LBJ's Rolling Thunder Playlist

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Yeah you could be the greatest, you can be the best

You could've been the greatest and the best president...but you didn't.

You can be the King Kong bangin' on your chest

Just because the U.S. may be the toughest nation, doesn't mean you have to threaten third world countries.

You can beat the world, you can win the war

Are you sure about that? I think you're overestimating American power.

You're going to the history books

This one is actually correct, but not exactly the way you were envisioning.

Do it for your people, do it for your pride

Do it for your country, do it for your name

Firstly, nope.  Secondly, yes. Thirdly, maybe? Lastly for your name, well you tried.

Be students, be teachers, be politicians, be preachers

Be believers, be leaders, be astronauts, be champions

This war is pulling your attention and financial support away from your Great Society plan. This was what was going to make you a great president!

At a young age, Lyndon B Johnson had high hopes in life that one day he'd become president. During his late teenage years, young Lyndon worked in Texas paving roads. That was the first time someone recalled him having these hopes. Robert Caro, an author known for his biographies on LBJ wrote in one of his books that "Lyndon Johnson, in the words of another member of the gang, 'talk big' to the older men. 'He had big ideas....He wanted to do something big with his life.' And he was quite specific about what he wanted to do: 'I'm going to be President of the United States one day,' he predicted." Later on during his political years before he was president, he wanted to be referred to as "LBJ" like how Franklin D. Roosevelt was known as "FDR".  One of his reasonings was that only presidents whom were referred to by there initials had their names fit better on newspaper headlines. Johnson originally had a plan to help the country domestically. This pan was called the Great Society. Federal aid would fund projects like education, medicare, madicaid, voting rights, clean air and water bills, immigration reform, and so on. It was predicted that more public support for the war had the risk of domestic issues not being attended to. However, it was the Johnson administration that got distracted by the war. 

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The faster we're falling, we're stopping and stalling 

We're running in circles again

I think many Americans are noticing the lack of progression

Just as things were looking up, you said it wasn't good enough

But still we're trying one more time

Maybe you should stop hanging out with that Westmoreland guy. He seems to keep asking for more and more.

When really it's closer than it is too far

Finally, you're noticing the thousands of anti-war protestors right outside. The war might be in Asia but we're feeling the affects close by.

Cause I'm in too deep and I'm trying to keep up above in my head instead of going under

So believe me, it's not easy

I believe you, but you decided to escalate the war when you succeeded the office from Kennedy.

In the spring of 1967, General William Westmoreland met up in person with the President to discuss sending more troops.  He asked for more time and support in Vietnam. Publicly he presented the war as making progress. Privately he was frightening people at the White House by giving more accurate statements. Many Americans were noticing the lack of progress and the anti-war movement grew. The anti-war protestors' objective was to see the withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam. But why exactly? Why did support for the war decrease overtime rather than increase? Schreiber states how, "casualties are a symptom of what wars cost, and when visible progress is limited, it can be expected that the public increasingly will see the war as representing an unfavourable balance between costs and benefits." The Vietnam war was consuming a lot of American power and citizens weren't gaining any benefits from the war. As the war dragged on, so did the expenses. The person who created gallup polls gave some statistics in the year 1967. George Gallup recorded that only 28% out of a sample size of 1524 American nationwide approved of the way the president was handling the situation in Vietnam. 

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Making bad decisions for you

Yes, many Americans would agree that you indeed are making some bad diplomatic and military decisions for the whole country.

I don't take advice from fools. Never listenin' to you

Why didn't you just just listen to the senior Democratic law makers or George Ball's warnings that the U.S. wouldn't be successful in Vietnam? You could have also listened to the many anti-war protestors!

Pick up your gun. Put on your gloves. Save us from harm

Mr. President, sending more and more American troops out to fight might not be the most popular decision. What exactly is America at threat of? The spread of communism?

'Cause I can't, I can't. I can't make anymore

Oh no you're not running for presidency again? This is terrible news, I wonder what we'll do without you ;)     [sigh of relief]

Many Americans had believed that President Johnson's escalation in Vietnam was a bad idea as the war dragged on.  As president, he held the power to make these decisions and decide if they were right or wrong. It wasn't just the American pubic that would express their concerns, but also the people higher in power close to LBJ.  In Fredrik Logevall's article, There Ain't No Daylight, he mentions how the most respected Democratic law makers in the U.S. opposed American escalation. These men included Richard Russel, Mike Mansfield,  J. William Fulbright, and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey. Logevall says, "each of them held well-founded concerns about how opinion leaders in the press and in Congress as well as voters in middle America would react to a long and inconclusive Asian war; each of them doubted the importance of Vietnam to U.S. security." Despite opposition he still decided to increased the amount of American troops being sent to Southeast Asia. When he inherited the office after John F. Kennedy's assassination, he was more optimistic about the conflict so he raised the amount of military advisors going to South Vietnam and then combat troops when the war approached. Progress was slow and the war dragged on longer than expected. When the U.S. presidential elections of 1968 were approaching, LBJ decided not to run as he felt that the country was split and wanted Americans to be reunified. He didn't want to continue being the president that further divided American citizens by pushing the war on.

