How The Vietnam War Changed America

“No event in the past half-century of American history has commanded a morep rominent place in the public consciousness than the Vietnam War” (Hall xi), a rightfully said statement. Lasting from 1960-1975, it is America’s longest war and changed the United States politically, socially, and culturally during that period. In the early 1970s, the voting age was lowered to 18, largely because of the war. Also, Vietnam was one of the first wars in which African Americans largely participated. Lastly, Vietnam changed America culturally by causing mistrust in government. In the 1960s through early ‘70s, the Vietnam War changed America in ways that nothing had ever done before. Perhaps one of the biggest changes Vietnam made in America was citizens’ mistrust in the government. “Prior to the 1960s, it is safe to say that most contemporary Americans were confident and trusting in their government leadership” (Mara 26). The Vietnam War changed all of that. American escalation in the Vietnamese conflict began in 1964 after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed. The resolution was passed following the suspicious Gulf of Tonkin Incident, which occurred on August 2, 1964 after the U.S. destroyer USS Maddox was fired upon by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats. Two days later the Maddox and the C. Turner Joy were supposedly involved in a second attack. President Lyndon B. Johnson used this incident as justification to ask Congress to give him the powers he needed to respond to aggression from the Vietnamese communists. There is now speculation and strong evidence to prove that the Maddox fired first on August 2, and that the second attack never happened. Nevertheless, American support for U.S. involvement in the conflict soared from 42% approving of the president’s handling of Vietnam to 85% approving of Johnson’s response to the crisis (Hall 63). Lyndon B. Johnson “…achieved a near declaration of war by an overwhelming majority, with only two senators voting