The most important reason as to why the United States became involved in Vietnam was the long term cause of the Domino Theory. The Domino Theory was the belief that once one country had fallen to communism, its neighbours would do the same. It was devised by John Foster Dulles, the US Secretary of State, during the 1950s. The Domino Theory would be a an obstacle for the Americans if they were to win the Cold War, as they had to keep as few countries from going communist as possible. If South Vietnam were to fall communist, its neighbours in South East Asia may do the same- including India, a country with a billion inhabitants and around 90% of its people living in poverty. Communism may look an attractive prospect to South East Asia’s poor, which increases the likelihood of the Domino Theory, and would have a dire effect for American economic interests in the region. American companies would be nationalised by the state under communism, and trade would be badly affected because Americans would not be able to sell commodities in communist countries. This would not only harm America’s economy, but also its military- it would not be able to sustain a well trained, well equipped army without the money to do so. Eventually, this would also have dire political effects for America- its President would look weak, and the Soviet Union would be the dominant global power, due to the United States’ inferior military, economy and financial system. Moreover, if the…
The book I read was titled Here There are Tigers, The Secret Air War in Laos, 1968-69. It was written by Reginald Hawthorn and is his personal experience as a Major in the Air Force. I wanted to know an Air Force pilot’s perspective since I read about so much bombing going on during the Vietnam War. He was an FAC (Forward Air Controller) and flew an O-2 single prop airplane during Vietnam from 1968-1969. Major Reginald Hathorn was an instructor at Laughlin Air Force Base when he got the call on Friday of January 1968 that he would have to leave his wife and two daughters to fight in Vietnam.…
The United States strategy in Vietnam from 1965 to 1968 went through various changes and revisions as leadership tried to find a feasible plan of action. US Army General William Westmoreland and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara were two of the major forces in US leadership that would shape the war effort. They devised a military strategy of attrition through tactics of search and destroy, covert operations, and other factors in hopes of wearing out the enemy. While their strategy found some success on the battlefields, the ineffectiveness of search and destroy missions, the over emphasis on body counts, and the disconnect between everyday soldiers and their superiors about defining success would doom the US war effort.…
Michael Lind takes the approach that this war was something America could not have avoided if we had any hope to eventually win the Cold War over the Soviet Union and emerge as the world’s number one super power. He acknowledges that the administrations involved with the conflict did little to clearly explain our involvement to the public, and would often change their reasoning over time. But he goes on to explain that we had a very real reason to get involved in a conflict that many believed did not involve us. To easily explain why, is to simply bring up credibility. “Credibility, in power politics, is a country’s reputation for military capability combined with the political resolve to use it in order to promote its goals.” (Lind, 1999) In a sense credibility, or perceived power, was one of the most important tools in the Cold War. Allies and small dependent countries had to believe that America would be able to support them in a crisis, and enemies had to be under the impression that we would be able to back up any threats. To back out of Vietnam would have only prepared America to enter another battlefield later. A main reason of entering Vietnam was to avoid a humiliating defeat to our own reputation as a powerful country. Keeping South Vietnam out of Chinese control and permitting the South Vietnamese to enjoy a freer lifestyle were lower down on the…
The American people were frustrated with the actions of their Government. They did not support the war in Vietnam for many different reasons, that was their prerogative. However, many Americans were also not in favor how some of the anti-war movement protested the war. It was an unusual paradigm that was, quite frankly, fueled by drugs and hormones. It was not unlike that of a modern…
The Vietnam War changed history for the U.S., leaving plenty of casualties on both ends, dividing the country and even breaking the record of longest war in United States history. Most of all it was a war against communism, something that at the time was considered a devilish act considering the situation the United States was in. The VIetnam war, a deadly jab at communism, and the injustices of it.…
"Johnson had miscalculated: Even the richest and most powerful nation in the world could not do it all" (Turbulent Years: The 60s 36). Lyndon B. Johnson is a president torn to pieces by war. He glows in the passage of bills benefiting American society. He is someone who has suffered through an entire generation of rebellious teens. What impact did Johnson 's foreign policies concerning Vietnam War have on American society?…
Vietnam war was the longest war in American History which fought between 1964 to 1975 and the most unpopular war for the American of the 20th century. This is the only one war that United States lost the war but no one knows the truth because the US government had not told about this war yet. The resulted in nearly 60,000 American deaths and in an estimated 2 million Vietnamese deaths. It seemed like the American won the war but actually they were not. The experience for the American soldier in Vietnam was long and painful one for the nation. During the war, the Vietnam is spilt in the two groups; the South which was Capitalism and the North which was Communism. To support the South Vietnam’s government, the American sent the soldiers…
