Escalation

Nevertheless, Truman prioritised presidential control of the armed forces and avoiding further escalation over MacArthur’s popularity.

Escalation meant increasing the scale and intensity of US involvement. Under Johnson, American involvement expanded beyond supporting and advising South Vietnamese forces to sustained bombing of North Vietnam and the deployment of regular US ground combat troops. To understand this change, distinguish the pressures pushing Johnson towards intervention from the event that gave him the authority to expand it.