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Episode 5: America Goes to War

Johnson orders air campaign and sends first ground troops to Vietnam

We will fight whatever way the United States wants.

After winning the Presidential election in a landslide, President Johnson was faced with a deteriorating situation in Vietnam. Pressured by advisers predicting 鈥渄isastrous defeat,鈥� intent on proving his and America鈥檚 鈥渃redibility,鈥� fearful of drawing China and the Soviet Union into the conflict, and passionate about maintaining focus on his 鈥淕reat Society鈥� initiative, he planned a course of gradual escalation he hoped would avoid public scrutiny.听 听

In January 1965, after southern Communist forces attacked a U.S. air base, the administration had a pretext to launch Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against the north. An air campaign necessitated an air base, and an air base needed protection, so the first American boots hit the ground 听soon after the bombing began. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. combat troops would follow. America was at war.

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Episode 6: Fighting on Three Fronts

Tension between military strategy, humanitarian efforts, and antiwar 听activism reach crisis levels

If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read 鈥淰ietnam.鈥�

The American strategy in Vietnam was to suppress the Communist insurgency through the ground war while winning the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese through humanitarian efforts. But it was difficult to build bonds with people whose lives were 听upended by the search-and-destroy tactics of the combat forces.

Back at home, antiwar protests mounted. Public support for the war fell below 50 percent for the first time. In October 1967, nearly 100,000 people joined the March on the Pentagon to protest the war. The Johnson administration tried to tamp down dissent with news of progress, going so far as to call General Westmoreland home from the battlefield to present a glowing report to the American people. Military officers were pressured to 听overestimate enemy casualties and underestimate enemy strength鈥攁 practice that would have devastating consequences for President Johnson.

The 鈥淲ar at Home鈥�

Opposition to the war grew, diversified, and clashed with supporters in a more and more divided nation

For the first time in history, the death and destruction of war was beamed onto television screens in living rooms around the world. This portal into the grim realities of war turned more and more people against it. But many Americans, even some who opposed the war, felt protest marchers were disloyal to American soldiers, further dividing the population in the growing 鈥淲ar at Home.鈥�

As troop levels neared half a million, casualties mounted with no apparent progress, and tens of thousands of young men鈥攄isproportionately blue collar and minority鈥攚ere drafted each month, opposition to the war mounted. Some peace-promoting doves saw the war as a well-intentioned but disastrous mistake. War-minded Hawks blamed the media for turning the population against a winnable war. The bitter polarization of American society begun during 听the Vietnam War is still evident today.

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Episode 7: Tet Offensive

Americans lose faith in the potential for victory after wide-ranging Communist attacks

It seems now more certain than ever, that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.

On January 31, 1968, the South Vietnamese were looking forward to Tet, a celebration of the lunar new year. They were caught off guard when 70,000 Communist troops struck more than 100 towns and cities with swift and stunning ferocity.

Most of the fighting was over in a few days, but a second wave came in late April and a third in August. Although the enemy suffered devastating casualties and their attempt to spark a general uprising completely failed, many Americans concluded the U.S. and its allies had suffered a massive defeat. When a Defense Department report regarding the need for 205,000 more American troops was leaked to the New York Times, Americans concluded the war was stalemated and the Johnson administration had lied to them.

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Episode 8: Nixon鈥檚 Campaign Promise

Nixon scuttles Johnson鈥檚 peace talks before the election and expands the war after it

Nixon鈥檚 Presidential campaign led many to conclude he had a 鈥渟ecret plan to end the war.鈥� Some historians believe he was actually determined to win the war. Others say he planned a negotiated withdrawal from the beginning. We do know he had a secret. He sabotaged Johnson鈥檚 peace talks to try to prevent an agreement from threatening his election.

As President, Nixon escalated the bombing and expanded the war in Cambodia and Laos. After millions demonstrated in the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, he announced his plan for 鈥淰ietnamization鈥� and asked 鈥渢he great silent majority鈥� of Americans for their support. The war continued for four years under Nixon. During that time, 21,041 Americans and over two million Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians were killed.

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