Warriors and Scholars: A Modern War Reader

The Reluctant Warrior: LBJ as Commander-in-Chief

169 THE฀RELUCTANT฀฀ WARRIOR:฀LBJ฀AS฀฀ COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF George฀Herring,฀a฀professor฀of฀history฀at฀the฀University฀of฀ Kentucky,฀is฀one฀of฀the฀nation’s฀foremost฀scholars฀of฀the฀Vietnam ฀War.฀He฀is฀the฀author฀of฀three฀books฀on฀that฀war,฀and฀ his฀monograph,฀America’s฀Longest฀War:฀The฀United฀States฀and฀ Vietnam,฀1950–1975,฀is฀acknowledged฀as฀one฀of฀the฀best฀general ฀ works฀ about฀ that฀ conflict.฀ In฀ addition฀ to฀ his฀ books฀ on฀ Vietnam,฀Professor฀Herring฀has฀published฀three฀other฀books฀ as฀well฀as฀scholarly฀articles฀in฀the฀Journal฀of฀American฀History ,฀Political฀Science฀Quarterly,฀Diplomatic฀History,฀and฀Military ฀Affairs.฀ On฀several฀occasions฀during฀his฀academic฀career,฀Professor ฀Herring฀has฀been฀called฀to฀serve฀as฀chair฀of฀the฀Department ฀ of฀ History฀ at฀ the฀ University฀ of฀ Kentucky.฀ His฀ other฀ honors฀at฀Kentucky฀include:฀Alumni฀Professor฀(1990);฀Distinguished ฀ Professor฀ (1988);฀ University฀ Research฀ Professor ฀(1986–87);฀and฀Hallam฀Professor฀of฀History,฀(1985–87,฀ elected฀by฀colleagues).฀Professor฀Herring฀also฀has฀served฀as฀ president฀of฀the฀Society฀for฀Historians฀of฀Foreign฀Relations฀ (1989).฀ DR.฀GEORGE฀C.฀HERRING฀(UNIVERSITY฀OF฀KENTUCKY) 170 Vietnam Lamented฀Lyndon฀Johnson฀in฀1965,฀“Every฀time฀we฀have฀gotten฀ near฀the฀culmination฀of฀our฀dreams,฀the฀war฀bells฀have฀rung.฀If฀we฀ have฀to฀fight,฀I’ll฀do฀that.฀But฀I฀don’t฀want฀.฀.฀.฀to฀be฀known฀as฀a฀War฀ President.”1 Whatever฀his฀wish,฀Johnson฀is฀remembered฀as฀a฀war฀president,฀ and฀among฀America’s฀commanders-in-chief,฀he฀generally฀rates฀with฀ the฀least฀effective.฀He฀is,฀of฀course,฀popularly฀viewed฀as฀the฀only฀American ฀president฀to฀lose฀his฀war,฀something฀he฀greatly฀feared฀and฀on฀ more฀than฀one฀occasion฀vowed฀he฀would฀not฀let฀happen.฀He฀is฀scored,฀ on฀the฀one฀side,฀as฀the฀stereotypical,฀shoot-from-the-hip฀Texan,฀the฀ warmonger฀who฀destroyed฀Vietnam฀to฀save฀his฀own฀ego,฀and฀from฀the฀ other฀side฀as฀a฀timid,฀all-too-“political”฀war฀leader฀who฀refused฀to฀do฀ what฀was฀necessary฀to฀win฀an฀eminently฀winnable฀war.2 Such฀criticisms฀tell฀a฀great฀deal฀about฀the฀way฀Johnson฀fought฀the฀ war,฀but฀they฀do฀not฀get฀at฀the฀fundamental฀problems฀of฀his฀war฀leadership .฀To฀be฀fair,฀of฀course,฀limited฀war฀is฀extraordinarily฀difficult฀to฀ fight,฀especially฀within฀the฀American฀system,฀and฀Vietnam฀was฀a฀war฀ that฀probably฀could฀not฀have฀been฀won฀in฀any฀meaningful฀sense.฀Still,฀ the฀ deficiencies฀ of฀ Johnson’s฀ leadership฀ contributed฀ to฀ the฀ peculiar฀ frustrations฀of฀the฀Vietnam฀War฀and฀its฀outcome,฀and฀these฀deficiencies ฀derived฀to฀a฀large฀extent฀from฀his฀personality฀and฀leadership฀style.฀ Looking฀at฀such฀crucial฀issues฀as฀his฀handling฀of฀public฀opinion฀and฀the฀ formulation฀of฀strategy,฀I฀will฀analyze฀the฀ways฀in฀which฀Johnson฀exercised ฀the฀duties฀of฀commander-in-chief฀in฀America’s฀longest฀war.3 In฀a฀limited฀war,฀the฀role฀of฀commander-in-chief฀is฀admittedly฀a฀ most฀difficult฀one.฀In฀total฀war,฀the฀president฀can฀wrap฀himself฀in฀the฀ 1 ฀Quoted฀in฀George฀Herring,฀LBJ฀and฀Vietnam:฀A฀Different฀Kind฀of฀War฀(Austin:฀ University฀of฀Texas฀Press,฀1994).฀ 2 ฀Editor’s฀note:฀Dr.฀Herring฀presented฀this฀paper฀at฀the฀UNT฀Military฀History฀ Seminar฀on฀October฀9,฀1999. 3 ฀See฀George฀C.฀Herring,฀America’s฀Longest฀War:฀The฀United฀States฀and฀Vietnam,฀ 1950–1975,฀2nd ฀ed.฀(New฀York:฀Alfred฀A.฀Knopf,฀1986). 171 The฀Reluctant฀Warrior:฀LBJ฀as฀Commander-in-Chief flag,฀rally฀the฀nation,฀and฀even฀suppress฀the฀criticism฀that฀in฀peacetime ฀normally฀goes฀with฀the฀office.฀A฀fundamental฀principle฀of฀limited฀ war,฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀is฀that฀it฀should฀be฀waged฀without฀too฀much฀ intrusion฀into฀the฀life฀of฀the฀nation.฀The฀commander-in-chief฀must฀ set฀the฀tone฀and฀thus฀cannot฀appear฀preoccupied฀with฀the฀war฀to฀the฀ exclusion฀of฀other฀things.฀But,฀with฀men฀and฀women฀dying฀in฀the฀ field,฀he฀cannot฀appear฀indifferent,฀either.฀He฀must฀walk฀a฀very฀high฀ and฀thin฀tightrope.฀From฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀war฀to฀the฀end,฀Johnson฀ struggled฀with฀this฀dilemma,฀but฀he฀never฀quite฀resolved฀it. Most฀of฀his฀associates฀would฀agree฀with฀Clark฀Clifford฀that฀LBJ฀ “was฀the฀most฀complex฀man฀I฀ever฀met.”4 ฀He฀was฀prodigiously฀energetic ,฀obsessively฀ambitious,฀proud,฀and฀outwardly฀vain.฀He฀was฀a฀ driven฀man,฀single-minded,฀manipulative,฀overbearing,฀and฀capable฀ of฀great฀meanness฀to฀those฀closest฀to฀him.฀Despite฀his฀huge฀achievements ,฀ he฀ remained฀ profoundly฀ insecure,฀ and฀ he฀ was฀ sensitive฀ to฀ the฀smallest฀slight,฀real฀or฀imagined.฀At...