policy - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
1 -concentration
C. Impact on Vietnam Policy Making
The domestic political opposition from the right was a
significant force in pressuring Kennedy
to use what he perceived to be
sufficient force in dealing with the communist threat. Sensitive to
criticism that Khrushchev had bullied him at the Vienna summit, Kennedy
sought to demonstrate his worth by acting forcefully in Southeast Asia. 13/
Kennedy's personal involvement in every stage of policy making necessarily
limited the amount of time that could be devoted to any of the problems
facing the country. The crises in Cuba, the Congo, and Berlin occupied a
far largr share of Kennedy's attention than the Vietnam 'situation. In
1963, when the crises in Saigon led to the overthrow of Diem, Kennedy
regretted that he had not given Vietnam more of his attention.
Thus, the
of domestic political opposition from the right to Kennedy's
foreii policy played a significant role in buttressing Kennedy's own
predilection for involvement in foreign affairs and for using force to
oppose perceived communist expansion. Had opposition come ;rom the left, it
seems
likely that Kennedy would have paid more attention to the implications
of the commitments he was making in Vietnam.
2. Johnson Administration
a. Overview
Lyndon Johnson's administrations are best understood if
divi'ded into two phases: the first ran from 1963 to 1966 and the seconr
from 1966 to 1968.
The first phase may be characterized as the time of
achievement for the enactment of the Great Society prigram.
The -econd was
overshadowed by the debil'tating political and economic impacts of ':he
Vietnam war.
In the first phase Johnson set out to build a strong,
workable majority in both houses of Congress.
lie 6id not have a national
constituency of his own when he became President, but his remarkable expertise
as a parliamentarian (that is, as a Member of Congress and as Senate
Majority Leader), allowed him to begin immediately to deal more effectively
i with the Congress than had Kennedy. 14/ Using the post-assassination
sentiment skillfully and manipulating his ties with the Southern bloc that
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