7 - McNamara’s Transition into the Johnson Administration

Summary

President Lyndon B. Johnson was inclined to favor “tougher” military responses that promised victory. He understood the intricacies of the policy that he had inherited but changed it. He promoted Rusk to the detriment of other advisors who had supported a counterinsurgency program and who left, including Hilsman, Michael Forrestal and Ted Sorensen. McNamara initially resisted expanding the commitment in Vietnam. In a presidential election year, he was sent on two trips to South Vietnam, in March and May, that were designed to placate possible critics of Johnson’s policies, including the JCS, Ambassador Lodge, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and the SFRC. Johnson pressed his Secretary to give the Chiefs “something” militarily. In response, McNamara looked for “disavowable actions” and eventually moved to support a bombing program as a substitute for deploying ground troops.