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Johnson then sparked and exaggerated a conflict in Vietnam in order to increase public support for his leadership.  The popularity of a president always increases when America is attacked.  The problem was the facts:  the American destroyer USS Maddox attacked three North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boats before they could attack us.  Days later a completely false report of an attack on the Maddox by the North Vietnamese was publicized.  Johnson presented this false information to Congress in order to obtain passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted Johnson the power to assist South Vietnam against communist aggression.  Based on the Truman Doctrine, this was not a declaration of war, but Johnson used it to support injecting the United States into the Vietnam War and to win reelection in 1964 in a landslide.

Johnson then sparked and exaggerated a conflict in Vietnam in order to increase public support for his leadership.  The popularity of a president always increases when America is attacked.  The problem was the facts:  the American destroyer USS Maddox attacked three North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boats before they could attack us.  Days later a completely false report of an attack on the Maddox by the North Vietnamese was publicized.  Johnson presented this false information to Congress in order to obtain passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted Johnson the power to assist South Vietnam against communist aggression.  Based on the Truman Doctrine, this was not a declaration of war, but Johnson used it to support injecting the United States into the Vietnam War and to win reelection in 1964 in a landslide.

Vietnam is a huge country:  81 million people, more than North and South Korea combined.  Vietnam is also a jungle.  The Communists had planted land mines everywhere.  A substantial percentage of our casualties in the Vietnam War were from stepping on land mines.  Between 1964 and 1975, when our last troops left, 58,000 American soldiers lost their lives and hundreds of thousands were severely injured.  Unlike today, the mandatory draft was used to compel these young men to fight in this war.

Vietnam is a huge country:  81 million people, more than North and South Korea combined.  Vietnam is also a jungle.  The communists had planted land mines everywhere.  A substantial percentage of our casualties in the Vietnam War were from stepping on land mines.  Between 1964 and 1975, when our last troops left, 58,000 American soldiers lost their lives and hundreds of thousands were severely injured.  Unlike today, the mandatory draft was used to compel these young men to fight in this war.

The United States entered the war on the side of South Vietnam against the communist North Vietnamese, who were backed by China and the Soviet Union.  America won every battle we fought.  But in the jungle warfare, we were not any closer to winning the war after years of struggle.

The United States entered the war on the side of South Vietnam against the communist North Vietnamese, who were backed by China and the Soviet Union.  America won every battle we fought.  But in the jungle warfare, we were not any closer to winning the war after years of struggle.