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Help! I need somebody (Help) not just anybody (Help) you know I need someone, help

Calm down sir. I understand the position you're in is stressful and not easy, but you really should listen to all of your advisors.

Now I find I've changed my mind

Wait I thought you said you were going to push towards peace? Why are we sending more troops and continuing bombing campaigns?

Continuing from the previous song, LBJ had advisors and his administration to help him decide what to do but there was a mix of both doubt and hawkish views among the people around LBJ so it was difficult to figure out what to do. There was talk of pushing towards peace as Sherrill writes, "Many times Johnson said, 'I will go anywhere anytime to talk peace with anyone' and that 'we are ready now, as we always have been, to move from the battlefield to the conference table.'" So why didn't he end the war? Answer: credibility. He wanted to save America's face and his own face. LBJ didn't want to appear as a weak leader as that went against the hopes he held for his whole life. He wanted the United States to appear tough rather than weak to other nations. If the U.S. pulled there troops out then they brought in the risk of South Vietnam failing to repel the North Vietnamese. He saw the loss in Vietnam as damaging to his reputation and credibility. So rather than de-escalate the war and pull troops, the war continued.

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Don't ask me, I'll never tell

Mr. President this miscommunication with the American people is becoming a real problem.

But here's my number, so call me, maybe

You took your time with the call

Aww I'm sure Ho will pick up,  just give him some time. He's probably just mad at you. You did drop a few million tons of bombs on his country.

Johnson was not the most trustworthy person. He told many lies about his own life and his family's history. He was known for telling lies so he was nicknamed "Bull" Johnson. Even the Johnson administration wasn't being honest. One newspaper written in 1967 highlighted the miscommunicate between the government and the people. McNamara wasn't producing a specific figure for how many American troops were stationed in Vietnam. Any newsman was capable of contacting the Pentagon to find this information. American people likely wouldn't know what the President will do until after its been done. LBJ himself had even experienced miscommunication himself when he was trying to contact Ho Chi Minh to discuss negotiations. Johnson said, "I try writing him, calling him, going through the Russians and the Chinese, and all I hear back is 'Fuck you, Lyndon.'" Ho Chi Minh wanted the withdrawal of American troops, the end of the bombing campaigns, removal of the current leaders of South Vietnam, and a coalition government established with the south.

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Pressure pushin' down on me

Why do you feel pressure? Its not like you're the president of the most powerful nation losing in a war that was predicted to be winnable, but that was years ago and many Americans are looking to you to make the right decisions, and ..........

Whatch' some good friends screamin', "Let me out"

I don't think these young men want to be risking their lives in hot, deadly jungles.

People on streets

Anti-war protesters still are anti-war.

Can't we give ourselves one more chance?

One more chance? The U.S. has been involved with Vietnamese conflicts for years ever since the French were still there. Its now the late 60s, I think we've used up our chances.

Being the president of the most powerful country is indeed a lot of pressure. Being the president of the most powerful country is even more stressful when you're at war. Since his entry into office he had to deal with making choices in Vietnam due to the situation over there escalating. A newspaper article commenting on LBJ being under pressure said how he rejected the advice of the most influential members of his party. As mentioned in the beginning, the advice he was given was to sue for peace and prevent the conflict from getting worse. Not exactly knowing what the best option would be, he decided order bombing raids over Laos and North Vietnam. It is also worth noting that Johnson was the successor of a president who was very popular. After taking John F. Kennedy's role following his assassination, it took some time for Americans to approve of their new leader. One article stated how the beginning unpopularity of LBJ was due to the fact that many still missed JFK and would be suspicious of any successor. Another reason according to article was that LBJ was from Texas which didn't really fit in any of the American regions. Was not at all in the north, not really part of the south, and not so much the west. His accent was, as the writer puts, "queer" and that Americans would mimic his Texan accent. LBJ had also directed the fate of many young American men. If he chose to continue the war, it risked more American lives being lost. During the war, American soldiers would walk a lot through jungles getting cuts, infections, and sore feet while trying to spot the enemy. The hot, humid weather made these strenuous marches in the jungles or "humping the boonies" unbearable. The enemy was rarely confronted on a battlefield so progress was slow which made Westmoreland ask LBJ for more troops to fix this problem.

Lack of progress & not achieving original goal

Pressure

Fame

Trying to kick out the Americans

Mistrust and miscommunication

Fear of not knowing where the enemy is in the jungle

Operation Rolling Thunder

Strengthening the frontlines

Soldiers deserting