Question

Though Johnson believed the United States had an obligation to keep its promises to South Vietnam, another reason why he committed American forces to combat operations was to

a. "Americanize" the war and avoid the political damage of seeming soft on communism by losing.
b. stimulate the economy by increasing the number of defense contracts and using nuclear weapons.
c. make the political maneuver of distancing himself from "dove" Democrats who called for peace.
d. draw public attention away from his Great Society initiatives, which had failed on a grand scale.
e. conquer North Vietnam so that the entirety of Vietnam would be an American colony.

Answer 1

President Johnson increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War primarily to avoid seeming soft on communism and prevent the feared domino effect, rather than admitting policy failure or the loss of South Vietnam to communist forces.

Step-by-step explanation:

Though President Lyndon B. Johnson believed that the United States had an obligation to keep its promises to South Vietnam, another reason why he committed American forces to combat operations was to avoid the political damage of seeming soft on communism by losing the war. The Cold War era saw the United States opposing communism wherever it emerged, with Vietnam becoming a critical battleground. Johnson's concerns about the domino effect, where if one country fell to Communism its neighbors might follow, played a significant role in his decision to escalate American involvement in the Vietnam War. He sought to maintain America's credibility and avoid being the president who 'lost Vietnam'. This commitment was evident despite the national division and the growth of the antiwar movement as the conflict and its brutalities became more apparent to the public. Ultimately, Johnson reinforced U.S. involvement, committing ground forces and ordering bombings of North Vietnam, and supported South Vietnam's military government, despite its corruption and authoritarianism, to counter the threat of communism and prevent a perceived failure of U.S. foreign policy.