Could he have used any "wag-the-dog" tactic to engage in a foreign crisis or war in hopes of distracting from the issues on which he disagreed with Congress and justifying his reconciliatory preferences.
Could he have used any "wag-the-dog" tactic to engage in a foreign crisis or war in hopes of distracting from the issues on which he disagreed with Congress and justifying his reconciliatory preferences.
So what would he do and to whom. Also what forces is he supposed to of used?Could he have used any "wag-the-dog" tactic to engage in a foreign crisis or war in hopes of distracting from the issues on which he disagreed with Congress and justifying his reconciliatory preferences.
So what would he do and to whom. Also what forces is he supposed to of used?
The most straightforward situation he can turn into a crisis or war is confronting the French over Mexico.
OTL the US did this in a relatively "patient" manner, signaling it wanted French departure but not making any ultimatum or setting deadlines.
In the ATL Johnson could ramp up a crisis atmosphere by concentrating forces in Texas and making visible logistic preparations for crossing into Mexico, and then also sending more of the US fleet to the Gulf of Mexico and Texas coasts, and gradually expand patrols southward along Mexico's east coast.
If Johnson wants to push things to the brink of war, or over it, he then just needs to issue an ultimatum to the French to leave Mexico within a short timeline.
--a more elaborate scheme, although one against a weaker target, would be issuing an ultimatum to Spain to stop contesting the Chincha islands with Peru and Chile, citing the Monroe Doctrine as its self-justification for that stand.
The ultimatum could have the explicit or implied threat of the US driving Spain from the hemisphere entirely (so from Cuba and Puerto Rico, even more than the Chincha islands off South America)
Problem: You need a France it Spain that's willing to violently bite the bait in the second half of the 1860's. Nappy isent going to go to the lengths of a Trans-Atlantic war for Maximilian and Spain is totally broke, can't keep a stable government to save her soul, and is facing a steady stream of near coups, purges, Barraks revolts, and exiles ready to revolt.
If neither France nor Spain bite the bait then it does make getting an actual war hard. But they have two choices, bite the bait or fold like a blanket to US threats and pressures. The latter is humiliating. And it has its own political attractions for Johnson. If he successfully bullies France or Spain into backing down, he should at least get a short term political boost. Successful bullying could make him more popular with the military too.
France can bow out gracefully and leave Johnson looking like a belicose fool who nearly dragged the US into another major conflict right after the CW over a day lot of nothing, and Spain would in the Cuba event easily find international support for calling the US out (Dident that Monroe Doctrine of yours say you were cool with colonies where they already existed. Hey Britain; you cool with that unilateral deal change?)