Both President Johnson and General Westmoreland were firm believers in the war of attrition, also known as the body count strategy.  For a while the American public was in agreement with this strategy as newspapers consistently reported body counts as if they were scores for a baseball game.  Reports similar to “Vietnam War Deaths: Enemy 1,728 -- U.S 38”   made the American public feel we were winning the war and that it wouldn’t last long.  What happened, though, was that the relatively new medium of television showed men coming home in body bags, and that had a far greater impact on the American public than incredible headlines presented like box scores.  In essence, body bags became far more important than a body count.

Many high school aged men of the 1960’s would see front page pictures of young men from their hometown who had been killed in Vietnam.  Then a few pages further back in the newspaper would be a page full of pictures of men who had either enlisted or had been drafted.  These students grew to believe their future was limited and was out of their control.  But this didn’t just affect men.  Not only did women lose their sons, husbands, brothers, friends, and boyfriends, but over 12,000 women served in Vietnam, most as nurses.  The combined effect of an unpopular draft, the sight of body bags, the personalization of the deaths in hometowns, and no end to the war in sight, led to public sentiment gradually turning against the war and against those running it.

College students, fearing the end of their college deferments and inspired with a revolutionary spirit, held large public protests against the war on campuses, in Washington, and in cites and towns across the country.  Anti-war fever was high pitched, but meanwhile American men and women in Vietnam were serving their country, with some paying the ultimate sacrifice.

As you can see from the enclosed chart, the number of troops in Vietnam dramatically  increased from 1965 through 1968.  Despite having over 500,000 troops in Vietnam, dropping more tonnage of bombs on Vietnam than had been dropped in World War II, and apparently winning the war of attrition, the American military and political leadership still could give no firm prediction about when the war would end nor if we could win.

President Johnson was at his wits end.  When he was elected President in 1964 he declared war on poverty and he promised to build a “Great Society” in the United States.  He championed more civil rights legislation than any other president in U.S. history, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  President Johnson also established the Head Start program, Medicare, Medicaid, and he raised immigration quotas.  Johnson seemed to be relentless in his pursuit to help those in need in the United States, but he just couldn’t get the Vietnam War to go away.  Johnson needed advice.  He was absolutely determined not to be the first U.S. President to lose a war, but he wasn’t sure how to end this mounting problem.

Though it is still debated as to the nature of the specific request, after the Tet Offensive General Westmoreland requested an additional 206,000 troops.  Half of these men would be sent to Vietnam and the other half would be in the reserves.  This request would have raised the total number of troops serving in Vietnam to roughly 650,000 in 1968.  President Johnson called for intensive studies to be conducted, one led by his new Secretary of Defense, Clark Clifford, and a panel of senior ex-military men who came to be known as the “wise men.”  These men recommended against sending more troops and encouraged the president to seek a negotiated settlement.  Johnson accepted their advice and rejected the request for more troops.  Sadly, news of the consideration of an additional 206,000 troops was leaked to the press and the New York Times irresponsibly reported the President was considering an additional 206,000 troops for Vietnam.  This report inflamed the press and the public causing even more dissension around the country.

Unfortunately for Lyndon Johnson, 1968 was an election year and his popularity was at an all-time low. The New York Times report was published just two days before the New Hampshire primary and Senator Eugene McCarthy came within 300 votes of defeating the president.  The popular Robert Kennedy entered the race shortly thereafter and Lyndon Johnson knew his time as president was limited.  On March 31, 1968 President Johnson announced he would freeze troop levels, limit the air war, and seek a negotiated peace settlement with the North Vietnamese.  At the end of his speech Johnson announced he would not seek reelection.
 

Note: Read the report to the students up to the point where Johnson must decide whether to increase troop strength, keep it as it is, or seek other advice, then go into this decision making/critical thinking lesson.  After their presentations, read the balance of the report to the students and show the video.

President Johnson has called together a group of wise men and women, namely students working in small groups.  You are the wise people.  Discuss the situation and give your recommendation to the president.  Present your solution in the form of a brief skit.  Be sure to think your recommendation through thoroughly.  Consider the following:

a) If you withdraw:
     : The innocent people of South Vietnam will be overrun and thousands will be killed
       by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong communists.
     : You will become the first president to lose a war.
     : America may be shamed and could lose power in negotiations with other
       powerful nations.
     : The South Vietnamese people will feel betrayed.
     : South Vietnam will almost assuredly become Communist.  If the domino theory is
       correct, this means that the people of Cambodia and Laos will be in jeopardy.  At
       what point will you try to stop Communism?
     : Will the 30,000 men and women who have died thus far have died in vain?
     : On the other hand, American men and women will no longer be dying in Vietnam.
     : Will American men and women ever answer a draft call in the future?
     : You may or may not be reelected.

b) If you increase troop levels:
     : What guarantee do you have that this will help win the war?
     : You will be listening to military advisors who know more about war than you do.
     : You may be able to bring the war to a quicker end.
     : You will be protecting the innocent people of  South Vietnam, including
       defenseless children.
     : As troop levels increase, American deaths increase.  Can you accept that?
     : At what point do you stop sending more troops?  700,000, 1,000,000, 2,000,000?
     : Protests in America will get even worse.
     : You may show other countries that you intend to do what it takes to win, which will
       discourage them from trying to take advantage of our weaker allies.
     : You may weaken our defense in other areas of the world as our resources are
        increasingly spent in Vietnam.
     : Increasing troop strength may help protect the troops who are already there.
     : You will probably not be reelected

c) If you keep things as they are:
     : Casualty rates will remain as they are.
     : There will likely be no further progress in the war.
     : Protests in the U.S.  will continue.
     : You will probably not be reelected.
 

Listen to each group’s discussion and guide them as necessary.  If one group prepares a response that reduces our troops gradually and turns the war over to the South Vietnamese while negotiating a peace settlement, have them go last as that would be a nice segue into the Nixon Doctrine and his strategy of Vietnamization.

Compare and contrast the solutions of each group to the actual events.
Show the video of Clark Clifford and the wise men.
Show video of Johnson announcing he will not seek reelection.

Write in journals.