Foreign Policies of Kennedy and Johnson

While comparing and contrast the foreign policies of Kennedy and Johnson.

Lyndon Johnson became the 36th president of the United States on the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963. Kennedy and Johnson served in the White House through most of the 1960s; both men seemed for a time to be the embodiment of these liberal hopes. Johnson, who was a skilled promoter of liberal domestic legislation, was also a believer in the use of military force to help achieve the country foreign policy objectives. The foreign policies of Kennedy and Johnson were both largely based on the same two principles: containment of communism and the Domino Theory. The policy of containment, begun under Truman, shifted the focus from overt confrontation with the Soviet Union to a priority of combating the expansion of communism into new states or regions. This policy, continued under both Kennedy and Johnson to varying degrees, was based on two underlying assumptions: that the U.S.S.R. would try to expand its authority and influence, and that all new communist governments were part of the Soviet “empire” (O’Malley, 1999). By the start of the Johnson administration, the Domino Theory had also achieved great foreign policy significance. This theory was based on an, a belief that if one nation fell to communists those nations surrounding it would fall as well (DeConde et al., 2002). The Domino Theory was used not just under Johnson to justify the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, in which was once called the conflict “the most disastrous of all America’s undertakings over the whole 200 years of its history”. In retrospect, few would not disagree. Yet at first, the Vietnam War seemed simply one more Third World struggle on the periphery of the Cold War, a struggle in which the United States would try to tip the balance against communism without becoming too deeply or directly engaged (Brinkley, 2007), but by both administrations to justify involvement in smaller initiatives ranging from the conflicts in Cuba and the Dominican Republic to the Alliance for Progress in Latin America (Rabe, 2006).

Because the theoretical and political underpinnings for the foreign policy of both the Kennedy and Johnson presidencies were so similar, Johnson foreign policy is best viewed as a continuation of the Kennedy doctrine, rather than a confrontational departure. In fact, shortly after taking office, Johnson echoed the stance of Kennedy that a “second Cuba” must be prevented. Despite these similarities, however, Johnson was willing to violate the existing nonintervention policy and take overt military action to prevent the communist movement in the Dominican Republic (Rabe, 2006). This conflict mirrored the escalation of the American involvement in the Vietnam War under Johnson, adding ground troops to the initiative; under Kennedy, the U.S. had avoided direct confrontation with Soviet forces by limiting encounters to covert CIA actions.

Kennedy and Johnson represent two vastly different foreign policy strategies. Kennedy supported a new world order of détente and cooperation with the Soviet Union. Johnson favored continuing a policy of global containment and confrontation with the Soviets.
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References

Alan Brinkley, American History: A Survey Twelfth Edition, Chapter Thirty-one. Columbia University, 2007.
DeConde, A., Burns, R. D., Logevall, F., & Ketz, L. B. (Eds.). (2002). Encyclopedia of American foreign policy (2nd ed.) (Vol. 1). New York, NY: Scribner 's.O’Malley, M. (1999)

The Vietnam War and the tragedy of containment. Retrieved from: http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/vietnam/lecture.html

Rabe, S. G. (2006). The Johnson doctrine. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 36(1), 48-58.

References: Alan Brinkley, American History: A Survey Twelfth Edition, Chapter Thirty-one. Columbia University, 2007. DeConde, A., Burns, R. D., Logevall, F., & Ketz, L. B. (Eds.). (2002). Encyclopedia of American foreign policy (2nd ed.) (Vol. 1). New York, NY: Scribner 's.O’Malley, M. (1999) The Vietnam War and the tragedy of containment. Retrieved from: http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/vietnam/lecture.html Rabe, S. G. (2006). The Johnson doctrine. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 36(1), 48-58.