An American History

VIETNAM AND THE NEW LEFT ★^1007

During the 1964 campaign, Johnson insisted that he had no intention of
sending American troops to Vietnam. But immediately after Johnson’s reelec-
tion, the National Security Council recommended that the United States begin
air strikes against North Vietnam and introduce American ground troops in
the south. When the Viet Cong in February 1965 attacked an American air base
in South Vietnam, Johnson put the plan into effect. At almost the same time, he
intervened in the Dominican Republic. Here, military leaders in 1963 had over-
thrown the left- wing but noncommunist Juan Bosch, the country’s first elected
president since 1924. In April 1965, another group of military men attempted

How did the Vietnam War transform American politics and culture?

9

6

40

3

4

5

6

4

4

4

3

4

4

10

12

21

5

7

8

(^2510)
7 10 12
8
14
9
12
6
26 13
26
9
(^712)
11 13
29
43
34 4
14
4
8
317
10
3
3
4
Democrat
Republican
Party
Johnson
Goldwater
Candidate
Electoral Vote
(Share)
486 (90%)
52 (10%)
Popular Vote
(Share)
42,825,463 (61%)
27,146,969 (38.4%)
THE VIETNAM WAR, 1964–1975
A war of aerial bombing and small guerrilla skirmishes rather than fixed land battles, at the
time it was fought, Vietnam was among the longest wars in American history and the only
one the United States has lost.