To what extent did domestic political considerations shape the Johnson Essay

To what extent did domestic political considerations shape the Johnson administrations conduct of the war in Vietnam, 196568 - Essay Example This rapid change of attitudes to the war raises a number of questions. The most important of them is, perhaps, how the USA domestic affairs affected the inclination of the war in Vietnam. Apparently, President's Lyndon Johnson decision to take the United States into a large-scale in Vietnam could not be completely understood without the assessment of domestic political issues and considerations in 1960s. In this project, I will examine all domestic sources of forces as well as forces themselves that shaped to one or either way, Johnson's administration conduct of the Vietnam War. Respectively, I will focus on the 1965-1968 period of the War known as "Escalation and Americanization of Vietnam"4. While analyzing this period of War, I will evaluate the influence of Johnson's administration that determined Presidents' decisions of deployment of combat troops in July 1965, escalation of troops' involvement in 1967, and Johnson's decision to limit the bombing of Vietnam as well as his later decision not to seek reelection. Historically, there are two dominant approaches in analysis of Johnson's administration decision making regarding Vietnam War5. ... Historically, there are two dominant approaches in analysis of Johnson's administration decision making regarding Vietnam War5. One approach emphasizes Johnsons and his administration's irrationality and isolation from critique that consequently resulted in disastrous decisions about Vietnam. This approach describes Johnson as a single-minded "hawk" and extremely ambitious President reluctant to listen to the experts' views6. The second approach implies that Johnson had an access to the full range of information about Vietnam from diverse points of view, particularly from his foreign policy advisers: McGeorge Bundy, Dean Rusk, Walter Rostow and Robert McNamara, as well as from more informal ones78. This view provides a more rational view of Johnson, though makes him a hostage of his informants9. Another question under concern is the extent, to which domestic issues determined Johnson's decisions about Vietnam. In the other words, how domestic economy ("economic crisis" of 1968), growing Congressional opposition, shaping of public opinion and public riots (pacifists' movements), rapid loss of Johnson popularity, etc. determined the way of Vietnam War conduct. As Barrett (1993) believes, this "Vietnam dilemma" has significantly influenced generations of historians and political scientists10. Gulf of Tonkin incident and beginning of Johnson's Vietnam War era Until the August of 2004 Vietnam War was rather a local conflict than an issue, which further preoccupied the minds of average Americans in late 1960s. However, the attacks of Northern Vietnamese on American navies on August 2-4, 1964 prompted the large-scale involvement of American troops in the country. It is still debatable, whether Vietnamese indeed attacked US