Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- General Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I Battlefields
- Part II Homefronts
- 14 Dominoes Abroad and at Home
- 15 LBJ, the Great Society, and Vietnam
- 16 Politics in South Vietnam, 1963–1968
- 17 Domestic Politics in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1963–1968
- 18 The Antiwar Movement in the United States
- 19 Vietnam and American Race Relations
- 20 Prowar Sentiment in the United States
- 21 The US News Media and Vietnam
- 22 The South Vietnamese Homefront
- 23 The North Vietnamese Homefront
- Part III Global Vietnam
- Index
15 - LBJ, the Great Society, and Vietnam
from Part II - Homefronts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2025
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- General Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I Battlefields
- Part II Homefronts
- 14 Dominoes Abroad and at Home
- 15 LBJ, the Great Society, and Vietnam
- 16 Politics in South Vietnam, 1963–1968
- 17 Domestic Politics in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1963–1968
- 18 The Antiwar Movement in the United States
- 19 Vietnam and American Race Relations
- 20 Prowar Sentiment in the United States
- 21 The US News Media and Vietnam
- 22 The South Vietnamese Homefront
- 23 The North Vietnamese Homefront
- Part III Global Vietnam
- Index
Summary
The politics of Vietnam was born in the early Cold War when Republicans made a concerted effort to undercut the national security advantage that Democrats enjoyed after a decisive victory in World War II. The years after the war are often remembered as a period when politics stopped at the water’s edge. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although there were a number of factors that moved the US military deep into the jungles of Vietnam, including a “domino theory” positing that if one country fell to communism everything around it would follow, partisan politics was a driving force behind this disastrous strategy. The same political logic and prowess that led President Lyndon Johnson to strengthen the legislative coalition behind his Great Society simultaneously pushed him into a hawkish posture in Southeast Asia.
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- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War , pp. 321 - 342Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024