The Perseverant President: An Under-appreciated Hero

Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “A President's hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.” When the United States faced the tragic loss of President John F. Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson stepped up, took the oath, and was sworn in as President of the United States of America, the most stressful occupation in the world. Ahead of him lie one of the most unpopular and longest wars in the history of America, the Vietnam War. Despite popular opinion, President Johnson decided that it was absolutely necessary in order to maintain the sought after right of freedom, to expand and intervene in the Vietnam War (Bailey 945).

Vietnam housed fighting for decades before the Vietnam War even commenced. Ho Chi Minh created the Viet Minh to drive out the French and Japanese occupiers. While Ho Chi Minh attempted to establish Northern Vietnam as a separate Democratic republic, he sought to enlist the United States to support his reign against the French and Japanese (Vietnam War). Ultimately, Ho Chi Minh failed in his attempts because the United States continued to uphold its belief in the Cold War foreign policy of containment. The policy of containment denoted that the United States advocated for prevention of the spread of Communism. In order to contain the spread of communism, President Lyndon B. Johnson officially declared American intervention in the Vietnam War on behalf of South Vietnam (Rosenberg).

On the fateful days of August 2nd and 4th, 1964, the Gulf Tonkin Resolution granted special permissions to President Johnson. Congress authorized Johnson to utilize all power necessary to assist South Vietnam in the war, even considering a billion dollar developmental effort in Southeast Asia presented by...

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