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