John F. Kennedy’s successful use of television

If JFK’s ability to use television to his advantage is acknowledged even as a minor component of his presidential victory, then the conclusion can be made that the introduction of television as part of the country’s political landscape was a notable milestone in the advancement of American society. As president, JFK utilized the intimacy of broadcast television to strengthen his image among the populace that he was ardently committed to preventing the spread of communism worldwide. His foreign policy was largely a continuation of the containment policy with an emphasis on the development of specially trained ground units to handle the unique implications of counterinsurgency warfare and other types of unconventional strategy and tactics that were increasingly important in the battle to repress the spread of communism abroad. This is another important idea to analyze contextually because it shows the enhancement of traditional policy in light of developing Cold War political and military situations.

When JFK took office the US was just seven years out of the Korean War, the first conventional ground battle of the Cold War. The conflict in Korea indicated that, in support of its containment policy Washington must be prepared and ready to engage in a new type of battle in hot-spots across the globe. The idea of rollback, a total destruction of the enemy’s government, was shelved and the aforementioned policy of containment began to look like the more reasonable strategy in preventing the spread of communist influence. The Kennedy administration’s initial stumbles—the publicized failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the inability to prevent the construction of the Berlin Wall, for example—meant that Washington was compelled to take action for fear of appearing weak to its allies and rivals alike. The first US military advisers to South Vietnam had arrived a decade before, and it seemed that bolstering military presence there would be an effective way of showcasing the versatility and strength of the modern US force. In the years between his inauguration and untimely death, JFK increased US troop presence in South Vietnam from 800 to 16,000 and implemented a series of covert military actions aimed at overthrowing the communist regime and destabilizing insurgent forces.

The assassination of JFK was a major event that forever altered the course of American history. Coverage of the event by the broadcast industry gripped the nation and further solidified the role of television news as a mainstay in the collective American consciousness. The immediate demand for news and images related to the assassination meant that people across the nation surely tuned-in in unprecedented numbers. It was shortly after the death of JFK that both the major news networks extended their evening broadcasts from fifteen minutes to thirty. The news coverage of the president’s death has been described as “a shared media experience of astonishing unanimity and unmatched impact, an imbedded cultural memory that as years passed seemed to comprise a collective consciousness for a generation”(Doherty). As the nation mourned the loss of its commander in chief, the networks inadvertently further expanded their influence on the public’s perception of events both global and domestic. 

Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam strategy

Upon assuming his role as president, Johnson was quick to assert his determination to stand-up against communism, even as political instability in South Vietnam had the country in tatters Johnson showed his resolve and quickly began working to reverse Kennedy administration plans to start withdrawing troops. An additional 5,000 advisers were sent by Johnson within months, and Johnson’s appointment of general William Westmoreland as commander of forces in Vietnam indicated that the Johnson administration was preparing for a ground war in southeast Asia. On August 2nd, 1964 a major event referred to as the “Gulf of Tonkin incident” led Johnson to present congress with a proposal to authorize military action and further the troop build-up. What happened in the Gulf of Tonkin has been subject of controversy over the years, as some believe the attacks on US reconnaissance vessels there was misreported in the field or exaggerated by Johnson’s administration. Regardless of what actually happened, the incident in the Gulf of Tonkin would allow Johnson to acquire the permissions required to officially begin engaging in military operations against North Vietnam.

Johnson used to powers given to him in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to begin airstrikes targeting communist and rebel strongholds in North Vietnam. Ultimately, Johnson would initiate a massive troop build up in Vietnam and the start of a sustained campaign that would become the nation’s most unpopular and unsuccessful war. It is crucial to note that at this stage of the war the press was more than willing to accept the State Department’s “official line” and present the Gulf of Tonkin story to the American people. This type of manipulation of the media by military and political leaders wasn’t exactly revolutionary, there are other examples of questionable journalism aimed at fooling the public to supporting a war effort, but it was significant in that it established a modern precedent of misinformation being presented to the public as fact which would eventually contribute to an idea known as the “credibility gap” which would be an increasingly relevant topic in the later years and aftermath of the war.

By 1965, Johnson and general Westmoreland had implemented a strategy that has been referred to as the “Americanization” of the Vietnam War. It meant the build up of large quantities of American troops to conduct operations against the North Vietnamese Army. This policy was part of the administration’s larger strategy of containment. Johnson hoped that by lending the South Vietnamese the aid of US forces it would eventually stabilize and be able to resist falling to an attack from the communist forces. Containment was the strategy that worked in Korea, but it would become increasingly clear that the situation in Vietnam was quite dissimilar from the situation in the previous conflict. Both the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong insurgents that US forces battled quickly discovered that they would have to develop more complex strategies if they wanted to repel the US military. Thus both sides dug in and the US entered into a war of attrition against the enemy forces in hopes they could root out and wear down the enemy forces while attempting to minimize friendly casualties.

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