Escalation of the Vietnam War under President Johnson, 1963-1969 (Edexcel GCSE History): Revision Note

Summary

President Johnson was keen to play more of an active role in stopping a communist coming to power in all of Vietnam. Under Eisenhower and Kennedy, the communist forces in both the North and South of Vietnam had grown stronger. Reports of attacks on American ships in the Tonkin Gulf enabled Johnson to enter the war actively. By the end of 1964, American servicemen were fighting and dying in Vietnam. 

What aims did Johnson have for Vietnam?

• Like Eisenhower and Kennedy before him, Johnson wanted to stop communism from spreading in Southeast Asia

• After the death of Ngo Dinh Diem, Johnson was also eager to establish a stable and popular democratic government in South Vietnam 

• He wanted to achieve these things without the conflict in Vietnam escalating into an all-out nuclear war with the USSR

The increasing threat of the Vietcong

• By 1963, the Vietcong (VC) were more popular and powerful in South Vietnam than ever before

• The VC’s popularity and influence increased for several reasons: 

  • Many villagers were greatly angered by the Strategic Hamlet Program that had forcibly moved them from their ancestral homes

  • Many villagers were extremely poor and the communist ideas of equality and sharing of wealth appealed to them

  • Weapons and supplies had reached the VC from North Vietnam after travelling down the Ho Chi Minh trail

  • Many of these weapons and supplies had been sent to North Vietnam by China and the USSR

  • The VC ran an extremely effective propaganda campaign that convinced many villagers that the VC were on their side

  • Around two-thirds of South Vietnam was under the control of the VC’s 10,000 soldiers by the end of 1964

The events of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, 1964

• For the first half of 1964, the number of US military advisors increased but there were no American combat troops in Vietnam

• That all changed in August 1964 when two US ships claimed they came under attack whilst off the coast of North Vietnam

  • In what became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the alleged attack was blamed on North Vietnamese torpedo boats

  • Neither the USS Maddox nor the USS Turner Joy were damaged and many historians have doubted that the attacks took place

How did the Gulf of Tonkin incident escalate the Vietnam War?

• Johnson used the incident to claim that America was under threat from more “unprovoked attacks” if he did not act

• He asked Congress for support and it passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• This meant Johnson could now:

• ‘Necessary measures’ included using US combat troops to fight the VC and US aircraft to bomb North Vietnam

• The Gulf of Tonkin Incident directly led to the US joining the war