1968 : Wheeler says Westmoreland will need more troops
Gen. Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, returns
from his recent round of talks with Gen. William Westmoreland in
Saigon and immediately delivers a written report to President Lyndon
B. Johnson.
Wheeler stated that despite the heavy casualties incurred during the
Tet Offensive, North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces had the initiative
and were "operating with relative freedom in the countryside." The
communists had pushed South Vietnamese forces back into a "defensive
posture around towns and cities," seriously undermined the
pacification program in many areas, and forced General Westmoreland to
place half of his battalions in the still imperiled northernmost
provinces, thus "stripping the rest of the country of adequate
reserves" and depriving the U.S. command of "an offensive capability."
To meet the new enemy threat and regain the initiative, according to
Wheeler, Westmoreland would need more men: "The add-on requested
totals 206,756 spaces for a new proposed ceiling of 731,756."
It was a major turning point in the war. To deny the request was to
concede that the United States could impose no military solution in
the conflict, but to meet it would require a call-up of reserves and
vastly increased expenditures. Rather than making an immediate
decision, President Johnson asked Defense Secretary Clark Clifford to
conduct a thorough, high-level review of U.S. policy in Vietnam.
A disgruntled staff member in the Johnson White House leaked the
Wheeler-Westmoreland proposal for additional troops. The story broke
in the New York Times on March 10, 1968. With the images of the
besieged U.S. Embassy in Saigon during the Tet Offensive still fresh
in their minds, the press and the public immediately concluded that
the extra troops must be needed because the U.S. and South Vietnamese
had suffered a massive defeat.
Secretary of State Dean Rusk was subjected to 11 hours of hearings
before a hostile Congress on March 11 and 12. A week later, 139
members of the House voted for a resolution that called for a complete
review of Johnson's Vietnam policy. Discontent in Congress mirrored
the general sentiment in the country. In March, a poll revealed that
78 percent of Americans expressed disapproval with Johnson's handling
of the war.
On March 22, President Johnson scaled down Westmoreland's request and
authorized 13,500 reinforcements. Shortly after, Johnson announced
that Westmoreland would be brought home to be Army Chief of Staff. He
was to be replaced by Gen. Creighton Abrams.
history.com/tdih.do
Gen. Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, returns
from his recent round of talks with Gen. William Westmoreland in
Saigon and immediately delivers a written report to President Lyndon
B. Johnson.
Wheeler stated that despite the heavy casualties incurred during the
Tet Offensive, North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces had the initiative
and were "operating with relative freedom in the countryside." The
communists had pushed South Vietnamese forces back into a "defensive
posture around towns and cities," seriously undermined the
pacification program in many areas, and forced General Westmoreland to
place half of his battalions in the still imperiled northernmost
provinces, thus "stripping the rest of the country of adequate
reserves" and depriving the U.S. command of "an offensive capability."
To meet the new enemy threat and regain the initiative, according to
Wheeler, Westmoreland would need more men: "The add-on requested
totals 206,756 spaces for a new proposed ceiling of 731,756."
It was a major turning point in the war. To deny the request was to
concede that the United States could impose no military solution in
the conflict, but to meet it would require a call-up of reserves and
vastly increased expenditures. Rather than making an immediate
decision, President Johnson asked Defense Secretary Clark Clifford to
conduct a thorough, high-level review of U.S. policy in Vietnam.
A disgruntled staff member in the Johnson White House leaked the
Wheeler-Westmoreland proposal for additional troops. The story broke
in the New York Times on March 10, 1968. With the images of the
besieged U.S. Embassy in Saigon during the Tet Offensive still fresh
in their minds, the press and the public immediately concluded that
the extra troops must be needed because the U.S. and South Vietnamese
had suffered a massive defeat.
Secretary of State Dean Rusk was subjected to 11 hours of hearings
before a hostile Congress on March 11 and 12. A week later, 139
members of the House voted for a resolution that called for a complete
review of Johnson's Vietnam policy. Discontent in Congress mirrored
the general sentiment in the country. In March, a poll revealed that
78 percent of Americans expressed disapproval with Johnson's handling
of the war.
On March 22, President Johnson scaled down Westmoreland's request and
authorized 13,500 reinforcements. Shortly after, Johnson announced
that Westmoreland would be brought home to be Army Chief of Staff. He
was to be replaced by Gen. Creighton Abrams.
history.com/tdih.do
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