Did Johnson escalate for the same reasons as Kennedy?

'Johnson escalated the war in Vietnam for the same reasons as Kennedy'
How far do you agree with this statement?

First of all you need to outline why you think Kennedy increased invovlement in Vietnam.

Then you need to explain why you think Johnson got involved.

Then come to a judgement - how similar are they?

Try and explain why you support or oppose those people who have come before you.

Johnson and Kennedy were in most ways alike on their presidential skills even more so when it came down to miltary tactics in the Vietnamese campaign. They both new that there was a great risk in the spread of comunisum and if they did not contain it, it would spread, Kennedy beleived that sending groung troops in to help the South would esculate the comflict and it would then be classed as a war which he didnt want, so he sent in helicopters and air strikes to try and deteriate the threat. The leader of thye south Diem was then murdered by the Vietkong, however there was no intervention from Kennedy as he had realised what diem had become and couldnt rely on him. When Johnson was given the role as presented due to Kennedy being assacinated he decided to send in ground troops to protect the Sounth Vietnam and the supplies, however Johnson was under a lot of pressure from the public people of America and had to go with his own influence. To conclude they were both trying to deal with the Vietnam war in the least possiable way of causing violence.

Overall, I believe the reason Kennedy escalated involvement within Vietnam was because of the South Vietnamese incompetence. This is because Diem was a poor and unstable leader that never satisfied the people with South Vietnam. This is mainly because of his poor decision such as not allowing the Buddhist flag which sparked numerous protests. This resulted in very poor support for Diem's government.

As for Johnson, the reason I believed he escalated involvement within Vietnam even further wasn't the same as Kennedy's however the reason he did escalate involvement was from the result of Diem's poor government and eventual murder. In 1963, North Vietnam decided to increase support for the Viet Cong in the form of troops and weapons. Following the death of Diem and the fall of his government, support for democracy fell dramatically and unless Johnson increased involvement even further than Kennedy, South Vietnam would fall fast to the Communist threat.

Therefore I partially disagree with the statement however Johnson was influenced by reasons which followed the events that took place during Kennedy's time as President and which also influenced him to increase involvement in Vietnam.

i beleive that Johnson also escalated the involvement with Vietnam largely due to the publics opinion as well as south vietnamese incompetence. these two factors would have escalated the involvement as public opinion was important as Johnson would want to carry on Kennedy's legacy and to be on the publics side so he could get re-elected. South vietnamese incompetence would also have increased involvement as they were in a bad state due to Diems assassination and had the threat of being taken over by a communist party or leader which would have worsened the situation so Johnson decided to prevent this.

I think Johnson did not escalate the situation in Vietnam by his own motives, it was like he was being controlled by Kennedy from beyond the grave. Johnson needed the people's support, the people supported Kennedy and his ideas on Vietnam and what to do about it so it's just common sense to follow these ideas, even if it gets you into trouble Johnson would have wanted to follow Kennedy's legacy, futhermore the South of Vietnam was increasing the pressure for support from the United States after the death of their leader Diem. This led Johnson into a situation in where he had to act on his own opinions and beliefs ... South Vietnam incompetence was Johnson's downfall

Kennedy had escalated American involvement mainly for a similar reason's Diems incompetance had also proved an issue for him despite the initial support he had provided him. Under Kennedy Diem had proved obstinate to change and resistant to american advice this had reulted in an unstable country Kennedy was forced to ptotect from an aggresive North Vietnamese Leader in Ho chi Minh who was openly supporting the Vietcong insurgency.

One of the primary reasons for Johnson's escalation of the conflict in vietnam was the continued failing of Diems goverment which culminated with a coup against him by the military, sparked by his unpopular policies regarding the Budhist majority. This resulted in destabilisation which proved likely to lead to a communst overthrow. Since Johnson shared Kennedys staunchy anti communist views any spread of communism would prove unpopular with the American public.


Whilst there are some minor differences between the primary reasons both presidents got involved, the primary reasons both leaders escalated the conflict was the instablility of Diems regime and the threat to the countries continued existence as a democtraic country and ally of America.

Kennedy increased America's involvement in Vietnam because of many reasons. The incompetence of Diem's regime was a growing problem for the US, they were losing control over what went on in Vietnam because he wasn't listening to American advisors. His regime was also losing puplic support due to the way he decided to run things. The situation in South Vietnam was becoming more and more unstable. The policy of containment was also a factor in Kennedy's escalation, he had a duty to protect Vietnam from communist invasion, which was becoming increasingly likely due to the degrading condition of Diem's government.

Johnson took power after Kennedy's assassination and was left with a desperate situation in Vietnam. The regime put in place by the US was left in tatters after Diem was overthrown, and South Vietnam was open to communist attack. Obviously, Johnson had to adhere to the policies put in place by his predecessor, and couldn't just ignore the fact that South Vietnam was extremely weak and could be lost to the communist forces of North Vietnam at any moment.

It was because of this that I believe Johnson had to escalate the situation in Vietnam, not because of personal choice, but because he was forced to act under the policy of containment, which was the reason why Kennedy began to take action in the first place. So yes, I do agree with the statement "Johnson escalated the war in Vietnam for the same reasons as Kennedy" However, I do not believe it was because of personal choice.