Americanization of the Vietnam War

Both authors of issue #8 in the Taking Sides text believe that former president Lyndon Johnson is to blame for America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. History Professor Brian VanDeMark believes that Johnson was “…a prisoner of America’s global containment policy…” (pg 168) therefore putting him under great pressure to take action against any kind of communist threat. H.R. McMaster, our second author, states that “…the Vietnam disaster was not inevitable but a uniquely human failure whose responsibility was shared by President Johnson and his principal military and civilian advisers.” (pg. 168)
In the late 1940’s the U.S. government’s main conce...