Kennedy and the Cuban Crisis vs Johnson and Vietnam

“Kennedy’s foreign policy was based on two major premises. The first was a belief in “monolithic communism”—the idea that all communist movements were orchestrated from Moscow.” The second was the Domino Theory—that should a single strategic country go communist, surrounding countries were sure to follow. Among the countries Kennedy was concerned about were Cuba

Westmoreland knew that to win the war he would need a lot more troops and Johnson was willing to give them to him. Johnson stayed very attentive to what targets were being attacked by America, for numerous reasons. These reasons were that he did not want the Chinese or Soviet Communist forces to become involved, if America struck any of these countries facilities. Johnson would increase the intensity of the bombing in the North and would deploy more troops to the South. Johnson was not about to increase taxes or call up the reserves during the war in Vietnam. Johnson and his administration felt that the only way to win the war was to inflict serious damage on the North Vietnamese and to make the South able to stand on it's own without the United States’ troops becoming involved. Robert McNamara in 1967 was starting to notice that the United States could not win the war in Vietnam. McNamara told Johnson that neither ground troops nor the bombing took any significant affect on the North. McNamara tried to get Johnson to stop the bombing in the North and to promote peace with the North. Johnson did not want anything to do with this idea. Johnson did not want to lose this war and was willing to do whatever necessary to win. Johnson gave McNamara a new position, the top governmental position in the World Bank. Johnson did not respond well to those who disagreed with his ideas and did not share his optimism.

, Germany (specifically Berlin), Vietnam, and Laos.

When Russia formally signed a treaty with East Germany, and threatened to cut off Western accessibility to Berlin, the United States knew it was in for a fight. A plan to build the infamous Berlin Wall was set for August 1961 by the Soviets. In June 1961 Premier Khrushchev threatened to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany, which he said would end the four-power agreements guaranteeing American, British, and French rights to West Berlin. These three countries told Khrushchev that NO treaty could abridge their obligations and responsibilities, also their rights in West Berlin.

Johnson’s first decision regarding Vietnam was when he rejected the Joint Chiefs of Staff request to start a bombing raid, air attack, and a ground attack on the North. Johnson originally thought that if the US would just send support to the South, that the South would just build itself up and not need American assistance . When the South further deteriorated, Johnson’s idea was crushed. In 1964, shortly after the elections, the American ship USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese boats, this made Johnson mad, and he asked Congress for a diplomatic authorization. This resolution was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which said that Johnson could use military power to promote international stability in Southeast Asia. President Johnson came to believe that the South could be saved by systematically bombing the North and committing more US troops to ground attacks in the South. Central Intelligence Agency Director McCone was warned Johnson that this action was not going to stop the North from further advancing into the South. It was not likely that North Vietnam would end the war against the South. But U.S. actions would over time have tremendous economic and political impact on the ending of this war. Action against the North would not be successful in reducing the Viet Cong’s activity enough to make a ground victory possible in the South, unless the U.S. upgraded actions in the South and large improvements were made in the South Vietnamese government. The only expectation that would ensue was that of a Viet Cong army losing support from the North, and the government in the South would be able to build itself up. Johnson and his policymakers felt that sending more troops to the South would be necessary for a military victory in Vietnam. Johnson initiated operation Rolling Thunder in January of 1965. Rolling Thunder was a two-step plan in which the United States woul

Some topics in this essay:
Kennedy Johnson, South Vietnamese, Southeast Asia, South Vietnam, Vietnam American, Laos Hmong, Vietnam Kennedy’s, President Johnson, Geneva Accords, North Vietnamese, southeast asia, north vietnamese, south vietnamese, south vietnam, middle east, missile crisis, secretary defense, geneva accords, lyndon johnson, vietnam kennedy, joint chiefs staff, south vietnamese government, robert mcnamara secretary, mcnamara secretary defense, help south vietnam,