Foreign Policy
In the early 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union were the world's two superpowers. Although they had been allies during World War II, they were now competing for global power and influence to demonstrate to the world whether communism or democracy was the better system of government. Avoiding nuclear war and containing the spread of communism were main goals of United States foreign policy during the Johnson administration.
The Hotline, a Teletype L015, was used by President Johnson beginning in 1967 to communicate with the Soviet Union. Messages typed into this machine traveled directly to Moscow, and communication between the two superpowers kept a number of smaller conflicts from escalation.
President Johnson meets with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin on June 23, 1967 for a two-day summit in Glassboro, New Jersey, for intense talks on a variety of subjects including Vietnam, the Middle East, and nuclear arms.
The vietnam war
When he became president, Lyndon Johnson inherited a conflict in Vietnam that had the United States had been involved with since the Truman administration.
North Vietnam was a Communist country backed by China and the Soviet Union, as well as Viet Cong soldiers who worked for the communist effort in South Vietnam.
South Vietnam was backed by the United States, Australia, South Korea, and other non-communist countries.
The "domino theory" influenced President Johnson's foreign policy decisions in Vietnam. The President and his advisors feared that if Vietnam became Communist, all the surrounding nations in Southeast Asia would follow in a domino effect, tipping the balance of power in favor of the Soviet Union.
listen
President Johnson discusses foreign policy with his National Security Advisor, McGeorge Bundy on May 27, 1964. This conversation happens before the Gulf of Tonkin incidents in August of 1964 and escalation of the war in the summer of 1965.
click to read the transcript
Johnson: I will tell you the more, I just stayed awake last night thinking of this thing, and the more that I think of it I don't know what in the hell, it looks like to me that we're getting into another Korea. It just worries the hell out of me. I don't see what we can ever hope to get out of there with once we're committed. I believe the Chinese Communists are coming into it. I don't think that we can fight them 10,000 miles away from home and ever get anywhere in that area. I don't think it's worth fighting for and I don't think we can get out. And it's just the biggest damn mess that I ever saw.
Bundy: It is an awful mess.
Johnson: And we just got to think about it. I'm looking at this Sergeant of mine this morning and he's got 6 little old kids over there, and he's getting out my things, and bringing me in my night reading, and all that kind of stuff, and I just thought about ordering all those kids in there. And what in the hell am I ordering them out there for? What in the hell is Vietnam worth to me? What is Laos worth to me? What is it worth to this country? We've got a treaty but hell, everybody else has got a treaty out there, and they're not doing a thing about it.
Bundy: Yeah, yeah.
Johnson: Of course, if you start running from the Communists, they may just chase you right into your own kitchen.
Bundy: Yeah, that's the trouble. And that is what the rest of that half of the world is going to think if this thing comes apart on us. That's the dilemma, that's exactly the dilemma.
as you listen, Think about the following questions
How does President Johnson feel about U.S. involvement in Vietnam?
What problems does President Johnson bring up in this conversation?
What is he saying will happen in the U.S. runs from the Communists? How does that impact the perception of the United States internationally?
learn about lbj and the vietnam war
Watch to learn about the Vietnam conflict during President Johnson's administration.
Click on the photograph to explore the Vietnam War exhibit at the LBJ Library. Navigate through the gallery by clicking on the scenes at the top of the page. Zoom in on different areas by clicking on the flashing "hot spots."
