President Lyndon Johnson played a major role in the deployment of U.S. Troops in the Vietnam War. Johnson was a believer of the “Domino Theory” and is the main reason for the bombings and invasion of ground troops during the war. Due to Johnson’s strong opinion of the Domino Theory, the U.S. became much more involved with the Vietnam War. Johnson was a believer of the “Domino Theory” and is the main reason for the bombings and invasion of ground troops during the war. Due to Johnson’s strong opinion of the Domino Theory, the U.S. became much more involved with the Vietnam War.
The Domino Theory, as preached by President Lyndon B. Johnson, stated that a political event in one country could cause a similar event in a neighbouring country, for Vietnam, Johnson was worried about the spread of Communism in the Pacific. Johnson announced that,
“If we quit Vietnam tomorrow we’ll be fighting in Hawaii and next week we’ll have to be fighting in San Francisco.”
Johnson made his views on the war in Vietnam clear, and it was said that invading Vietnam was soon to come. Johnson’s response to the attack on the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin was established by the initiation of Operation Rolling Thunder. The operation began air strikes on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in order to reduce transportation of supplies and to boost the morale of the South Vietnamese. With the bombing of the North Vietnamese, Johnson also increased the number of troops in Vietnam from 16,000 in 1963 to 500,000 by 1968. Johnson’s fear of the spread of Communism forced him to act upon the situation in Vietnam.
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