On this day in 1965 President Lyndon Johnson announced an increase in the number of American troops in South Vietnam, going from 75,000 to 125,000 troops. The peak number of troops in Vietnam at one time would be 482, 543 on April 30th, 1969. 58,138 Americans would die in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War would be President Johnson’s lasting legacy, it would ruin the plans, his “Great Society” LBJ was an intelligent man how he could get dragged down in war is beyond my comprehension. The war became very unpopular and the chants of “Hey Hey LBJ-How Many Kids You Kill Today” would haunt him for the rest of his life.  Essential reading on the remarkable Lyndon Johnson -Robert Caro’s growing series- the fourth book came out this spring- one of the best biographies I’ve ever read.