2010 Essays

On Afghanistan and Presidential Certainty

Mitchell, Lincoln A.

The war in Afghanistan threatens to do to President Obama what Vietnam did to President Lyndon Johnson. We are not there yet as public concern over Afghanistan is not yet close to what it was over Vietnam by the late 1960s. Nonetheless, Afghanistan may become the major issue which dominates Obama's presidency, overshadows any domestic accomplishments and for which Obama will be remembered. This is particularly true given that Obama's domestic legislative accomplishments are far less impressive than those of LBJ.