Lyndon B. Johnson 's Letter

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), was a highly talented and celebrated African American writer. He was a poet, songwriter, novelist, literary critic, and essayist. Along with his wide-ranging literary accomplishments, Johnson also served as a school principal, professor of literature at Fisk University, attorney, a diplomatic consul for the United States in Venezuelaand Nicaragua, and secretary for the NAACP from 1920-1930. He is considered one of the founders of the Harlem Renaissance and the first "modern" African American.

With the Vietnam War affecting so many people across the world, Kennedy took extreme caution in what he said. His use of pathos includes many patriotic expressions and words to unite Americans. His phrases like “forge against these enemies,” (Kennedy par 23) “cultural and spiritual origins” (Kennedy par 6) and “a celebration of freedom” (Kennedy par 1) imply that the war is not simply a political issue, but a moral responsibility. On the other hand, though these phrases offer a feeling of civic duty, nothing compares to the legendary quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country” (Kennedy par 25). This message is so powerful because it speaks of

Upon the French’s exit, the American involvement and commitment escalated with the use of the political establishments in South Vietnam to assist in the curbing the spread of Communism. This presented America an opportunity for them to significantly integrate themselves in the South Vietnamese government to further delay the reunification election from taking place in 1954. The attacks on the US naval vessels during the Gulf of Tonkin incident provided the U.S, under the Johnson administration, another justification for the escalated involvement of the conflict in Vietnam. In which, the U.S responded with the Gulf of Tonkin resolution to launch a full-scale military effort towards the North until their withdrawal from Vietnam in 1969. The desolate gradual departure of America in Vietnam was summarised by Senator James Buckley as “that damning silence of those who cannot find even a single word of compassion for those under Communist tyranny”. It can be inferred from this context that as the situations in Vietnam continue to evolve, the American’s participation also varied to align with these conditions.

Johnson’s first step after becoming president was to help the citizens of the U.S. and the world cope with the death of JFK. “American people actually were 190,000,000 dazed individuals; he had to give them that unity and confidence; he had to represent it to the world” (Wicker, 161). This was a great task for any man to take on and he did so with care. He showed compassion and provided comfort for the people, promising to continue the dreams Kennedy had and to make them become a way of life. These dreams caused most people to look up to Kennedy, and it turned him into a legend in the history books even though he did not accomplish all he had tried. To achieve what Kennedy had set out to do would take a great man, and a great man Johnson showed himself to be. He also “carefully honored the Kennedy legacy…and remained deeply respectful of JFK’s cabinet and top officials” (Schulman, 69).

Lyndon B. Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, near the central Texas community of Johnson City. He graduated from Southwest State Teachers College in San Marcos, Texas on 1930. To help pay for his education, he taught at a school for disadvantaged Mexican-American students in South Texas. The way he looked at the effects of poverty and discrimination on his students made a deep impression on Johnson and caused in him a lifelong desire to find a solution of those problems. Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36h president of the United States due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 1963. Thanks to him today we have the following: Medicare, Head Start, the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. He also had a deep and huge

The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a series of reported confrontations between the USS Maddox on August 2nd and August 4th, 1964. The second of the two confrontations, on August 4th, was later proven to have never happened, and the legitimacy of the first confrontation on August 2nd is in question. The USS Maddox reported that on August 2nd, while patrolling in international waters, it was attacked by three North Vietnamese Torpedo Boats. President Johnson went on live television on August 4th saying that the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy were attacked again by Vietnamese boats. He used these attacks as reason to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that granted him the use of conventional military force in Southeast Asia without a formal

While the speech’s respectful eloquence is appropriate for the occasion of an inauguration, its youthful energy and look to the future make it distinctly John F. Kennedy’s. , The people of the United States desperately needed a boost in morale with ongoing tension of races, inequalities, the fight against communism and the cold war. The people were convinced that this war would be never ending, and believed in another inevitable war. From the beginning to the end of JFK’s speech, he uses a plethora of rhetorical devices to comfort the people and fill them with confidence.

