Thom Hartmann is a smart guy – more so than most of the people on liberal talk radio.
But he totally blew his history today, to the point he was flooded by his own listeners telling him he was completely wrong. Tom attributed the majority of the deaths in the Vietnam War to Richard Nixon. As one who had a lot at stake (I turned 18 in 1973), I’m very familiar with what Nixon did to try to win the war the first year (bombing the Ho Chi Minh trail, bombing Hanoi (he missed bombing the POW camp with John McCain), and mining the harbor in Haiphong to prevent Russian resupply ships. At each step, the Democrats and the Media blocked his path. So he told the South Vietnamese they were going to have to defend their own country and we were going to leave. (Iraq? Afghanistan?)
Here are the combat deaths in Vietnam by year:
| Year | Combat Deaths | President |
|---|---|---|
| 1956-1960 | 9 | Eisenhower (R) |
| 1961 | 16 | John F. Kennedy (D) |
| 1962 | 52 | John F Kennedy (D) |
| 1963 | 118 | Kennedy Jan 1st-Nov 22 Johnson Nov 22-Dec 31 |
| 1964 | 206 | Lyndon B Johnson (D) |
| 1965 | 1,863 | LBJ |
| 1966 | 6,143 | LBJ |
| 1967 | 11,153 | LBJ |
| 1968 | 16,592 | LBJ |
| 1969 | 11,616 | LBJ Jan 1- Jan 20 Richard Nixon (R) Jan 20-Dec 31 |
| 1970 | 6,081 | Nixon |
| 1971 | 2,357 | Nixon |
| 1972 | 641 | Nixon |
| 1973 | 168 | Nixon |
| 1974 | 178 | Nixon Jan 1-Aug 9 Gerald Ford Aug 9-Dec 31 |
| 1975 | 161 | Ford Saigon falls Apr 1975 |
| Source |
LBJ was responsible for almost 2/3 of the deaths of the war.
When his own listeners flooded him with twitter posts, etc… pointing out the error, he came on the air and admitted he was wrong – then mumbled some nonsense about “But Nixon forced him to do it”.
LBJ was eligible to run for President in 1968 (because JFK was past the midway point of his term, LBJ from 63-64 didn’t count toward the two term limit) – but LBJ was disgusted with himself and how he let McNamara and the military lie to him and trick him into escalating the war then try to convince him we were winning the war any day now. LBJ announced he would not seek reelection on April 1, 1968. [Remember when campaigns didn’t start 2 years ahead of the election?].
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/30/opinion/op-jones30
Richard Nixon did not hold any political office while he was running. He didn’t secure the nomination for certain until the convention in August 1968 – some guy named Ronald Reagan was also hoping to run for President. The Republicans controlled neither house of Congress. It’s a puzzle to me how Nixon “forced” LBJ to do anything.
As Thom loves to say, you’re entitled to your opinions, but not your own facts. By next week, Thom will be back to saying “Nixon’s war”. It’s just washed too deeply into his brain.
Thom went on to point out that Jimmy Carter would have trounced Ronald Reagan in the 1980 elections. He said Reagan was an extremist crackpot who couldn’t win because Carter was such an excellent President. He did allow, however, that those darn Iranian hostages caused Carter some grief and he alluded as to how the Republican machine asked the Iranians not to do anything until after the election.
Thom = smart guy. If you say so – perhaps in revisionist history.
Well, it’s all relative – compared to say Randy Rhodes or Ed Schultz.
You are – as always – correct. I am amazed at the lack of critical thought on “progressive” radio.
All you need to know to “pass” as a liberal
– the Spanish Civil War
– the Triangle Waste factory fire
– the Pinkerton murders at the Homestead strike
– the Sit Down strike in Flint Michigan
– Chez Guevera
– Richard Nixon’s war