5. Myth: In the beginning, the United States restricted bombing missions to targets in North Vietnam
In late 1964, just before the landslide election of Lyndon B. Johnson to the Presidency, the United States launched a restrained tactical bombing campaign against North Vietnamese units and Viet Cong positions. This was in accordance with Johnson’s election campaign, in which he had presented himself as the candidate of “reason and restraint”, as opposed to his opponent, Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who had advocated for a more vigorous response. Johnson tried to prevent the war from escalating by restricting the bombing raids by US airplanes to military targets as the first American bombing campaign of the war began.