Johnson CRs & FP

FP successes

-operation rolling thunder created $300mill of damage to NV. Johnson ended operation to get NV negotiating, led to peace talks 2 months later. 67% Americans approved operation - it aimed to secure US position, weaken NV/communism, secure SV govt

-1st wave of escalation/ground troops: sent by LBJ spring 1965 to protect US bases at Danang. had to escalate to defend SV & usa power/capitalism. 70% usa supported him & 80% believed in domino theory, 47% wanted more troops sent. dec 1967 535,000 troops

-after tet + khe sanh NV was weakened + image was damaged

-they continued containment + showed commitment

FP failures

-1963-68 tipping point, USA moves from post war national self confidence to decline

-LBJ supported domino theory/wanted to support SV against NLF. advisers were encouraging a more forceful approach + to send in US troops. however new SV leader general khanh said ARVN wouldn’t be able to withstand NLF. Johnson knew sending troops would be unpopular & said he wouldn’t until after 1964 election

-why he escalated involvement: Cold War, containment + domino theory, commitment to SV + SEATO, accusations of truman losing china, Ho Chi Minh popular & had soviet/chinese aid, khanh opposite, Kennedy legacy, weak Saigon govt needed intervention

-gulf of Tonkin incident: 1964 US destroyer Maddox exchanged shots w/ NV torpedo boats. supposed 2nd attack 2 days later (lacks evidence). Johnson used these as justification to escalate involvement. 1964 congress passed gulf of Tonkin resolution giving Johnson power to take all necessary measures to defend SV. huge military authority, led to massive escalation w/out needing permission (op rolling thunder)

-operation rolling thunder: feb 1965 100 US + VNAF planned to attack xom bong ammunition base. meant to be 8 week campaign but laster 3½ years. had to avoid soviet/chinese backlash but demonstrate military strength to NV. 643,000 tonnes of bombs dropped in total, 900 US aircraft lost, cost US $900mill.

-VC retaliated attacking US air bases in SV & Johnson had to send 3500 marines to defend bases.

-napalm: substance used by US troops 1965-72, substance that could burn for 10 mins, extremely painful + can cause death. water boils at 212*F, napalm at 1500-2200*F. used by US ground troops to eliminate guerrilla fighters. began dropping napalm bombs (8mill tonnes dropped over viet 1965-73)

-agent orange: toxic chemical herbicide used 1965-70 to deprive farmers/guerrilla fighters of clean food & water so they had to relocate to US controlled areas. 4.8 mill deaths, 400,000 babies born w/ defects due to exposure

-1st wave/search & destroy: war circumstances made US soldiers resent those they were helping. instead of dispensing medical care + food would attack villages, blow up huts, confiscate food, torture. often turned villages pro VC, resentment from US harsh treatment. success measured by bodycounts not land gain

-2nd wave/guerrilla warfare: used by VC to ambush US patrols, traps, landmines. disguised as ordinary people. used Ho Chi Minh trail which went through Laos + Cambodia so US soldiers couldn’t use attack w/out escalation. “hanging onto belts of Americans” so soldiers couldn’t use air/artillery w/out killing own men

-NVs tet offensive aimed to liberate SV/unite viet before ho chi minhs death (lifelong goal), collapse Saigon govt, demonstrate strength so US would give up. Americans + SV busy w/ set festival so communists moved through south & attacked US embassy. took 11,000 US + ARVN forced 3 weeks to clear Saigon of comm forces. 1000+ towns/cities attacked. 58,000 VC killed, 14,000 SV killed, thousands of civilians, 3000 US

-battle of khe sanh: US base seized by 10,000 NV troops, massive US bombing to defend base. JCS constantly requested more troops. no plan for victory

-americans now against war (govt had been saying victory was near but then been attacked, embassy breached, graphic TV coverage of destruction, “credibility gap”, lack of trust in Johnson). drop in approval & anti war protests

-French opposed US bombing of nv + said US should negotiate & withdraw. believed US policy destabilised the world & withdrew from NATOs integrated military command in 1966. viet weakened US authority in NATO

-britain publicly supported US in words but refused sending troops. allies questions US judgement morality & ability

CR successes

-1964 CRA ended de jury segregation in public places + established EEC

-prompted by selma passed 1965 VRA, disallowing literacy tests & replacing southern racist registrars w/ fed ones

-under GS black unemployment fell by 34% & % of black ppl living below poverty line dropped by 25%

-1965 selma: chosen by MLK due to resistance to black voting rights (only 23 black voters registered there). violence, “Bloody Sunday”, troopers attacked marchers w/ clubs & tear gas. televised globally & helped VRA

-after 1965 movement shifted to north to tackle econ justice & ghetto conditions. Johnson provided $4mill fed funds to Chicago

-Malcolm X promoted black independence & self defence. later influenced black power movement. rehabilitated drug addicts & criminals and established black owned business & schools to foster self esteem

-black panthers: led by Huey newton & bobby seale. “power to the people”, wanted fed govt compensation for slavery, improvements to ghettos, end to police brutality. emphasised self help so won support of black ghettos, set up ghetto clinics, did lessons to educate youth, childcare for working mothers & free food. later 1970 free breakfast programme served over 1700 meals weekly to ghettos. 64% black Americans took pride in black panthers (also later 1970). inspired British BPs + broadened CR agenda from legal equality to econ, healthcare & housing. legacy + ideas still influence black activism

CR failures

-LBJ originally a southern senator + had opposed 1957 CRA + contributed to its dilation (moved away from this in presidency partly due to Kennedy legacy)

-1964 CRA didnt address poverty or de facto segregation in north

-1963 Birmingham church bombing: 4 black schoolgirls killed by KKK. shocked the nation. slow legal justice, first conviction not till 1977. whilst af-americans being told to wait for progress they are subject to violence + attacks

-money for Chicago considered a “drop in the ocean” of what was needed

-viet war cost rose from $1.6bill - $25.3bill by 1968. less money for social reforms

-1964-68 urban riots in Detroit + Newark sparked by police, unemployment & poor housing. LBJ “how is it possible after all we’ve accomplished”

-1968 kerner commission report warned US was becoming “two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal”

-by 1966 70% of white voters opposed large numbers of black neighbours so congress rejected Johnsons request for bill to prohibit housing discrim

-Malcolm x offered radical alternative to MLKs American dream, calling it an american nightmare. NOI aimed to provide seperate nation for black Americans. often emphasised separatism & violence

-radicalism of NOI & ‘black power” frightened white voters into white backlash making it difficult for Johnson to get further CR legislation through congress

-black panthers: “the revolution has come, its time to pick up the gun”. criticised for violent shootouts, petty crimes, advocated killing of police officers, called for revolutionary war against authorities. contributed to decline of CR movement, decreased white sympathy due to violence + riots, northern ghetto problems proved unsolvable. movement was ill defined, poorly organised & many females were excl. FBI targeted movement due to call for war against authority. short term movement. members were imprisoned, exiled & killed (Fred Hampton 1969). internal divisions, ideological splits & leadership conflicts. didnt get and major legislative successes & created stereotypes of black militancy.