The Vietnam conflict - "Our objective is to create conditions for a favorable settlement by demonstrating to the Viet Cong that the odds are against their winning."

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"Our objective is to create conditions for a favorable settlement by demonstrating to the Viet Cong that the odds are against their winning." This quote, taken from a report by LBJ's top advisor, Robert McNamara, sums up the intentions of the executive branch during the debates over whether or not to escalate the Vietnam conflict. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson was faced with the monumental decision of either pulling out of Vietnam, or escalating the conflict with air strikes against North Vietnam. From the various research I have conducted I will explore and try to understand why he made his decision. To do this I will present the background information of this conflict and the events leading up to his decision.

The conflict in Vietnam began long before the first American advisors ever touched Vietnam soil. After the Japanese occupation that occurred during World War II ended, Vietnam was in a state of limbo. The rest of the world was quickly becoming aligned with one of the two super powers that were forming the Bi-polar system and Vietnam was not to be left out. After an attempted democratic government was ineffective, the French tried to regain control