Escalation

Hussein Mithani, Chanjevan Ghuman, Philip Purcell, Anna Southam, William Hawkins Personality and policies of President Johnson Personality 

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Patriotic –proud of the military might of America, as a senator always voted to strengthn the armed forces. Couldn’t comprehend the possibility of losing to “that damn little pissant country” North Vietnam.

Ideology and honour – believed that his country fought for freedom across the world, and refused to bow down to the enemy – “if you let a bully come into your front yard one day, the next day he’ll be up on your porch, and the day after that he’ll rape your wife in your own bed”. Staunchly anti-Communist and believed in Eisenhower’s domino theory. He considered it a matter of national pride to maintain the commitment to South Vietnam.

Ignorance of foreigners – “The trouble with foreigners is they’re not like the folks you’re reared with”. Didn’t understand the nationalist pride of the Vietnamese despite being welltravelled, and viewed Ho Chi Minh as the new Hitler.

Loyalty – Johnson expected a “kiss-my-ass-at-high-noon-in-Macy’s-window and tell me it smells like roses” attitude from his staff – he wanted honesty and good judgement from his advisers but loyalty was what he desired above all. This led to Johnson being surrounded by yes-men who wanted to appease him and not necessarily good advice.

Intimidated – Johnson was afraid of strong characters in the military, such as Curtis LeMay. Johnson felt obliged to listen to his often radical views, for example the bombing of Vietnam “back to the stone age”.

Impact of JFK’s Assassination on Johnson’s policies 

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Without a mandate, Johnson was obliged to continue the work of JFK and keep on his advisers (“My first major decision on Vietnam had been to reaffirm President Kennedy’s policies”).

This meant that Johnson kept on the massively influential McNamara and also Rusk – this lead to a lack of new and fresh ideas on the conflict.

Escalation The situation in 1964    

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Diem’s successor, General ‘Big’ Minh, had been deposed, and PAVN influence was growing Strategic hamlets was failing.

The Vietcong were able to use Russian and Chinese weapons to tackle the US air force Communists controlled approximately half of the South (General Taylor and McNamara, on a visit in March 1964. By July 1964, there were 200 American dead, and 2,500 troops working in South Vietnam.

Johnson felt that if he wanted to escalate the war effort, he would need congressional and public support. Rusk and Mcnamara urged escalation.

Hussein Mithani, Chanjevan Ghuman, Philip Purcell, Anna Southam, William Hawkins Two events occurred in 1964 which allowed Johnson to escalate the War. The first one, was the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave him congressional support. The second, was Johnsons massive electoral victory in November 1964. This gave him public support. Johnson now had permission to wage war in Vietnam.

The Events’

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The US ship the Maddox was sailing through waters near to the coast of North Vietnam in international waters on 2 August. They were supporting South Vietnamese special forces (trained by the CIA) inside North Vietnam on sabotage missions.

The ship came under fire from three North Vietnamese ships after firing warning shots (this was not revealed at the time!) and was hit by a single bullet.

Two days later another engagement occurred involving Maddox and North Vietnamese ships. In the middle of the night and in freak weather conditions, there was allegedly another engagement, with two torpedo boats being supposedly sunk by the Maddox.

Johnson was informed about this unprovoked attack and decided a response was necessary (in 2003 McNamara admitted the incident never happened).

Due to this ‘violation of international law’ Johnson had a resolution passed by Congress, decreeing that “the United States is, therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed forces, to assist any member or protocol state of the South Asia Collective Defence Treaty requesting assistance in defence of its freedom.

Translation = Johnson could send US troops to fight in Vietnam, having acquired Congress’ support and having public backing.

Reasons for Escalation 1.

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Johnson’s personality – arrogance, anti-communist tendencies.

Incompetence of Saigon government – there were frequent changes in leadership prior to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident (General Khanh had been in charge since January 1964, but he would last only 13 months).

Working Group Recommendations – the Working Group was a group of experts (taken from the Defence Department, the State Department, the CIA and the JCS) brought together to support Vietnam. Their findings reiterated domino theory and said a non-communist Vietnam was vital to America.

To protect US bomber bases in Vietnam (to allow Rolling Thunder to take place).

National pride To demonstrate to USSR and China that the US were not weak and would not appease communism.

Hussein Mithani, Chanjevan Ghuman, Philip Purcell, Anna Southam, William Hawkins

Explain the significance of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in America escalation of involvement in Vietnam.

What Happened?

On the 2nd August, there was a naval battle between American and North Vietnam forces in the Gulf of Tonkin. Both of the North Vietnamese and American ships were affected because of heavy shelling, plus four Vietnamese sailors were killed and six were injured. One US aircraft was damaged, and three North Vietnamese torpedo boats were damaged. None of the American sailors were injured or killed. Two days later, the US claimed that a second Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred. There was a lot of controversy over this, and it is now said that it did not happen at all, but instead, made up by the National Security Agency of America. Because of this, the Gulf of Tonkin resolution occurred where Lyndon B Johnson granted authority to help any Southeast Asian country’s government under attack or threat of communism, for example, South Vietnam. This resolution was used as Lyndon B Johnson’s legal justification for commencing warfare against the north of Vietnam on behalf of the south.

Significance?

The reason that the Gulf of Tonkin was very significant in escalating involvement in Vietnam was because it was the trigger for the Lyndon B Johnson for prompting the first large scale involvement of the US armed forces. It is thought that this was planned so that he could push through the resolution thereby receiving a “blank cheque” from the Senate so he could freely attack Vietnam. By saying he would help any country under attack or threat of communism, Lyndon B Johnson was aiming this at North Vietnam and how he would help the South. The Resolution gave Lyndon B Johnson the right to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or state of the Southeast Asia, so the fact that the second attack was allegedly made up suggests that the President was looking for an ‘excuse’ to use the armed forces. It was because of the Gulf of Tonkin that US troops were allowed to go into Vietnam, so by this happening, the armed forces were increased massively, showing that the Gulf of Tonkin was very significant in escalating American involvement in the US.

