-L.B.J. Goes to War- (1964-1965)

I. Lyndon Johnson was very concerned with re-election and his Great Society programs A. Johnson wanted to fight the war on poverty, but he inherited the burden of Vietnam 1. Saving the world from communism was now his job

II. Political turmoil in South Vietnam A. No real leaders emerged 1. Individuals were being overthrown soon after coming into power a. Duong Van Minh, “Big Minh” led the overthrow of Diem but was ousted two months after B. Constant internal struggles made the South Vietnamese government very weak

III. The Vietcong Grows A. According to the Vietcong, US involvement in South Vietnam was no different than other imperial actions, or other imperial enemies B. By 1964, the Vietcong controlled an estimated 40% of the South

C. The Vietcong and the Hanoi government viewed this as a war for independence D. Hanoi escalated the war 1. Ho Chi Minh steps up his material support of the Vietcong 2. They begin to widen the Ho Chi Minh trail

IV. President Johnson was desperate for congressional approval to act with great force in Vietnam A. The Gulf of Tonkin incident gave Johnson that approval 1. The USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy were the American ships involved in the incident 2. Hanoi linked the Maddox to previous South Vietnamese raids on North Vietnam and was accused of initiating attacks

B. American aircraft would bomb North Vietnam in retaliation of a second incident 1. This is America’s first direct attack on North Vietnam

C. Congress gave LBJ a “Blank Check” to protect South Vietnam 1. This essentially gave Johnson the power and money to make war without a declaration of war D. Johnson did not want a wider war in Vietnam, he wanted to focus on domestic policy, but was committed to South Vietnam and the war on communism

V. Vietcong attacks a US airbase and the Brinks Hotel A. The attack on Bien hoa airbase was the first attack by the enemy on American installations B. The Brinks bombing was an attempt to kill as many American decision makers as possible

VI. The North Vietnamese army becomes larger, more organized, and more sophisticated A. The North began using reinforced, battalion sized units 1. This is a departure from guerilla warfare

B. The Vietcong attack at Pleiku caused a retaliation from the US in the form of air raids on the North

VII. “Rolling Thunder” A. This was name for the American strategy of a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam 1. The original plan was to cut the supply lines from North to South Vietnam 2. A debate arose over whether strategic bombing could be effective in Vietnam

B. The first request for a significant number of US ground troops was for two marine battalions whose mission was to protect airfields in South Vietnam 1. On March 8th, 1965, 3,500 US marines landed to protect the airbase at Danang a. This decision was not meant to be part of a larger buildup

2. Three weeks later, the Vietcong attacked the US embassy in Saigon 3. 200,000 troops would be committed by the end of 1965

C. Johnson wanted the announcement of more troops being sent to Vietnam to be as quiet as possible 1. It had to be done gradually or the US would have alarmed the Soviet Union and/or China

D. Passive defense of the airfields changed into aggressive offense 1. Marine units began to go on patrol in search of Vietcong

2. Americans fought the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) for the first time face to face in the battle of the Ia Drang Valley a. B-52’s supported US troops for the first time in this battle 3. The Vietnam War as we know it had begun

E. All the while, South Vietnam’s army and government were near collapse, but Johnson refused to let them fall