HISTORY 40C Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Lyndon B. Johnson, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, Tet Offensive
8 Jun 2016
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A visual war: images from the living room war . 1965 lyndon johnson launched a major military operation to support non-communist south vietnam against oppositional forces allied with. Spread of communism to neighboring countries would be bad. August 1964: congress authorized president to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the southeast asia collective defense treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom . Feb of 1965: huge air offensive; summer 1965: 200,000 ground troops with more to follow. 1968: tet offensive; more and more public opinion turns against the war. Lbj"s decision to not run for president again and to pursue peace talks. Widening of war into cambodia with secret bombings and spring 1970 ground incursion. 1973: nixon announces vietnamization of the war and withdraws most us troops. Watergate scandals and nixon"s resignation adds a potential constitutional crisis to the domestic disorder, division, and sense of defeat abroad.
