Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War
Written by Daniel de Torres, updated and modified by Henry J. Sage
Copyright © 2005-6, Henry J. Sage

Few political figures have been so haunted by the specter of Vietnam as Lyndon Baines Johnson. At the time of John F. Kennedy's election to President in 1960, Lyndon Johnson was the most powerful Democrat in Washington, and as Senate majority leader and a Southerner who could communicate with the Southern conservative Democrativ bloc, he may even have been the equal of President Eisenhower.

Photo from The White House Archives

Lyndon Johnson began his political career as a new deal congressman during the era of Franklin Roosevelt and built a substantial power base while in Congress. At the Democratic national convention in 1960 when Kennedy had won the nomination, a story is told that the vice presidency was first offered to Lyndon Johnson as a courtesy. President Kennedy and his brother Robert felt that in order to get cooperation from the man who was clearly the leader of the United States Congress, they should offer him the job, assuming that Johnson would be unwilling to give up his powerful post for one of the least glamorous positions in politics. The story concludes that Kennedy was surprised and shocked when Lyndon Johnson accepted the vice presidential position, but of course there was no way the offer could be taken back.

There is no question that Lyndon Johnson chafed under the restrictions built in to the office of Vice President. He had to support the President's policies, was not free to strike out on his own in any direction, and he was obliged to accept whatever crumbs of power the president was willing to extend, such as overseeing the space program.

Lyndon Johnson's first personal contact with Vietnam came as Vice President in May 1961, when President Kennedy sent him to South Vietnam to show U.S. support for Diem. Declaring that Diem, a less that competent leader, was a statesman of great stature, Johnson thereby revealed to the media and others that he had little understanding of or concern about the war in Vietnam. And as became apparent when Johnson succeeded to the highest office in the land upon President Kennedy's assassination, Lyndon Johnson had other fish to fry, namely, his plans for what he would call his “Great Society” program.

On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated Lyndon B Johnson became president. He was caught between a desire to initiate work on his domestic programs while at the same time feeling it necessary not to be seen as soft on Communism or willing to lose Vietnam. In addition, he knew he would face reelection in 1964, and although he won that election by a huge margin, like many powerful political figures, he was unable to feel secure about the outcome. Thus for his first year in office he did little to change the situation in Vietnam, even though as a result of the coup that removed Diem in favor of a series of incompetent prime ministers, the political situation in Vietnam was rapidly deteriorating.

Above all, President Johnson felt that if he decided to up the ante in Vietnam by employing United States combat units, he felt that he would need first of all the full support of Congress before he took any steps. The opportunity gain that approval came in the summer of 1964 with the Gulf of Tonkin incident. It was reported up the chain of command that two American destroyers had been attacked off the coast of North Vietnam by North Vietnamese gunboats. The actual facts of the case turned out to be extremely muddy upon closer examination, but at the time Johnson saw an opportunity to get Congress to give him the support he felt he wanted. He drafted a resolution which eventually was passed as the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave him a blank check to do whatever he wanted in Vietnam.

Johnson put the Gulf of Tonkin card in his pocket until after the election, and even following his stunning victory he did very little until early 1965. Then, following an attack by Communist forces on a special forces camp in Vietnam, Johnson decided to push harder to achieve a favorable outcome in the Vietnam War. He began a bombing campaign called “rolling thunder,” and then, in order to protect the air base inside Vietnam from which those attacks could take place, he sent Marines into the Danang to the guard the Air Force Base there. Thus began the process of what has been called “escalation,” the gradual process of sending more and more troops to Vietnam, until by 1966 over half a million American combat soldiers, sailors and Marines were operating in Vietnam. JOhnson's decisions escalated the Vietnam conflict and involved the U.S. military beyond the point of no return.

However, Johnson's policy in Vietnam was, to a large extent, prisoner of domestic politics. Paradoxically, he worried about the opposite, i.e. that the effort in Vietnam would threaten his policies at home. One of his obsessions was the slowing of his "Great Society" programs due to the war's fiscal and political price tag. In 1964, election year, he had toughened his stand in Vietnam in order to counterbalance Barry Goldwater's extremist campaign. from 1965 to 1967 President Johnson continued to claim to the American people, despite growing evidence to the contrary, that the United States was winning the war in Vietnam, and that a favorable outcome would be obtained in due course.

In 1968, the Communists struck a and blow against American morale with their pet offensive, an uprising across South Vietnam that seem to indicate that the Communists were far more powerful than had been supposed. Although the Tech offensive actually turned out badly for the North Vietnamese and yet, and, both militarily and politically, the effect of the Ted offensive in the United States was profound, especially when the media showed pictures of Viacom agents penetrating the United States Embassy compound in Saigon. With the anti-war sentiment gaining momentum, Johnson could not bear the double pressure of waging a war and facing Robert Kennedy in the Democratic primary. On March 31 he announced a halt to the bombing in North Vietnam, his willingness to talk with Hanoi and the withdrawal of his bid for reelection.

Lyndon Johnson left the war and the White House to his vice president, Hubert Humphrey. Humphrey, however, was defeated in the election of 1968 by Richard Nixon, and thus the Vietnam War now became “Mr. Nixon's war.”

Message to Congress about the Gulf of Tonkin Incident
From Vincent Ferraro's web site at Mount Holyoke College
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/tonkinsp.htm

Johnson reaffirms U.S. commitment to Southeast Asia and asks Congress to grant him special powers to deal with the situation.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Text of the resolution of Congress. An earlier draft of the resolution, prepared by the National Security Council, can be found here (Doc. #278).

1965 Inaugural Address
From Bartleby.com.
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres57.html

Johnson explains why the U.S. fights in Vietnam
From Professor Sage's Page at Northern Virginia Community College

In April 1965, President Johnson gave a speech at Johns Hopkins University, explaining the foundations on which U.S. involvement in the war was based. Compare with Eisenhower's and Kennedy's speeches on the same topic.

Letter exchange between Ho Chi Minh and Lyndon Johnson
From the Modern History Sourcebook at Fordham University
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1967-vietnam-letters1.html

In February 1967 Johnson offers direct negotiations between North Vietnam and the U.S. In his response, Ho demands the unconditional halt of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam as a precondition for talks.

LBJ announces that he will not run for re-election
From the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/680331.htm

On March 31, 1968, Johnson addressed the nation with a message largely centered on Vietnam. The President announced a fresh initiative for negotiation, a call-up of the reserves, and measures to balance the budget. Finally, he made public his decision of not running for re-election in 1968.