Oluseun Taiwo3/15/14History 261Dr. HagamanLyndon Johnson's WarIn his monograph Lyndon Johnson's War, Michael Hunt discusses the various verdicts, choices, mistakes and actions that led to the Vietnam War. Hunt mines documents from U.S. and Vietnamese archives to fully explain the actions taken by many U.S. leaders and the potential thought process of our Vietnamese and other European and Asian counterparts and their leaders. In each of these records he makes a point of explaining how the United States was drawn into the conflict in Southeast Asia, and repeatedly in this book Hunt makes the silent argument that the United States of America led the war. as if it were a question of “waging a conventional war”. (Hunt, p. 53) Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of American involvement in the war. Hunt begins his book by examining a more global and broader view of American warfare. policy. The opening chapter, “The Cold War World of Ugly America,” focuses on the actions of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower during the Cold War. A recurring character in Asian popular history, Ho Chi Minh, played a fairly significant role in the Americans' decision to become involved, as not only was he fighting the French, a common American ally, but also the ideology for which it fought tirelessly (communism), combined with the geographical location of Vietnam, are what troubled the United States. At the time, they were adamant about practicing a strict "containment" policy which saw the United States siding with the failing French in order not only to save a French colony, but also to stop the great gains and progress that communism had been. .... middle of paper ......Johnson and his administrations support because he was the leading president at the height of the war. He makes this clear by giving the title of his book Lyndon – Lyndon Johnson's War – which specifically highlights Johnson and places an "owner" on the war. It is also significant that Johnson was not elected but simply placed there because President Kennedy had died, meaning that many Americans could not specifically agree with what Johnson believed. He notes that Lyon Johnson and his office were not ready for this war at all. In Hunts Lyndon Johnson's War, he impresses upon his readers how ill-prepared each presidential administration (multiple due to elections and assassinations) was. He makes several notes explaining how the poor vision of American foreign policy has essentially ruined any chance for the United States of America.