I think both JFK and LBJ were trapped by the inevitability of McCarthy-like accusations that they “lost” Vietnam in the same way that some experts on China were accused of “losing” China. The problem was that neither the Chinese mainland or Vietnam were ours to lose to begin with. In Vietnam, the North Vietnamese viewed us as an obstacle…
I think both JFK and LBJ were trapped by the inevitability of McCarthy-like accusations that they “lost” Vietnam in the same way that some experts on China were accused of “losing” China. The problem was that neither the Chinese mainland or Vietnam were ours to lose to begin with. In Vietnam, the North Vietnamese viewed us as an obstacle to winning their civil war. Despite North Vietnam’s willingness to accept help from the USSR and the PRC, Neil Sheehan recalled in his book “A Bright Shining Lie” that one young NVA guard holding an American civilian prisoner told him that Vietnam was not going to let the Soviets or Mao’s China dictate to them.
Nixon and Kissinger issued a back door request to the South Vietnamese government to refuse to participate in the Paris Peace Talks in 1968 and LBJ was too exhausted to do anything about it. Nixon and Kissinger lied that they had a special plan to “end the war,” and they pointlessly managed to continue the American war in Vietnam until 1973, and the South Vietnamese government collapsed two years later.
I think both JFK and LBJ were trapped by the inevitability of McCarthy-like accusations that they “lost” Vietnam in the same way that some experts on China were accused of “losing” China. The problem was that neither the Chinese mainland or Vietnam were ours to lose to begin with. In Vietnam, the North Vietnamese viewed us as an obstacle to winning their civil war. Despite North Vietnam’s willingness to accept help from the USSR and the PRC, Neil Sheehan recalled in his book “A Bright Shining Lie” that one young NVA guard holding an American civilian prisoner told him that Vietnam was not going to let the Soviets or Mao’s China dictate to them.
Nixon and Kissinger issued a back door request to the South Vietnamese government to refuse to participate in the Paris Peace Talks in 1968 and LBJ was too exhausted to do anything about it. Nixon and Kissinger lied that they had a special plan to “end the war,” and they pointlessly managed to continue the American war in Vietnam until 1973, and the South Vietnamese government collapsed two years later.