Hussein Mithani, Chanjevan Ghuman, Philip Purcell, Anna Southam, William Hawkins

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, August 1964

The Adminitration had previously drawn up a resolution (agreement) to improve the morale of the South Vietnamese government; that the US government were willing to back them at a time of increasing communist strength in the South. However, Johnson felt that Congress would not pass it through fear it could be rejected by a congress fearing American escalation. The Gulf of Tonkin incident gave Johnson the opportunity to introduce it to Congress. Your teacher will give you a copy of this document. Note the following; Regarding its presence in the Gulf of Tonkin; “vital to its national interest and to world peace” Powers; “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 member in defence of freedom” Viewpoints A few senators (including Mike Mansfield) were unconvinced.

“All Vietnam is not worth the life of a single American boy” This bill will “kill untold numbers of American boys and for nothing”.

"I believe that within the next century, future generations will look with dismay and great disappointment upon a Congress which is now about to make such a historic mistake." (Senator Wayne Morse, during the Senate debate of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, August 6-7, 1964) This bill was like Grandma’s nightshirt- It covered everything” Lyndon Johnson – It gives Johnson the permission to do anything he wants.

Johnson also pushed the bill to appear strong in election year. Barry Goldwater was calling him “soft on communism”. The bill allowed Johnson to bomb North Vietnam for the first time (operation Pierce Arrow), and Johnson’s approval rating jumped from 42% to 72%.He was able to satisfy the right of his party who wanted an aggressive response to Hanoi, and to the left promised; “We are not going to send American boys away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves”

Hussein Mithani, Chanjevan Ghuman, Philip Purcell, Anna Southam, William Hawkins He had privately told the Joint Chiefs of Staff (military) that in December 1963; “Just let me get elected and then you can have your War”

“Both houses of Congress passed the resolution on August 7, the House of Representatives by 414 votes to nil, and the Senate by a vote of 88 to 2. The resolution served as the principal constitutional authorization for the subsequent vast escalation of the United States’ military involvement in the Vietnam War. Several years later, as the American public became increasingly disillusioned with the Vietnam War, many congressmen came to see the resolution as giving the president a blanket power to wage war, and the resolution was repealed in 1970.

Hussein Mithani, Chanjevan Ghuman, Philip Purcell, Anna Southam, William Hawkins

1964 Presidential Election

V Lyndon B Johnson Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson became President in 1961 after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. This meant that he was an unelected President and had a lot to prove.

However, like his predecessor he was very good with the media and used it to his advantage to criticise Goldwater and to make himself look better. Most famously, the Johnson campaign broadcast a television commercial on September 7 dubbed the "Daisy Girl" ad, which featured a little girl picking petals from a daisy in a field, counting the petals, which then moves into a launch countdown and a nuclear explosion. The ads were in response to Goldwater's advocacy of "tactical" nuclear weapons use in Vietnam.

Barry Goldwater Republican A republican who became very popular amongst his own party but due to his extreme right-wing views did not appeal to the rest of America. He voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Johnson used this to claim that Goldwater was a racist.

He once said: “"sometimes I think this country would be better off if we could just saw off the Eastern Seaboard and let it float out to sea" – this comment was used

by Johnson on a commercial and massively damaged Goldwater’s popularity. Remarks such as this and: "lob one [a nuclear bomb] into the men's room of the Kremlin" made him a very controversial candidate, made him lose popularity and was a reason he was not elected.

Hussein Mithani, Chanjevan Ghuman, Philip Purcell, Anna Southam, William Hawkins

Outcome: Johnson won the election with the highest margin of winning since 1820 with 61.1% of the vote. It was the sixth most lop-sided presidential election in US history and was due to Johnson’s massive popularity from the moderates.

Goldwater won 38.5% of the votes and it was seen as a massive failure for Goldwater.

Attacks on American patrol boats

Had a resolution

How did Johnson escalate?

Congress passed resolution

Huge election victory

Combative personality

Communists winning the War Nov 1964 VC attack on American airbase near Siagon

Saigon Government incompetence

Why did he escalate?

Dean Rusk "We must change the pace - this can only be done by intrusion of Americans"

American Ambassador from 1964 was General Maxwell Taylor Impatient man.

Nov 63-Jan 64 - General Minh Jan 64-Feb 65 - General Kanh Feb 65-June 65 - Dr Quat June 1965-Sep 1967 0 Air Vice Marshal Ky

Hussein Mithani, Chanjevan Ghuman, Philip Purcell, Anna Southam, William Hawkins Working Group Recommendations 1964-1965 Johnson put together a working group to suggest policy actions before the election. He was unwilling to hugely escalate the War (although there had been small strikes in Aug 64 – Pierce Arrow) and wanted some ideas. The group involved people from the CIA, the JCS, the defence department and the State Department. These were their conclusions;     

A free South Vietnam was essential.

The domino theory is a real and credible threat American “national prestige and honour” was at stake The Saigon Government was weak and required immediate help Heavy bombing should be launched. It should only be halted if North Vietnam agree that South Vietnam can continue to exist.

Was Johnson to blame? He had won a landslide election after bombing North Vietnam. The Working group was behind escalation and the public appeared supportive. George Ball and Mike Mansfiled however continued to warn him.

In 1965, as a result of the Working groups recommendations, Johnson took the first big step into War, when Operation Rolling Thunder was launched. With electoral victory, the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, and the Working groups recommendations behind him, Johnson felt empowered enough to act.