice from the working group, the weakness of the South Vietnamese Government, and protecting the US bases. I think that the main factor which influenced Johnson to escalate US Involvement was the advice given to him by the working group because these were his closest and most trusted advisors. Johnson felt that if Vietnam became communist, then American interests and security would be threatened by a stronger communist network. Politically, Johnson would lose the mid-term elections if he lost to Vietnam, like Truman did in 1949 after losing to china. So he had to escalate in order to secure Vietnam. The Domino theory suggested that if South Vietnam fell then the rest of South East Asia would fall so Johnson felt that to secure South Vietnam he needed to send more troops in. The Truman doctrine was believed by Johnson that he had to contain communism in South East Asia or else it would spread across Asia. Between 1963 and 1967 there were six South Vietnamese leaders. This led to instability and corruption as they lacked a strong leadership and direction.
This influenced Johnson to feel that increasing the number of American Troops would strengthen the government. The weaker Saigon government led to a demoralised and inept ARVN, which meant that American troops had to be brought in to strengthen it. The weaker government also meant that American Troops were less safe due to poor leadership, so Johnson had to escalate to protect the Americans who were fighting out there. In 1965, Viet Cong attacks on the U.S. forces were becoming increasingly violent, and although the Viet Cong obviously had many soldiers in South Vietnam, the MACV was still having difficulty locating any bombing targets at all. In February 1965, Viet Cong guerrillas attacked a U.S. Marine barracks at the South Vietnamese hamlet of Pleiku, killing eight and wounding over a hundred others. With the free hand recently provided by Congress, Johnson presumed that escalation would help to protect his soldiers. He ordered the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to begin an intense series of air strikes called “Operation Rolling Thunder”.
The Essay on Vietnam In American Movies
Vietnam in American Movies (1) All four movies: Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Rambo: First Blood and The Deer Hunter exploit the theme of Vietnam War as historical background for the action that take place on the screen. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that movies contain ideological controversies, just as Vietnam War itself. During the course of Vietnam War, many Americans had a hard time ...
He hoped that the bombing campaign would demonstrate to the South Vietnamese the U.S. commitment to their cause, and its resolve to halt the spread of Communism. Ironically, the air raids seemed only to increase the number of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army attacks. Johnson ordered a Working group from the defence Department, the State Department, the CIA, and the JCS to study Vietnam and suggest policy options. The Working Group said that an independent and anti-Communist South Vietnam was vital to America. During the Cold War many of the foreign policy analysts subscribed to “The Domino Theory” — which contended that should one country come under communist rule, its neighbours were likely to follow suit. Johnson thought that America would have to take a stand and that if they didn’t, then the American prestige would be at stake. Johnson listened to the working group as they were considered “the best and the brightest” – there were very few voices against what they had to say. Johnson could never have envisaged what he had started. By the time of the 1968 presidential election, America had become involved in a war that was to take on far greater dimensions than anyone could have believed in 1965. The working group influenced Johnson to make the decisions that he did, and it was this that made him escalate the key involvement in Vietnam.
