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LBJ 'AMERICANISATION' - 1963-68 - Coggle Diagram
LBJ 'AMERICANISATION' - 1963-68
LBJ APPROACH
overtly continued JFK approach - increased military adivsers
wanted swift end to war without escalation - wary of 1964 US election
not prepared to negotiate - wanted victory
Operation Plan 34A - raids on NV bases to force Hanoi to retract support for VC and NLF
CONSEQUENCES
BY 1964
USSR began diplomatic links with NLF
ARVN forces poorly-trained and unskilled - losing
Anti-US sentiment within SV
VC strengthened position in Vietnam
One US poll showed 80% public support for Vietnam war in 1965
Increased troop numbers from 1965 as General Westmoreland convinced LBJ that the war could be won in 6 moths
GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT
CAUSES
Reported NV attack of USS Maddox led to US sinking 2 NV patrol boats
RESULTS
Gulf of Tonkin resolution August 1964 gave LBJ freedom to take 'whatever means necessary' to resist Communist aggression in Vietnam
CONCLUSIONS
although LBJ initially tried to continue JFK approach of detached responsibility and technological warfare, the continuation of the war inevitably obliged him to commit US troops rather than risk being the first US President to lose a war
whilst the Gulf of Tonkin incident may well have been true, the speed of the response and the alleged falsification of the second attack indicates that the US was always looking for an excuse to escalate in Vietnam