Deja Vu All Over Again

Throughout the reading, Patterson stresses that LBJ was greatly affected by his fear of humiliation and need to prove the US’ credibility to the rest of the world, which is not new to US presidents. This is reflected in Johnson's handling of the Gulf of Tonkin, as Patterson says, “McNamara and Johnson nonetheless chose to use the reports as pretext for a show of toughness that they had been seeking to make for some time.” Also, I don’t know what to make of the fact that even though LBJ recognized that Vietnam gave the US no strategic advantage, he was still committed to showing “his country’s commitment in its larger battle against Communism in the world.” I feel like this mirrors Truman’s decisions in the Korean war, as in both instances, the US got caught up in overconfidence and the desire to show strength.