Reversal of JFK's Vietnam Withdrawal Policy Began the Weekend of the Assassination

The transcript is summarized in the following five time-marked bullet points:

- 00:00-01:14: Kennedy's Vietnam Policy - JFK consistently resisted Pentagon requests to send combat troops to Vietnam, and he had initiated a plan to withdraw 1,000 US troops by 1963, intending for South Vietnam to manage its own combat operations.

- 01:14-01:54: Johnson's Reversal - While Kennedy's body was still in the Capitol, President Johnson revised National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) 273, removing restrictions on U.S. involvement in Vietnam and pushing for direct military engagement.

- 01:54-02:24: Johnson's Justification - In interviews, it was revealed that Johnson was aware of Kennedy's withdrawal plans and disagreed with them, urging Defense Secretary McNamara to renounce them.

- 02:24-03:02: Escalation of Conflict - The changes Johnson made in NSAM 273 allowed for direct U.S. combat involvement, leading to naval missions that escalated tensions, culminating in the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which justified increased U.S. intervention in Vietnam.

- 03:39-04:19: Pre-planned Escalation - Declassified documents show that Johnson had planned to escalate the war as early as 1964, long before the Gulf of Tonkin incident, with a directive for an air war prepared even before his presidential election.
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Original Source Attribution:

JFK: Destiny Betrayed (2021) | Oliver Stone & James DiEugenio | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msk3TbgNPQ4

Filmmaker Oliver Stone revisits material used in the making of the film JFK along with additional material that has come to light since. Scriptwriting by James DiEugenio.
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