In 1965, he “ordered an increase in U.S. military forces in Vietnam, from the present 75,000 to 125,000”(History). Immediate reaction followed from this, and communist leader attacked him for this decision. This became “a major turning point, as it effectively guaranteed U.S. military leaders a blank check to pursue the war”(History). Johnson's future tactics included more men and many bombings and plans such as operation rolling thunder. These failed due to the fact that the Vietcong was not defeated stepping down from war. The more men he sent overseas just generated more chaos in America and deaths in Vietnam. In addition to this, North Vietnam had significantly less troops than we did in the South, they had about “10,000 troops...meanwhile we have an occupation force of 500,000 ground troops”, this doesn't include the naval and air command(Doc G). Lastly, the biggest shock for not only the President but the citizens lied in the fact that everyone believed it wasn't “possible for us to lose the war. We are too strong…”(Doc F). Johnson along with the generals aimed to “fight it with the least cost to ourselves and the greatest cost to our enemy”(Doc F). Unfortunately, it did the exact opposite with the failure through the President's failed military tactics and policies.

Because Johnson believed in the domino theory, that if one county turned Communist, namely Vietnam, then neighboring nations would also turn Communist, his approach to the Vietnam War was to escalate the attacks to the point in which the Communists could no longer fight back. Johnson escalated the war through a variety of attacks, including Operation Rolling Thunder, which was the first of many aerial bombings on North Vietnam. Moreover, it was under Johnson’s administration that tens of thousands of American troops were dispatched to Vietnam which was another factoring intensifying the war. On the contrary, Nixon’s approach to the war in Vietnam was to pull out American troops because he valued American lives over containing Communism in Vietnam. Therefore, because the war had reached a stalemate by the time Nixon was in office and he valued American lives over containing communism, he implemented the process of Vietnamization, the organized transaction of American troops in Vietnam that were replaced by South Vietnamese troops. The reason why Johnson chose to escalate the war while Nixon tried to bring American troops home was because of their differing political views. Since Johnson was a Democrat and held some fairly liberal beliefs, like helping the impoverished at any cost, it was only natural for him to show compassion for the South Vietnamese by fighting Communism in order to create a better quality life for them even if it meant sacrificing American lives. However, because Nixon held more conservative views and believed in preserving order in one’s own nation before reaching out to others, Nixon implemented the process of Vietnamization in order to bring

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941’” began President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the day following Japan’s fateful attack on Pearl Harbor, resulting in the in the tragic loss of nearly two and a half thousand American lives. A date so famously proclaimed to ‘forever live in infamy,’ and so it has. This inspiring speech to Congress and the American people employed appeals and other techniques in it’s mission to touch America’s heart, both with sympathy and indignation. President Roosevelt’s use of rhetoric is extremely effective in rallying the American people to the cause of entering a war so many were reluctant to support.

A North Vietnamese civilian said, “The Americans thought that the more bombs they dropped, the quicker we would fall to our knees and surrender. But the bombs heightened rather than dampened our spirit.” This shows that congress was not correct in approving the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution because the results were war, bombing, and deaths.

Immediately after what has become known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the President asked Congress for the power to use overt military force in Vietnam without the declaration of war. At the time, however, it was extremely unclear exactly what had taken place in the Gulf and whether or not the Resolution asked for was legitimate and just. The revelation that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a charade is presented by many ... [Even] George Ball, who was the Undersecretary of State under Johnson, spoke to Hendrickson about the “Gulf of Tonkin charade.

Johnson felt that if Vietnam became communist, then American interests and security would be threatened by a stronger communist network. Politically, Johnson would lose the mid-term elections

In June 1965, the United States government began to realize that under present conditions, the odds of winning the fight in Vietnam are unlikely, as the ratio of guerilla to anti-guerilla forces is 10-1. However, President Johnson vowed that he would not be the first President to lose a country to Communism,

What made this even more difficult was that he “had not given much attention to Vietnam or to foreign affairs in general” (Moise 30). For a nation like the United States in need of a decision on the fly, this was very troubling. Earlier “President Johnson felt that Harry Truman, in 1950, had erred by going into the Korean War without getting firm commitment of support from the congress” (Moise 226). In other words it appeared to be that Johnson would be careful about getting involved in a conflict like Vietnam. Being careful to say the least was not the case at all.