Eisenhower Foreign Policy Analysis

His use of the military was to increase military weapons to prepare for a potential war and to scare the Soviet’s away. (Kennedy) He was so open to the thought of a war he created Flexible Response; which is using a more effective way, such as bombs and other nuclear weapons, rather than threats and walls (Ayres 886). Moreover, While the US did not enter war, it could very well be possible if Lyndon B. Johnson hadn’t taken over after Kennedy's

This was because they had quickly realized that the Soviets had separated themselves from them to spread communism. However, this all changed when both sides had to build a defense system around themselves by creating alliances. It was a way of proving that they were strong and if they were ever messed with they could easily destroy the other. On the United States side were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also known as NATO. This treaty was created on April 4, 1949 and declared that if any of its members states were in danger, then all of the other member states must contribute to protecting that country.

Eisenhower feared that communism would spread to other countries but countries cannot be considered “dominoes,” so the domino theory is false. The domino theory was then reintroduced during the Vietnam War and the Kennedy administration (“Vietnam War”). Many people see the domino theory as something entirely true. They think the theory is applicable because of the blood shed in Vietnam and its surrounding countries because of the spread of communism (Moïse). The American government saw Ho Chi Minh as one of the playing pieces in the game of communism.

He believes that we are not isolated anymore, therefore no other countries fear the United States; so we might as well build an alliance system. Due to the alliance system, this will prevent other countries that no longer fear us to invade our land. He wants to do this for the benefit of the country. He believed that The League of Nations “was the only hope for mankind” (Document 2). President Wilson argued that the Treaty of Versailles was definitely going to benefit America, through prevention and protection of attack from other

The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation signed in August 1971, aimed to counter the Chinese influence in the region whilst spreading Soviet ideologies. This signing was a strategic tactic for the Soviets to achieve their Cold War goals. This pro-India tilt represents the fact that the USSR faced the inevitable compliance to pursue Cold War interests, dismissing the responsibility to act on the international norm. It was inevitable as This is why the conflict can be seen as a proxy war. The three biggest powers in the world took action in the region solely based on Cold War calculations.

Vietnam saw the war as a fight for independence while the U.S. saw the war as a fight against the communist regime, aiming to instil its capitalist approach in order to alienate the Soviets from the rest of society. This is a perfect example of numerous things in the theory of Realism, namely: the balance of power, the idea that peace and stability are most likely to be maintained when military power is distributed to prevent a single superpower from controlling the world; the security dilemma, the tendency of states to view the defensive arming of adversaries as threatening, causing them to arm in response so that all states’ security declines; and national interest, the goals that states pursue to maximize what they perceive to be selfishly best for their country (WPTT, 2011, pp.32-33). The U.S. saw the Vietnamese becoming allies with the Soviets as a security dilemma, so in order to somewhat restore the balance of power, a war was declared on the Vietnamese, all to preserve its national interest. The U.S. declared war on Vietnam even though there was no real need for one, as the Vietnamese were much too busy fighting for their independence from the Chinese in an attempt to differentiate

The Alien Act declared that if war sparked between the United States and another country, the President had the authority to announce the war. However, one important aspect of our Acts comprised of the nature of immigrants. We firmly believed that at times of war, all foreign males fourteen years old and older, who were not citizens of the United States, would have been removed as “alien enemies” (Alien Acts). This was necessary for the protection of our country and the success of our

Robert McNamara hope to achieve containment of communism in North Vietnam and have a south Vietnam to be a capitalistic. He believes that the US should keep communism in North Vietnam and prevent communism to spread to North Vietnam neighboring countries. McNamara recommend the following actions he wanted to stabilize US forces in Vietnam which he viewed “…would put us in a position where negations would be more likely to be proactive…”. He also wanted to install a barrier which would run across sea, the neck of south Vietnam and some of the trails in Laos. Stabilize the Rolling Thunder program, Peruse a vigorous pacification program.

This concept was beyond Johnson and his advisors, who mistakenly assumed the values of the Communists (Karnow 415). The alternative of withdrawal from Vietnam was unacceptable, a powerful Cold War mindset in American opinion supported a strong commitment to defending South Vietnam (Logevall 17). Johnson took control of a difficult Vietnam problem from Kennedy, ultimately running his presidency aground (Logevall

Cabinet members’ appointments also held a unique partnership and style of leadership. President Eisenhower to Nixon gave their own unique style of handling negotiations so as to win the Vietnam War. President Eisenhower and Kennedy rallied around on foreign aid to South Vietnam as a way of training the military hoping that this would prove to be an effective leadership decision in changing the direction of the war. Aid was sent to South Vietnam by President Johnson in the form of military

1. Both the American President John Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev seemed to be realistic about the Cuban Missile Crisis. They both represented the states that were standing apart and had their self-interests in the events that occurred. Besides, from the realistic point of view, Kennedy understood that the only way to withstand the crisis and prevent the new war would be to show their power, which is essential within the Realist framework, and take active actions since the interest of the state required that. Besides, being realists, both leaders understood that there is no way to involve the non-governmental organizations in the solution.

After Kennedy’s assassination Lyndon Johnson inherited the White House and took the approach that dictatorships should not be appeased. Johnson was reluctant to become involved in Vietnam due to his political interpretation and policy direction are known as “Containment” and his belief that there was a threat of world domination by Communism which had become a very common Cold-War view among American politicians during this time period. But he continued on to help provide economic and military aid and even authorizes covert actions to prove to enemies that America will take a tough stance in Vietnam. As president, he felt he had to take all necessary measures to protect the U.S. from any attack a and to prevent any further

(Villafaña 6) The USSR and the U.S. understood the need to avoid military conflict with each other so countries not in the NATO and WTO became the best battle grounds colonial and newly independent countries in Asia and Africa (Natufe 355) Partnered with Africa’s anti-colonial movement in 1956 (Natufe 356) Soviet foreign minister stated if the USSR could not get an Italian country, it should focus on Belgian Congo. (Namikas 80) Krushchev became the leader of anti-imperialism in Africa to increase the communist movement (Namikas 81)

They were deprived of their basic civil rights. The legislation was very controversial to the American tradition, hence Truman vetoed it. However, the Congress re-voted and adopted the act. In this way, in 1952, the Congress passed another anti-communist legislation – McCarran-Walter Act about the restrictions of political immigration. In accordance with it, the communists were forbidden to enter the United

Also, these two presidents were able to use public information as a tool for their causes, and it helped to gather support. Woodrow Wilson also sided with the pro-imperialists, believing that the United States had the right to do with these nations as they pleased. It was after both World Wars that arguments and actions occurred against extensions of presidential power. The author mentioned that Dean Acheson, who was President Harry S. Truman’s Secretary of State, criticized the right of the president to be able to use American troops in executing foreign policy, while the Congress has no say in the matter. Also, this was followed by actions by the Supreme Court to say “that Truman had gone beyond his authority by moving to take over strike-bound mills to ensure the steady production of war material”.