Kennedy Assassination; Johnson Changes U.S. Involvement (1963)
John F. Kennedy was the United States 35th president. Yet, during his third year as president, on November 22, 1963, he was shot and killed. He was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas with his wife Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally and his wife Nellie. Kennedy had gone to Texas to smooth out issues going on in the Democratic Party between the liberals, Ralph Yarborough and Don Yarborough and the conservative John Connally. During the time of his assassination, he was shot twice by two rifle bullets; one of the bullets went to his head while the other went to the base of his neck. It was soon conducted that a man named Lee Harvey Oswald, a citizen of Dallas had murdered Kennedy. Two days later, he was killed to death by Jack Ruby, a local nightclub owner in the basement of a Dallas police station.
Following the death of Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy’s vice president took oath and became the United States’ new president. At the time of his oath, the war in Vietnam continued on. South Vietnam was in need of support from the U.S. military. The leader of the South Vietnamese Army, General Khanh made it clear to President Johnson that they could not defeat the National Liberation Front of North Vietnam. As much aid as South Vietnam needed, Johnson refused to send U.S. troops because he believed it would not look good for his reelection in 1964. As a result, until the 1964 election was over, he would not send U.S. troops to Vietnam. Therefore, in the meantime, he supported a plan called Operation 34A. The operation involved sending Asian mercenaries to sabotage and destroy North Vietnam. The USS Maddox was also sent into the Gulf of Tonkin but, to spy on how North Vietnam was defending itself.
By the time that the 1964 election had ended, Lyndon B. Johnson had won and began sending U.S. troops to Vietnam. In early 1965, he authorized an operation called Rolling Thunder in which the United States would bomb North Vietnam and soldiers of the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam. The operation was supposed to last eight weeks but, turned out to last three years. The bombings on the NLF caused for it to attack the U.S. airbases in South Vietnam. Consequently, President Johnson escalated the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam. His escalation of U.S. troops caused him to fail in his reelection in 1968. The death of John F. Kennedy is significant because when Johnson took over and sent the USS Maddox to the Tonkin Gulf, it resulted in the Tonkin Gulf Incident later resolved by the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in which the United States would be able to do whatever it needed in order to avoid any further attacks made by the North Vietnamese against its forces. Following the election of 1964, it forced Johnson to escalate the number of troops in Vietnam and launch Operation Rolling Thunder.
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Following the death of Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy’s vice president took oath and became the United States’ new president. At the time of his oath, the war in Vietnam continued on. South Vietnam was in need of support from the U.S. military. The leader of the South Vietnamese Army, General Khanh made it clear to President Johnson that they could not defeat the National Liberation Front of North Vietnam. As much aid as South Vietnam needed, Johnson refused to send U.S. troops because he believed it would not look good for his reelection in 1964. As a result, until the 1964 election was over, he would not send U.S. troops to Vietnam. Therefore, in the meantime, he supported a plan called Operation 34A. The operation involved sending Asian mercenaries to sabotage and destroy North Vietnam. The USS Maddox was also sent into the Gulf of Tonkin but, to spy on how North Vietnam was defending itself.
By the time that the 1964 election had ended, Lyndon B. Johnson had won and began sending U.S. troops to Vietnam. In early 1965, he authorized an operation called Rolling Thunder in which the United States would bomb North Vietnam and soldiers of the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam. The operation was supposed to last eight weeks but, turned out to last three years. The bombings on the NLF caused for it to attack the U.S. airbases in South Vietnam. Consequently, President Johnson escalated the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam. His escalation of U.S. troops caused him to fail in his reelection in 1968. The death of John F. Kennedy is significant because when Johnson took over and sent the USS Maddox to the Tonkin Gulf, it resulted in the Tonkin Gulf Incident later resolved by the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in which the United States would be able to do whatever it needed in order to avoid any further attacks made by the North Vietnamese against its forces. Following the election of 1964, it forced Johnson to escalate the number of troops in Vietnam and launch Operation Rolling Thunder.
Return to Homepage or Vietnam War Timeline