LBJ, Nixon & Vietnam War 1963-1975

Lyndon B. Johnson (1955-1975)

Johnson’s Great Society

Smooth transition into presidency, continuing JFK’s “New Frontier” ideas.
Great Society - term for LBJ’s domestic programs:
- War on Poverty
- Civil Rights
- Education
- Housing
- Environment
Civil Rights:
- Civil Rights Act of 1964 - outlawed discrimination in public housing.
- Voting Rights Act of 1965 - ended requirements against African Americans for voting
Economic Opportunity Act:
- Funded anti-poverty programs.
  - Job Corps - work training programs for unemployed youth.
  - VISTA - Volunteers in Service to America - domestic version of Peace Corps.
Education:
- Key to the Great Society
- Elementary & Secondary Act - 1st large-scale gov. aid to public schools.
- Higher Education Act - 1st federal scholarship for needy college students
Housing:
- HUD = Housing and Urban Development Act - 1965
  - Expanded federal housing programs.
  - Rent subsidies for elderly & disabled
  - Housing grants for low-income homeowners, etc.
1965-1966 - Peak of Great Society
Decline due to war in Vietnam
- 385,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam by 1966
- “Guns & Butter”
- LBJ chose preventing the spread of communism → GUNS

JFK vs. LBJ

Similarities and Differences between the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Vietnam War (1955-1975)

Background:
- 1800’s - French established themselves as the new colonial power in Vietnam.
- 1945 - Ho Chi Minh - communist sympathizer, declared independence from France
War continued between French and the Vietminh until 1954
- French defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954
Geneva Accords - 1954 - divided Vietnam into two nations at the 17th parallel
- North - Communist - led by Minh
- South - Anti-Communist - led by Ngo Dinh Diem
Domino Theory:
- The U.S. decided to follow their dominant policy, the Domino Theory; idea that if one South Eastern Asian nation fell to Communism, others would fall too.
Truman Doctrine (1948):
- Under the Truman Doctrine (1948) - the U.S. promised to aid anyone fighting communism.
  - Gave the French aid to fight Ho Chi Minh.
  - Continued to give aid to the anti-communist government in South Vietnam
  - How the U.S. became involved in the war
Kennedy & Diem
- Diem claimed he needed more aid to fight communism
  - Corrupt and cruel leader (Dictator)
  - Issues with Buddhists in Vietnam - many south Vietnamese wanted to organize a coup
- Kennedy and the U.S. don’t intervene and Diem is assassinated and military leaders took control in South Vietnam.
  - More instability in the region
Lyndon B. Johnson & Vietnam
- Favored a policy of containment in S.E. Asia
- Viet Cong - communist guerrillas in the south
  - Gained control of territories & earned the loyalty of many south Vietnamese
  - Ho Chi Minh sent aid to the Vietcong
- Johnson feared how the world would view the U.S. if we pulled out of Vietnam
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
- August 1964 - Johnson reports that a U.S. ship was attacked by North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin
  - Never actually happened → Johnson used it to deepen American involvement in Vietnam
- Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - gave Johnson the authority to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent further aggression”
The Draft
- Johnson’s plan = gradual escalation
- By July 1965 - doubled the men that could be drafted
- Men were drafted using a lottery system based on birthdays
- ~2.2 million men were drafted during the Vietnam war to serve for two years
  - Many who served were volunteers
- Plenty of opportunities to avoid service:
  - Minor physical problems
  - Kids
  - College enrollment
Agent Orange
- US tactics → search and destroy missions
  - Helicopters
  - Find enemies, bomb them, destroy supply lines, force them out into the open
- Napalm - jelly like substance that stuck to to surfaces/bodies and would burst into flames
- Agent Orange - herbicide/chemical used to destroy the jungle where the Vietcong were hiding
  - SEVERE side effects: cancers, birth defects, skin disorders, etc.
- More than 12 million gallons of Agent Orange was used during the Vietnam War.
Agent Orange Act:
- In 1991, the Agent Orange Act made veterans exposed to the chemical eligible for compensation and medical care. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes a "presumptive" link between Agent Orange and a range of illnesses:
  - Type II diabetes
  - Hodgkin's disease
  - Soft-tissue sarcoma
  - Peripheral neuropathy
  - Spina bifida in children of veterans
  - Various other forms of cancer, including prostate and respiratory cases
- Added to the list in August 2010:
  - B-cell leukemias
  - Parkinson's disease
  - Ischemic heart disease
Tet Offensive
- Early January 1968 - Americans were told they were winning the war
- January 30 1968 - North Vietnamese army and the Vietcong begin attacking cities in South Vietnam
  - During the Tet holiday (New Year)
  - Clear that many in the south supported Communism
  - Many Americans begin to believe the U.S. will not be able to defeat the Communists in Vietnam
Welcome to the Jungle
- Poor leadership and lack of military training and leadership of the Southern Vietnamese meant the U.S. was fighting this war
- Viet Cong were masters of the jungle
  - Guerrilla warfare
  - Hit and run tactics
  - Soldiers don’t wear uniforms or fight in the open
  - Hard to identify - used climate and environment to their advantage
Tet Offensive - Impact
- American opinion on the war
  - Americans afraid
  - Lost trust in the government
  - Support for Johnson fades
  - Draft resistance
  - Widespread protests
  - Draft protesters and political radicals
  - Many felt that Vietnam War was not worthwhile
  - Enemy posed no threat to the U.S.
- College campuses begin opposing the war
  - Peaceful protests
  - Occupation
  - Defiant slogans
  - Setting draft cards on fire
  - Draft dodgers move to Canada
Counter Culture Movement
- Birth of the “Hippie”
- Anti-war protests fed a spirit of rebellion - particularly amongst young people
- Many rejected traditional American values that had been followed during their parents generation
- New fashion and music
My Lai Massacre
- March 1968 - village of My Lai was known to support Viet Cong
  - 504 civilians were murdered by US troops patrolling the village
  - Mostly women and children
- Further protests once the news became public
LBJ → Nixon
- Johnson decides not to run for another term as Pres.
  - Richard Nixon wins the election of 1968
    - Had plans to end the war in Vietnam → “peace with honor”
- Vietnamization - train South Vietnamese soldiers to fight Communists by themselves
  - Begins to withdraw US troops from Vietnam
Nixon & Vietnam
- Despite withdrawing troops, Nixon still wanted to win the war
- Nixon orders the Air Force to begin secretly bombing Cambodia
  - Viet Cong bases and weapons
  - “Madman” Theory
- Americans outraged as Nixon further expanded the war
- Major protests at home as a result of Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia
  - Kent State University
    - Students destroyed property - burned ROTC building
    - National Guard sent in
    - 4 students shot to death
Ending the War
- Pentagon Papers - 1971
  - Highlighted the deception of the U.S. gov. and its involvement in Vietnam
- Paris Peace Accords - 1973
  - Ceasefire between U.S. & Viet Cong
    - US must remove all troops
    - No conditions for POW or MIA
- 1975 - North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam
  - Fall of Saigon - renamed Ho Chi Minh City
Legacy of Vietnam War
- 300,000 Vietnamese killed
- 58,000 Americans dead - 300,000 wounded
- Longest and least successful war in American history
- Spent 150 billion
  - Underfunding for Great Society programs
- U.S. does not restore relations with Vietnam until 1994 - Clinton
- Public distrust of American government
- 26th Amendment - Age requirements to vote → 21 to 18 years old
- Nixon abolished the draft → all-volunteer army
- War Powers Act - 1973
  - Limited Presidential power to deploy U.S. armed forces without explicit authorization from Congress