Although very popular the Vietnam war was huge conflict during the years of 1964 through 1975, this single incident changed many Americans opinions about the nation's role both in foreign affairs and domestic ones. The Vietnam war failed in its primary purpose which was to assists in the defense against north Vietnamese communism, just like the cold war previously this proved to be another example of escalation. The US involvement in Vietnam damaged the us reputation due to very misguided and complex intentions on the part of political leaders like those in the Johnson and Nixon administration which brought upon unhappiness and social unrest among the public. This political corruption along with mismanagement on the economic system and the…
The government was so confident going into the war that they didn’t even think of the fact that they may be the ones who come out on the losing end. As the time the war was ended, in a span of 2 years 3 million people had died including 58,000 American soldiers. The fact that millions of citizens died impacted the world greatly. America invaded Vietnam because they believed that in order to gain a lead in the cold war they needed to defeat north Vietnam as they were supported by their bitter enemies China, North Korea, and Russia. Even though it was not popular in America the government did it anyways, there were protests that spread the nation from people that wanted to bring peace to the world. These people were like Piggy in the book Lord of the…
The Vietnam War differed from many wars due to the controversy of nearly every aspect of the war. During the Vietnam War, it was not only soldiers who were killed during all of the fighting. Yes others besides soldiers were killed in every war fought, but the war in Vietnam War was just greatly more so than nearly every other war. During the war, there were approximately four million civilians and innocent bystanders that were killed (Estimated n. pag.) The American population had minimal knowledge of what was actually happening in Vietnam during the war, so they ended up blaming the soldiers for all of the deaths and wrongdoings. After a short amount of time during the war, the majority of America’s public was actually opposed to the war. The public saw many parts of the war as inhumane and completely unnecessary. Americans were against the war in Vietnam because of the fact that it seemed as though we were getting interfering with a civil war, the U.S. army implemented draft, and the tactics used by the army were frowned upon by the public (Vietnam n. pag.) People can argue that the public was against many other wars, but never to the extent of the war in Vietnam, the public started turning on…
Because there wasn’t a strong government in Vietnam that took control Diem made himself President even though he was losing support. The United States was trying to stop communism from increasing throughout the world. The U.S. didn’t support Diem anymore because of his unfairness towards Buddhist. And not treating everyone fairly. Finally, United States President John F. Kennedy stepped in to help remove Diem from his presidency, and later, the Vietnam army kidnaped Diem and killed him. The Vietnam War was an aggravating war for the United States because people were torn and did not know whether to support the war or support the people affected by the war. Many Americans were drafted, which is a system to require people to go to war. There were a number of American’s that decided to move to Canada or other countries, so that they would not be drafted into the war. People wanted there to be a draft but then it happened and many people were mad because it was forcing them into the war and dragging them away from their families. Many Americans supported those that thought it was unfair to be drafted, and several Americans thought being forced to fight in a war they…
The Vietnam conflict was a very large mess with many events that occurred that would forever change how people act and view things. It consisted of war, secrets, popularity politics, generation revolution, civil rights, and a lot of experimentation. All of this changed the society of America and the view of the people towards the U.S. government. Other countries views changed towards the U.S. as well, but the entire word was changing.…
The Vietnam war is one of the most talked about events in history. The war made the American people resent their government. At first people supported the government in their plan to stop communism, but as time went on people wanted it to end. There were several reasons that people felt opposition towards the war, such as: the government was shady and was feeding people lies about the Vietnam, thousands of lives were lost and the people saw soldiers watched them do it all, and lastly how much we spent and how much we are in debt. These were the last straw for the American people.…
The Vietnam War was a defining moment in American history, due to the fact that the American people where concerned about the war and the actions of President Johnson. The lack of trust kept on growing between the American people and the government, which left a lot of unanswered questions. After the country’s involvement in two world wars and the cold war, America felt the responsibility of imposing its way of life on the world to stop the growth of the communists. War has an impact on all the parties involved, and the Vietnam War was the most expensive and longest war in American history. The country did not just suffer financially, it cost the people involved greatly, physically and mentally.…