Assess the view that Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) had no choice but to send US troops to Vietnam in 1965.…
The Vietnam War was the U.S’ longest and most exhausting war- the only war the U.S had ever lost, had far-reaching consequences and impact on most American life from the economy, culture to domestic politics and foreign policy- some of which continue to do so today. The American military had entered Vietnam as a world superpower from World War 2 but left Vietnam with a humiliating defeat, shockingly high casualties, the American public sharply divided and its leaders uncertain of who to trust with its foreign policy. The Vietnam War was from 1955 to 1975 and fell under 5 different presidents filled with scandals and conspiracy theories. After World War 2, North Vietnam declared itself as an independent nation with Communist Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh gaining control over the nation. The Geneva Accords called for a…
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 amount of blood and tears shed for this country is ridiculous, considering how unnecessary most of it ended up being. The Vietnam War, which was the longest war since the Cold War, was a war between Southern Vietnam and Northern Vietnam in which the United States became involved in on South Vietnam’s side. It was originally fought because Vietnam wanted to declare its independence from France stating, “Vietnam has the right to be free and independent country and in fact is so already,” but the conflict quickly converted to a civil war between North and South Vietnam (Doc. 1- Declaration of Independence- Democratic Republic of Vietnam). The United States put themselves in the middle of it in hopes of preventing “the countries of Southeast Asia from passing into the communist orbit, and to assist them to develop the will and ability to resist communism from within and without and to contribute to the strengthening of the free world” (Doc 8- Policy Statement about American objectives in Southeast Asia). The Vietnam War only caused more problems for the U.S. and South Vietnam than should have happened though.…
In Taking Sides, Brian VanDeMark and H. R. McMaster debate the topic of the Americanization of the War in Vietnam. VanDeMark argues that because President Lyndon Johnson did not want people to accuse him of being soft on communism he failed to question the possibility of increasing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. McMaster, however, states he believes the Vietnam War was a human failure because of President Lyndon Johnson as well as his principal military and civilian advisers.…
The number of dead in Vietnam was 58,000 and wounded is estimated to be around 300,000. Countless Vietnam veterans were psychologically scared, while other was embittered by poor treatment the public gave them when they came home. Regardless, whether the war was right or wrong, we should support our troops. After reading The Things They Carried and watching Forrest Gump, Full Metal Jacket, my perspective has changed considerably about the Vietnam War.…
The Vietnam war is an incredibly controversial topic; some say America won, while others say that they lost. In this case, America took a major loss, they were never winning at any point. The reason the Americans officially lost the war is because they were unable to achieve their goal which was to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam. In fact, the exact opposite happened, after the American forces left South Vietnam in January of 1975, communism immediately overran it. Along with the reasoning behind why the Americans lost are 3 points which will give a deeper explanation on why the U.S lost the Vietnam war. First of all the Americans lost because the North Vietnamese wanted to win more than they did. Following this is the American’s bombing strategies that proved to be horrendously ineffective because they were choosing to bomb locations that would end up giving them no real advantage. Thirdly, and quite possibly the biggest reason that lost America the war was their attempt to fight a war of Attrition against the North Vietnamese strategy of Guerilla warfare…
With a husband in the Army and currently on his third deployment to Iraq, I am often asked how I think this war is different from past wars. In order to answer this question properly, I found that I needed to do a little bit of research and acquaint myself with some war history. As I learned about previous wars that Americans have been involved in, I learned that only two wars have had a great deal of controversy. The Vietnam War and the Iraq War, while almost identical are vastly different in their own right. In this paper, I will discuss the similarities and differences between two of our most recent wars.…
In conclusion, the US’s decision to take part in the Vietnam war was a mistake. They should of remained neutral and let other countries handle their own business instead of encroaching into international affairs. From the Americans citizens perspective, the involvement was unnecessary and it lost the trust of…
still followed through with the decision, hoping we would get something out of it. In the end, our credibility was weakened, not only with other countries, but also with our own people. In my opinion, the Vietnam War was not a noble war the U.S. should have been involved in. The war was a violent and devastating war that was full of ups and downs, but in the end, it really got us nowhere. Gary Korf, who was a part of FDC training, said “The war intentions were good in the beginning but one day we would overrun the enemy, then the next day, the enemy would regain what we just fought so hard to overtake, there was no tactic to the military efforts.”…
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…
One of the most obvious consequences of the war was the 600,000 men who lost their lives in the fighting, or to disease. In total, upwards of a million men were killed or seriously injured throughout the course of the war. This brought a new problem upon the United States, a large part of the nations capable youth had given their lives in the war. This would have many consequences of it's own, including staggering the growth of the United States. Another result of the war was the massive cost that came with it. $15 billion dollars. That doesn't include some factors such as post was pensions, or interest on national debt. The war did have a few obvious positive effects, such as the emancipation of slaves, as well as the fact that the federal…
With World War II not being over long, and already being back at war with the Soviet Union, America’s involvement with the Vietnam War became a highly controversial topic. The draft system was being used again and it had a good portion of America’s population on edge. However, the fear of communism and its possible spread to other places kept Americans willing to fight during both the Cold War and the Vietnam War. America’s involvement in the Vietnam War spanned six presidencies. The average age of a solider that left to fight in Vietnam whether they were drafted or volunteers was between 19 and 21. The United States involvement brought up many important questions, “such as should they stay out of other countries business?” “Should the draft…
In document 29-1, President Kennedy says the United States are fighting in Vietnam because the United States do not want Vietnam to be a communist. Vietnam needs extensive assistance from capitalist states because Vietnam is not capable of defending themselves from the communist. He also says that Vietnam falling to the communism means that the entire Southeast Asia potentially falls to the communism, and it eventually threatens the United States and their allies. Therefore, the war in Vietnam is for Americans to protect their free capitalist ideology. He concludes that “For when freedom is destroyed in one country, it is threatened throughout the world” (RAP 29-1). This statement was one of the most notable arguments that was meant to legitimize what is happening in the Vietnam. However, in reality, it was questionable whether the United States really needed to fight in the Vietnam or not.…
People believe that there is no benefit to war. Others believe that there is benefits to war. War is necessary and beneficial for many reasons, those reasons are; to maintain alliances, to make new allies, and to provide jobs.…