The evidence, however, shows that Johnson was not pulled into war by deep, structural forces beyond his control; nor was he pulled into it by overzeal- ous advisers from the Kennedy era. He inherited a difficult situation in Vietnam, in large part because of the policy decisions of his predecessor, but he made that situation far worse with his actions, not merely before the November 1964 election but, more important, in the three months thereafter. This period represented the last good chance to withdraw the United States from Vietnam.
