Overview

Lyndon Baines Johnson became the 36th President of the United States after the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22; 1963. Johnson escalated the Vietnam War based on the Gulf of Tonkin incident of August 1964; in which the administration claimed North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked U.S. destroyers. The second alleged attack on August 4 almost certainly never occurred; as the Pentagon Papers later revealed; but Johnson used it to secure the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution; which gave him virtually unlimited war powers without a formal declaration of war. The Vietnam War killed approximately 58;220 American soldiers and an estimated 2-3 million Vietnamese civilians. The Pentagon Papers; leaked by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971; revealed that the Johnson administration had systematically lied to Congress and the public about the war's progress and prospects. Johnson's administration supported the Indonesian military's mass killing of 500;000 to 1;000;000 suspected communists in 1965-1966; with the U.S. providing lists of Communist Party members to Indonesian death squads. The CIA's Phoenix Program; which operated during Johnson's presidency; targeted and killed an estimated 20;000-40;000 suspected Viet Cong through assassination; torture; and detention. Under Johnson; the FBI's COINTELPRO program expanded dramatically; targeting civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr.; whom the FBI attempted to drive to suicide with a letter threatening to expose personal information. Johnson established the Warren Commission; appointing former CIA Director Allen Dulles (whom JFK had fired) to investigate the Kennedy assassination; the commission's lone gunman conclusion has been disputed by the HSCA and numerous researchers.

Key Affiliations

Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (4)

Known Associates & Connections

Sources & Documentation

2 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports