Maintaining American World Power (1963-1968)

Question 1

Why was LBJ’s involvement in Vietnam inevitable?

Answer 1

• Ike had drawn up military plans for an invasion of Vietnam
• JFK had sent over 20,000 advisors to Vietnam

Question 2

Who did LBJ appoint to command military operations?

Answer 2

General William Westmoreland
(four star general)

Question 3

What was the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

Answer 3

In August 1964, North Vietnamese forces attacked two US ships (the Maddox and the Turner Joy) in the Gulf of Tonkin

Question 4

What was the Gulf of Tonkin resolution?

Answer 4

A congressional resolution passed in August 1964, which allowed Johnson to use military force in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war from Congress after the Gulf of Tokin incident

Question 5

Why did Johnson’s involvement in Vietnam contradict with his 1964 election campaign?

Answer 5

• “We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves”
• “We don’t want to get […] tied down to a land war in Asia”

Question 6

What was NSAM 288

Answer 6

National Security Action Memorandum 288 was a directive from LBJ in 1964 that increased U.S. military involvement in Vietnam and authorised covert operations against North Vietnam

Question 7

What was Operation Rolling Thunder?

Answer 7

• Authorised by Johnson in February 1965
• A sustained bombing campaign conducted by the United States against North Vietnam from 1965 to 1968
• In the 3 years it ran, 864,000 tonnes of bombs were dropped in North Vietnam

Question 8

How did Johnson increase involvement in Vietnam in 1965?

Answer 8

• In April, he sent two more marine battalions and one marine air squadron
• He increased logistical support units of 20,000 men
• He approved of ‘search and destroy tactics’
• By 1965, there were 175,000 men in Vietnam and 1/4 of a million the following year

Question 9

What are ‘search and destroy’ tactics?

Answer 9

They involved locating and attacking enemy forces in Vietnam, often involving ground troops sweeping through an area to find and engage the enemy

Question 10

What was Agent Orange?

Answer 10

A herbicide used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War to destroy forest cover and crops, but it also had severe health and environmental consequences, including illnesses and birth defects

Question 11

How did the North and communist powers use propaganda?

Answer 11

• Communists exploited the use of high-technology weapons against the North’s peasants as part of a propaganda campaign
• Operation Rolling Thunder was also a propaganda tool
• Propaganda was enhanced by the media exposure of the war

Question 12

How much had the US gotten involved in the Vietnam War by 1968?

Answer 12

• 548,000 troops
• 30,000 American had died there

Question 13

What was Johnson’s approval rating in 1967?

Answer 13

40% (down from 70% in mid 1965)

Question 14

Who were ‘hawks and doves’, and how were they involved in the Vietnam War?

Answer 14

“Hawks” (Congress and the Executive) supported military action in Vietnam, while “doves” (Hubert Humphrey) favoured peace and withdrawal of troops

Question 15

What was the draft?

Answer 15

The 1940 Selective Service and Training Act allowed the army to ‘draft’ men, through a lottery or selection process, to fill vacancies in the armed services if there weren’t enough volunteers

Question 16

What was the Tet Offensive?

Answer 16

• In January 1968, North Vietnam launched a coordinated attack on several southern cities while the Vietnamses people were celebrating Tet (the lunar new year) which destroyed the idea that they were in disarray
• Nearly 60,000 North Vietnamese died in the five weeks of the offensive but the US Embassy in Saigon fell for six hours during that time before being captured

Question 17

What was the significance of the fall of the US Embassy in Saigon in 1968?

Answer 17

The symbolism of the successful conquest of American soil increased American opposition to the war

Question 18

What happened at the Khe Sanh base?

Answer 18

In 1968, US Marines were besieged by 20,000 North Vietnamese forces for 75 days during the Vietnam War. Despite heavy bombardment and intense fighting, the U.S. held the base, which was later abandoned as part of a strategic withdrawal

Question 19

Why did the US not want to give up the Khe Sanh base?

Answer 19

It had been a US base since 1962 which lay close to the border with North Vietnam and allowed US forces to patrol the nearby Ho Chi Minh trail

Question 20

What was My Lai?

Answer 20

A village in Vietnam where American troops massacred hundreds of unarmed civilians, including women, children, and elderly people, in March 1968 during the Vietnam War. The incident exposed the brutality of the war and increased anti-war sentiment in the United States.

Question 21

How did the Vietnam War affect Johnson’s presidency?

Answer 21

• He decided not to stand in the 1968 elections
• There were increasing anti-war activists
• People would chant “Hey, hey, LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?” in his public appearances

Question 22

How did the Vietnam war affect the Democrats?

Answer 22

• It created a split (the New Hampshire primary took place after Tet and McCarthy took 41% of the vote, and Bobby Kennedy also chose to enter the race)
• The Democrats heavily lost in the 1966 midterms
• Johnson’s hopes of a ‘Great Society’ were ended