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LBJ Summary - American Dream: reality or illusion (2Q)
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Summary of key events and statistics in relation to the LBJ section of the exam.
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Keydates
People/country/organisations
Stats and figures
LBJ: 1963-1968
Foreign policy
Vietnam
January 1964 first action in Vietnam was appointing General Westmoreland to command military
operations
- No fighting at this point and no substantial air campaign
Summer 1964 LBJ “we are not about to send American boys nine or ten miles away from home
to do what Asian boys ought to be doing themselves”
- LBJ was committed to maintaining an independent South Vietnam as part of the
containment policy
- He was keenly aware that his place in history depended on how effectively he
handled Vietnam and the communist threat
LBJ was more inclined to focus on his ‘Great Society’
- He kept on JFK’s defence secretary McNamara and National Security Advisor McGeorge
Bundy
26 November 1963 NSAM-273 (National security Agency Memorandum) directed US government ‘to
assist the people and government of South Vietnam to win their contest against communism’
- This committed LBJ to a disastrous policy undermining election aims for peace
16 March 1964 NSAM-288 a call for greater use of US forces designed to damage North Vietnam as
previous measures masterminded by CIA failed
- Included air strikes
Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)
The first year of Johnson Administration before the election
After JFK assassination, LBJ ordered more troops in Saigon
Since 1961 covert operations had been active in Vietnam
- They were caught July 1964, a day before the launch
- Hanoi assumed it was a coordinated attack/effort to escalate military action, believing they
were under threat
31 July 1964 US Maddox collecting intelligence in the gulf
- Under orders not to go nearer than 8 miles off the North Vietnamese coast
2 August 1964 The Maddox reports an attack from 3 North Vietnamese patrol boats
- 28 miles off the coast, suffered slight damage
- Put down to escalated tensions in international waters
4 August 1964 another attack 11 miles off the coast
- This was a false report by McNamara
- LBJ increased the bombing in response
7 August 1964 War Powers Act LBJ now has absolute authority to do what he wants in Vietnam
- Passed by unanimous vote in House, 98:2 in Senate
- It was passed to protect US integrity and avoids another Pearl Harbour
- HOWEVER the event was fabricated therefore tensions were unnecessarily increased
, Key
dates
People/country/organisations
Stats and figures
Operation Rolling Thunder (1965)
Began 13 February 1965
- It was the brainchild of LBJ and McNamara
- 3 year strategy of bombing North Vietnam to aim for their surrender
- Aimed to boost the morale of South Vietnam by preventing an influx of resources from the
North
Succeeded in not getting China involved as Russia transported everything to North Vietnam
through China
900 US aircrafts were wasted
864 000 tonnes of bombs dropped
- Failed to disrupt Vietcong supplies
- Used as propaganda in the North
My Lai Massacre (1968)
16 March 1968 but American public were not made aware until 1969
Carried out by the Charlie Company, commanded by Captain Ernest Medina, platoon by Lt.
William Calley
- Military intelligence told them the Vietcong were close
Months prior, the Company were racked by booby traps, snipers and miners
- Their orders were to shoot on sight, despite them entering My Lai without being shot on
- Lost 100 men therefore were paranoid
By 5:30am at least 500 were dead, including elderly, women and children
US suffered one casualty, who shot himself in the foot
It was reported that 128 vietcong were dead, not 500 innocents
- Story broke 18 months later
Investigation into low morale discovered ⅓ of troops were self-medicated in drugs and alcohol in
1971
Domestic opposition to vietnam was hastened by the draft
- US soldiers subject to jungle terrain: mines, booby traps
Westmoreland
Time’s Man of the Year 1965
28 April 1967 Westmoreland told the US public they were “making progress” in Vietnam
Tet Offensive (1968)
Coordinated attack on dozens of cities
In 5 weeks 60 000 North Vietnamese fell
31 January 1968 US Embassy in Saigon fell 6 hours after its capture
- Opposition soared as this showed that American soil could be conquered
- Still maintained the idea that ‘victory was around the corner’
4 000 US lives lost
14 000 South Vietnamese were killed by the North
The media showed the reality, causing distrust in the government
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