Course

Most Americans place the lion’s share of the blame for the Vietnam catastrophe on President Lyndon Johnson. This is an accurate assessment as far as it goes. But increasingly, historians are emphasizing that LBJ’s predecessors set the table for his dramatic deepening of our involvement in the tragedy of Vietnam. Harry Truman, Eisenhower, and JFK all upped the ante by steadily raising the stakes in Southeast Asia. This course will delve into the crucial decisions made by Truman, Ike, and Kennedy which led to our nation’s worst foreign policy debacle of the twentieth century.

Faculty Bio

Mick Chantler has been a student of American history for over fifty years. His primary areas of interest include the Founding Era, the Civil War & Reconstruction period, and the Cold War. 

This is a Livestreamed + Recorded Course

• Classes will stream live on the scheduled day and time
• Classes will also be video recorded
• You must be a current OLLI @Berkeley member to register. Learn about membership, including our fee assistance program.

Schedule Highlights

• Course starts on Thurs., Jan. 22 and ends on Thurs., Feb. 26
• Classes meet for six weeks, 1.5 hours per session (1:30–3 PM)
• All course materials will remain in Member Dashboards through March 29

Member Praise for Mick Chantler

Great presentation and discussion, chock full of interesting facts and observations. The pace was perfect. 

I used to shy away from courses about areas of US history that I'd studied in college but eventually realized that no matter how much I might know about something, Mick sees it in a new a clearer light and his brilliance really makes any subject worthwhile. 

Well paced, always engaging lectures.

Faculty Q&A

• Read an interview with Mick Chantler from our archive