AMERICAN HISTORY: Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War

02 November 2011

Thousands of anti-war protesters gather at United Nations Plaza in New York City, April 15, 1967, for a peaceful demonstration against America's involvement in the Vietnam War

STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I’m Steve Ember.

Today, we continue the story of America's thirty-sixth president, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

(MUSIC)

Johnson was vice president to John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas in November of nineteen sixty-three. Johnson served the last fourteen months of the president's term. Then he won a full term of his own starting in January nineteen sixty-five.

Much of Johnson's time and energy would be taken up by the war in Vietnam.

(MUSIC)

By early nineteen sixty-four, America had about seventeen thousand troops in Vietnam. The troops were there to advise and train the South Vietnamese military.

Vietnam had gained its independence from France in nineteen fifty-four. The country was divided into North and South. The North had a communist government led by Ho Chi Minh. The South had an anti-communist government led by Ngo Dinh Diem.

(VIETNAM BATTLE SOUNDS)

In nineteen fifty-seven, communist rebels -- the Viet Cong -- launched a violent campaign in the South. They were supported by the government of North Vietnam and later by North Vietnamese troops. Their goal was to overthrow the government in the South.