McNamara's Explanations Of Kennedy And Johnson's Decisions example essay topic

In Robert Mc Namara's book, In Retrospect, McNamara discusses the decisions involving Vietnam under Kennedy and Johnson. McNamara offers an explanation on why he believes both Kennedy and Johnson decided to expand the war in Vietnam. When Kennedy was elected to office in 1960 he continued the anti-Communist policies of his predecessor, Eisenhower. Kennedy followed Eisenhower's example of "containing" the Communists.

McNamara feels that Eisenhower deeply affected Kennedy's approach to Southeast Asia. McNamara also recognized that Kennedy followed a policy of containment. He writes that Kennedy, "accepted (the) idea advanced by George F. Kennan in his famous July 1947 'X' article in Foreign Affairs, that the West, led by the United States, must guard against Communist expansion through a policy of containment". (McNamara 30) This policy was one of the factors in Kennedy's decision making and attitude towards the conflict in South Vietnam. McNamara realizes as he is writing In Retrosepct that the idea of Communism spreading is absurd but at the time it made sense to Kennedy and his advisors. McNamara writes that Kennedy and his advisors "viewed these conflicts not as nationalistic movements- as they largely appear in hindsight- but as signs of a unified Communist drive for hegemony in Asia".

(Mc Namara 31) Kennedy's decisions were largely based on this idea and he continued to use this idea to gain support for expanding the war in Vietnam. McNamara also emphasizes that Kennedy was initially reluctant to send combat troops to Vietnam. During the Kennedy administration the objective was to train the South Vietnamese to "defend" themselves against the Viet Cong. "Kennedy made it clear he did not wish to make an unconditional commitment to prevent the loss of South Vietnam and flatly refused to endorse the introduction of U.S. combat forces". (McNamara 39) Kennedy was driven by the idea of preventing the Communist rule in South Vietnam, but he was also reluctant to risk American lives by sending combat troops. McNamara quotes a 1963 interview where Kennedy says, "Are we giving up in South Vietnam?

The most important program, of course, is our national security, but I don't want the United States to have to put troops there". (McNamara 86) McNamara stresses Kennedy's reluctance to send troops to Vietnam. Kennedy's decisions to expand the war were based on his feelings that if Vietnam fell under Communist rule then the rest of Southeast Asia would fall under Communist rule as well. Even though Kennedy was against sending troops to Vietnam he did what his advisors suggested to end the conflict in Vietnam. When Kennedy died Johnson inherited all the unresolved conflicts in South Vietnam. South Vietnam was in terrible shape when Johnson came to office, they had just lost their leader and were struggling to create a new, stable government.

"The situation Johnson inherited in Vietnam could not have been more complex, difficult, or dangerous. The leader who had held South Vietnam's centrifugal forces together for nearly ten years had just been removed in a coup that Johnson had opposed. South Vietnam lacked any tradition of national unity". (McNamara 100) McNamara explains that Johnson was very driven by the idea of containing the Communists, just as Kennedy had. "He saw the takeover of South Vietnam as a step toward that objective- a break in out containment policy".

(McNamara 102) Johnson was also driven by his domestic policies. McNamara discusses Johnson's emphasis on his domestic programs, "the Great Society", and his determination to gain support for the program. "His obsession with securing Congress' approval and financing of his Great Society agenda; he wanted nothing to divert attention and resources from his cherished domestic reforms". (McNamara 173) Johnson felt pressured to make decisions based on the affect they would have on his Great Society program. "the president understood the magnitude of the decision he had made- and the price he would likely pay for the way he announced it, but he felt trapped between two bitter choices: subterfuge ves uses the twin dangers of escalator y pressure and the loss of his social program".

(McNamara 206) McNamara also sites Johnson's determination to "win the war" as a key factor in his decisions to expand the war. Johnson felt it was necessary to have Congressional support in expanding the war to avoid the mistakes Truman had made during the Korean War. Johnson was able to get unlimited Congressional support to expand the war with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution gave Johnson the ability to move quickly in expanding the war without waiting for Congress to approve his decisions. This was a key factor in the decisions of Johnson. This resolution enabled Johnson to do all he could in his power to prevent Communist take over in South Vietnam.

McNamara realizes that this resolution gave Johnson the ability to further U.S. involvement in Vietnam by ordering air strikes against North Vietnam. Johnson's determination to win the war caused him to make decisions without fully understanding the other options. For example, neutralization was one option that was possible. McNamara explains that the Johnson administration felt that Southeast Asia was too weak to become neutral and they would eventual fall under Communist rule if they were neutral. McNamara realizes this view was "limited and shallow". Johnson felt that the U.S. needed to defeat the Communist North Vietnamese in order to appear stronger and more powerful than the Communists.

There are objections to McNamara's explanations of Kennedy's decisions regarding Vietnam. One author who offers a different analysis of Kennedy's decisions is Marilyn Young. Marilyn Young portrays Kennedy as an indecisive leader who bases decisions on his reelection. Young does not see Kennedy as a compassionate who sees as national security as the top issue but instead, sees his reelection as the key motivation of his decisions.

Young also sees Kennedy and his advisors as negligent of Vietnamese history when dealing with the issue. Young writes, "The United States declared South Vietnam a new nation born in 1954, and did not take seriously the evidence that this new nation was really half of an old one... ". (Young 103) McNamara explains that Kennedy saw the conflict in Vietnam as a Communist conflict while Young sees the conflict as a nationalist issue. Young explains that the North Vietnamese were Communist but they were more motivated by nationalism.

There are also objections to McNamara's analysis of Johnson's decisions. Marilyn Young also gives a different view of Johnson's decisions. One key event that Young disagrees with is the Tonkin Gulf incident that led to the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. Young does not see conclusive proof that the second attack in the Tonkin Gulf occurred and that the incident was exaggerated in order to gain support for Johnson's expansion of the war effort in Vietnam.

Young sees the event as "lies" and points to the evidence that it never occurred. I believe McNamara's explanations of Kennedy and Johnson's decisions is accurate. Why would McNamara bother writing that book if he wasn't ready to admit all of his mistakes? McNamara gives reasonable accounts of what led to the decisions of Kennedy and Johnson.

I believe McNamara that Kennedy felt pressured to expand U.S. involvement in Vietnam in order to prevent Communist take over of Southeast Asia. I also believe that The Kennedy and Johnson administrations were honestly saw the conflict as a Communist conflict only. They were unable to understand the nationalist perspective because of the time they were living in. At that point in history people saw Communism as an evil that was intent on taking over the world. I also agree with McNamara that the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was his way to avoid the problems Truman faced during the Korean War.

I believe Young's perspective of the Kennedy and Johnson's administrations are very cynical. Young sees Kennedy as a leader who only bases decisions on his reelection and Johnson as a liar. Young's perspective is influenced by her anti-war views. She sees Kennedy and Johnson as leaders who risked American lives for their self- interest as a way to support her views that the war was wrong. McNamara's book, In Retrospect, provides an explanation for the decisions that Kennedy and Johnson made leading to the Vietnam War.

McNamara gives a first hand analysis of these events and provides an accurate account of exactly what Johnson and Kennedy's motivations and attitudes were.