Johnson’s War  LBJ inherits Vietnam from Ike and JFK  “Incrementalism”  1965: “Operation Rolling Thunder”  US bombs North, VC attack Pleiku airfield  more US troops go to Vietnam  “Operation Rolling Thunder”  1965: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution  “Americanization” of the war  South Vietnamese governments less popular/democratic/stable

LBJ – Address to Congress Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Our policy in southeast Asia has been consistent and unchanged since I summarized it on June 2 in four simple propositions: 1. America keeps her word. Here as elsewhere, we must and shall honor our commitments. 2. The issue is the future of southeast Asia as a whole. A threat to any nation in that region is a threat to all, and a threat to us. 3. Our purpose is peace. We have no military, political, or territorial ambitions in the area. 4. This is not just a jungle war, but a struggle for freedom on every front of human activity. Our military and economic assistance to South Vietnam and Laos in particular has the purpose of helping these countries to repel aggression and strengthen their independence.

Joint Resolution of Congress:H.J. RES 1145, August 7, 1964 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression. Section 2. The United States regards as vital to its national interest and to world peace the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. Consonant with the Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United Nations and in accordance with its obligations under the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, the United States is, therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom. Section 3. This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of the area is reasonably assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress.

Battle for the “Hearts and Minds” in Vietnam AND at Home

HO CHI MINH Ho Chi Minh led the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from Ho had embraced communism while living abroad in England and France from ; in 1919, he petitioned the powers at the Versailles peace talks for equal rights in Indochina. He later moved to Hong Kong, where he founded the Indochinese Communist Party. After adopting the name Ho Chi Minh, or "He Who Enlightens," he returned to Vietnam in 1941 and declared the nation's independence from France. Ho led a nearly continuous war against the French and, later, the Americans until his death in

1965 Michigan State First “sit-in” to protest Vietnam conflict

HO CHI MINH TRAIL

Robert McNamara  Sec. Of Defense under JFK and LBJ  Helps develop “flexible response”  Later dissents from Vietnam policy  Leaves LBJ’s cabinet  Later states “we were wrong, terribly wrong”

1968: TET OFFENSIVE  Military offensive by combined Viet Cong and North Vietnamese regulars  Military defeat for communists  Political Defeat for LBJ and S. Vietnamese govt.  End of “cheap” war myth

NAPALM = “unquenchable fire” and AGENT ORANGE = defoliant

My Lai  300 civilians killed by US troops in 1968  1969 massacre is uncovered  Only Lt. Calley convicted; serves 4 years

VIETNAM UNDER NIXON  “Peace with Honor” pledge  Vietnamization  Nixon Doctrine  April 1970: Cambodiaization  Dec. 1972: Operation Linebacker  March 1973: Last US combat troops leave  April 9,1974: Nixon resigns  South Vietnamese forces retreating  April 30, 1975: Saigon falls

NIXON DOCTRINE Nixon’s “Silent Majority” Speech In Korea and again in Vietnam, the United States furnished most of the money, most of the arms, and most of the men to help the people of those countries defend their freedom against Communist aggression. Before any American troops were committed to Vietnam, a leader of another Asian country expressed this opinion to me when I was traveling in Asia as a private citizen. He said: "When you are trying to assist another nation defend its freedom, U.S. policy should be to help them fight the war but not to fight the war for them." Well, in accordance with this wise counsel, I laid down in Guam three principles as guidelines for future American policy toward Asia: --First, the United States will keep all of its treaty commitments. --Second, we shall provide a shield if a nuclear power threatens the freedom of a nation allied with us or of a nation whose survival we consider vital to our security. --Third, in cases involving other types of aggression, we shall furnish military and economic assistance when requested in accordance with our treaty commitments. But we shall look to the nation directly threatened to assume the primary responsibility of providing the manpower for its defense.

FALL OF SAIGON April 30, 1975

Bong Son, Vietnam, 1966 A Vietnamese mother and her children, framed by the legs of a soldier in the U.S. First Cavalry Division. (Wide World/AP Photo/Henri Huet) Bong Son, Vietnam, 1966 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

OUTCOMES: COSTS

OUTCOMES: CONSEQUENCES  Loss of Life  Loss of Vietnam  Loss of trust in govt., see Pentagon Papers  Fall of Cambodia  Khmer Rouge  Decline in Military Moral/Readiness  Challenge to American Internationalism  Split in Democratic Party (Hawks v. Doves)  Nixon Elected and Re-elected  Social Unrest and Division  Inflation and Stagflation

What lessons can be learned from the way that LBJ and Nixon handled Vietnam? Do any of these lessons apply to Iraq?