It's true that I love yet unrelentingly loathe LBJ. His "Great Society" directive created so many long-standing social programs for our society that we could not imagine living without and his stoic urging to pass The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was truly admirable. Yet, due to his overbearing sense of pride lead our country further into the Vietnam war by using a fabricated incident at The Gulf of Tonkin in August of 1964 as reason to explode troop numbers sent into Vietnam. (1) The Joint Chiefs of Staff and other military personnel attempted to intervene but Johnson was completely unwilling to agree with dissent. A possible reason for this behavior was his personal insecurities involving military strategy of which he had little experience. (2) The war was such a mess by '68 that Johnson choose to not run for president that year. He grew his hair long in the early 1970's before dying; had he come to identify with the anti-war movement? Was he showing remorse? I don't know for sure but his character is forever wrapped in enigma.
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(1) Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, The Untold History of the United States (New York: Gallery Books, 2012), pg. 328
(2) George C. Herring, "Cold Blood": LBJs Conduct of Limited War in Vietnam (USAFA Harmon Memorial Lecture #33), http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfh/docs/Harmon33.pdf
Can you imagine a solider returning home from Iraq or Afghanistan and NOT given hero treatment? Today's soldier's are decorated and put on a pedestal but not Vietnam Veterans: Ron Kovic, whom Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July was based on, left for Vietnam as a hero but came back paralyzed and demoralized. In the film, a World War II veteran says to a wheelchair bound Kovic, "I fought a real war." A majority of the U.S. population did not understand the Vietnam, rightfully so.
Vietnam had fought for its independence for over 1,000 years as the country was constantly occupied by Japan, China and France yet always desired its full freedom. (1) The United States wanted to continue the Cold War to fight communism to fulfill the Truman Doctrine. Unfortunately, U.S. leaders never understood Vietnam either. North Vietnamese military leader Vo Nguyen Giap summed up the inevitable defeat:
"We won the war because we would rather die than live in slavery. Our history proves this. Our deepest aspiration has always been self-determination. The spirit provided us with the stamina, courage, and creativity in the face of a powerful enemy." (2)
The broad anti-war movement stood on the fringes of understanding but the anger that surfaced turned towards our own countrymen whom were mostly drafted rather than volunteered. There was nothing they could do to turn the tides against the ego of LBJ. I'll pick up with LBJ and his enormous ego next time.
Courtesy of You Tube
This moving clip from Born on the 4th of July reveals a fight between two Vietnam Veterans: even those that were there carry their anger and take it out on each other.
(1) Robert Griffith and Paula Baker. Major Problems in American History Since 1945, (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007) pgs. 324-325.
(2) Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, The Untold History of the United States, (New York: Gallery Books, 2012) pg. 366
