Changes

:::"But McNamara and Bundy dispute that. MacNamara told his biographer Deborah Shapley: “I don't believe that the president, or I, or Dean Rusk, or Mac Bundy were planning, in the sense of anticipating or embarking upon ‘overt war’ with North Vietnam in 1964. I know that the president didn't intend ‘overt war’ and I didn't intend ‘overt war’ in 1964. Johnson didn't have plans for military action other than to continue on as we were.” Likewise, Bundy told Shapley, Johnson “didn't want to take decisions on this issue in an election year.”  

:::"But McNamara and Bundy dispute that. MacNamara told his biographer Deborah Shapley: “I don't believe that the president, or I, or Dean Rusk, or Mac Bundy were planning, in the sense of anticipating or embarking upon ‘overt war’ with North Vietnam in 1964. I know that the president didn't intend ‘overt war’ and I didn't intend ‘overt war’ in 1964. Johnson didn't have plans for military action other than to continue on as we were.” Likewise, Bundy told Shapley, Johnson “didn't want to take decisions on this issue in an election year.”  

:::"Johnson's response to the August 2 attack in the Gulf bears out the MacNamara and Bundy assertions. Though Johnson was determined to show Hanoi that the United States would not be intimidated, his initial impulse was to play down the incident and keep it from escalating into a confrontation that would agitate unwanted questions about military action during the presidential campaign." [end of Dallek quote] [[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 13:03, 15 January 2009 (EST)

:::"Johnson's response to the August 2 attack in the Gulf bears out the MacNamara and Bundy assertions. Though Johnson was determined to show Hanoi that the United States would not be intimidated, his initial impulse was to play down the incident and keep it from escalating into a confrontation that would agitate unwanted questions about military action during the presidential campaign." [end of Dallek quote] [[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 13:03, 15 January 2009 (EST)

:::: I have read Dallek's biog., and have it 3 feet from me on my shelf.  He routinely interprets equivocal evidence in Johnson's favor, not surprising given the standard biographer's bias, and Dallek's firm emplacement in the post-revisionist historiographical school.  Note page 179 (presuming you have the single-volume version): "At the same time Johnson authorized air strikes against North Vietnam and won an endorsement from Congress over an incident he knew was in doubt, he also misled the public about American actions in the gulf.  In describing Hanoi's attacks as deliberate, unprovoked aggression, he was conveniently omitting the 34-A operations, which CIA director McCone had told him were the basis of North Vietnam's attacks." [[User:RodWeathers|- Rod Weathers]] 13:25, 15 January 2009 (EST)

:::: I have read Dallek's biog., and have it 3 feet from me on my shelf.  He routinely interprets equivocal evidence in Johnson's favor, not surprising given the standard biographer's bias, and Dallek's firm emplacement in the post-revisionist historiographical school.  Yet even he notes that it was deceitful to the public.  Note page 179 (presuming you have the single-volume version): "At the same time Johnson authorized air strikes against North Vietnam and won an endorsement from Congress over an incident he knew was in doubt, he also misled the public about American actions in the gulf.  In describing Hanoi's attacks as deliberate, unprovoked aggression, he was conveniently omitting the 34-A operations, which CIA director McCone had told him were the basis of North Vietnam's attacks." [[User:RodWeathers|- Rod Weathers]] 13:25, 15 January 2009 (EST)