Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War

The Vietnam War has been analyzed, dissected, and debated from multiple perspectives for decades, but domestic considerations—such as partisan politics and election-year maneuvering—are often overlooked as determining factors in the evolution and outcome of America's longest war. In Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War, Andrew L. Johns assesses the influence of the Republican Party— its congressional leadership, politicians, grassroots organizations, and the Nixon administration—on the escalation, prosecution, and resolution of the Vietnam War. This groundbreaking work also sheds new light on the relationship between Congress and the imperial presidency as they struggled for control over U.S. foreign policy. Beginning his analysis in 1961 and continuing through the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, Johns argues that the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations failed to achieve victory on both fronts of the Vietnam War—military and political—because of their preoccupation with domestic politics. Johns details the machinations and political dexterity required of all three presidents and of members of Congress to maneuver between the countervailing forces of escalation and negotiation, offering a provocative account of the ramifications of their decisions. With clear, incisive prose and extensive archival research, Johns's analysis covers the broad range of the Republican Party's impact on the Vietnam War, offers a compelling reassessment of responsibility for the conflict, and challenges assumptions about the roles of Congress and the president in U.S. foreign relations.

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Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War

The Vietnam War has been analyzed, dissected, and debated from multiple perspectives for decades, but domestic considerations—such as partisan politics and election-year maneuvering—are often overlooked as determining factors in the evolution and outcome of America's longest war. In Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War, Andrew L. Johns assesses the influence of the Republican Party— its congressional leadership, politicians, grassroots organizations, and the Nixon administration—on the escalation, prosecution, and resolution of the Vietnam War. This groundbreaking work also sheds new light on the relationship between Congress and the imperial presidency as they struggled for control over U.S. foreign policy. Beginning his analysis in 1961 and continuing through the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, Johns argues that the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations failed to achieve victory on both fronts of the Vietnam War—military and political—because of their preoccupation with domestic politics. Johns details the machinations and political dexterity required of all three presidents and of members of Congress to maneuver between the countervailing forces of escalation and negotiation, offering a provocative account of the ramifications of their decisions. With clear, incisive prose and extensive archival research, Johns's analysis covers the broad range of the Republican Party's impact on the Vietnam War, offers a compelling reassessment of responsibility for the conflict, and challenges assumptions about the roles of Congress and the president in U.S. foreign relations.

45.49 In Stock
Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War

Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War

by Andrew L. Johns
Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War

Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War

by Andrew L. Johns

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Overview

The Vietnam War has been analyzed, dissected, and debated from multiple perspectives for decades, but domestic considerations—such as partisan politics and election-year maneuvering—are often overlooked as determining factors in the evolution and outcome of America's longest war. In Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War, Andrew L. Johns assesses the influence of the Republican Party— its congressional leadership, politicians, grassroots organizations, and the Nixon administration—on the escalation, prosecution, and resolution of the Vietnam War. This groundbreaking work also sheds new light on the relationship between Congress and the imperial presidency as they struggled for control over U.S. foreign policy. Beginning his analysis in 1961 and continuing through the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, Johns argues that the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations failed to achieve victory on both fronts of the Vietnam War—military and political—because of their preoccupation with domestic politics. Johns details the machinations and political dexterity required of all three presidents and of members of Congress to maneuver between the countervailing forces of escalation and negotiation, offering a provocative account of the ramifications of their decisions. With clear, incisive prose and extensive archival research, Johns's analysis covers the broad range of the Republican Party's impact on the Vietnam War, offers a compelling reassessment of responsibility for the conflict, and challenges assumptions about the roles of Congress and the president in U.S. foreign relations.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780813173696
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Publication date: 03/12/2010
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 444
File size: 2 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Andrew L. Johns, associate professor of history at Brigham Young University, is coeditor of The Eisenhower Administration, the Third World, and the Globalization of the Cold War.


Andrew L. Johns, professor of history at Brigham Young University, is coeditor of The Eisenhower Administration, the Third World, and the Globalization of the Cold War.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: Ares, Virginia, and the Myth of the Water's Edge 1

1 Trapped between Scylla and Charybdis: JFK, the GOP, and Domestic Politics 11

2 The Cassandra Conundrum: GOP Opposition to LBJ's Vietnam Policy, 1963-1965 43

3 Opening Pandora's Box: Escalation and Domestic Politics, 1965-1966 79

4 Confronting the Hydra: LBJ on the Defensive, 1966-1967 119

5 Sisyphus and Tantalus: The Political Impact of the War, 1967-1968 159

6 The Zalmoxis Effect: Vietnam and the 1968 Presidential Election 195

7 The Icarus Agenda: Vietnamization and Its Political Implications 237

8 Whither Ariadne?: Domestic Politics and Nixon's Search for Peace 279

Conclusion: Sowing Dragon's Teeth 325

Appendix: Republicans, 1961-1973 341

Notes 345

Bibliography 395

Index 427

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