It was a perception that was widely accepted in the United States particularly in the years that led to the Vietnamese War. Vietnam was divided into North and South with North Vietnam being a communist population and South Vietnam a capitalist population that hoped for a democratic system of government and the consequent reunion with the North part. Though President Lyndon Johnson held the view that it was the responsibility of the United States to stop the war and crush communism before it extended to Southeast Asia, he, however, lacked any good motivation to join the war; in spite of everything, North Vietnam had not offended the United States openly or directly. Therefore, North Vietnam continued to send streams of soldiers against the South Vietnam part to transform South Vietnam to communism. The United States, on the other hand, had no option but to observe these occurrences from across the ocean in
In addition to general exhaustion from war, the American people wanted to focus on domestic equality before moving forward with global equality and democracy. Anti-Vietnam War protests were not necessarily unwarranted, as the anti-democracy Tet Offensive of North Vietnam resulted in the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, with the vast majority of states reporting over 100 war casualties in 1968 alone. (Document E) Economically, the Vietnam War was challenging to manage, as the department of defense budget once again rose to today’s equivalent of 450 billion dollars, adding to an already quickly growing, massive national debt. (Document G)
ANALYSIS America’s policy of containment, which lead to the further development of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshal Plan, aimed to contain the spread of communism and when Vietnam was being threatened by a communist regime, the Vietcong, America extended its policy of containment to Asia. (Source B)America extending its policy of containment to Asia meant that it would support the South Vietnamese government by supplying military aid and advisors and American troops to assist the South Vietnamese in preventing a communist takeover. (Source A)America was scared that the ‘Domino effect’ would occur in Vietnam, which was the theory that if one country fell to communism, which in this case would be Vietnam, all the countries that besieged it
The war just showed signs of failure. The government put such a great amount of work into there lies only for every one of the certainties to turn out later. Nothing the government said we could trust. The armed force influenced it to appear as though it was Nobel thing they were doing by assaulting Vietnam the way they did however it wasn't at all courageous. The grim pictures showed in document 7 showed more than enough to show the citizens that America went to Vietnam causing mass terror on civilians."
Vietnamization goal was “to gradually transfer responsibility for the fighting to the south vietnamese, betting that - aided by a handful of American advisers on the ground and he might of U.S. airpower - their troops could stand against the veteran battalions of north vietnam” (Fleming 1). We sent in all of our troops to somehow aid that country so that one day they could aid themselves. With no hope left for this war “U.S. President Richard M. Nixon gambled his presidency on a program called ‘vietnamization’” ( Fleming 1).
The Vietnam War is known as the first war America “lost.” The loss of lives was a devastating number. The American government was very secretive as to their plans in Vietnam. Although President Johnson said that the US had no desire to get involved in the war, he and close government officials prepared in case they truly needed to go to war. The public was eased into a false sense of security.
The Vietnam War affected American foreign policy significantly, both during the conflict and in the years that followed. Many Americans lost faith in their government and its foreign policies as a result of the war's protracted, expensive, and ultimately disastrous military involvement. The conflict also caused a change in American foreign policy, emphasizing diplomacy and using a more cautious and practical approach. Additionally, as decision-makers strove to learn from the mistakes of Vietnam and advance peace and security globally, the war brought a fresh emphasis on human rights and democracy promotion in American foreign policy. American politics, society, and culture were all profoundly affected by the Vietnam War, which also led to a
The Vietnam War is considered one of the most controversial wars in United States history. The United States is one of the greatest superpowers at the time and were seen as the helping hand for doing the right thing. The United States were dragged into this war in order to stop the spread of communism throughout the Democratic South Korea. Many Americans saw this as the United States intervening in another country’s civil war which is not our duty. Americans also used the draft in a poor way affecting the young and African American population.
In the Vietnam war the United States lost everything that made it a superior defender for freedom and justice. We lost money and the support of American and South Vietnam citizens, because of that we lost our confidence and power. Without having confidence and feeling powerless, it questions whether we are capable of handling our nation 's conflicts while supporting South VIetnam. During the war the United States lost around $350-900 billion total in the Vietnam war (www.the vietnam war.info, 2014).
In an attempt to contain the reaction this decision will have between organizations of veterans and among the families of the more than 50,000 Americans killed in that war, Clinton said that lifting the embargo was “the best means of resolving doubts about the fate of those who are still missing.” More than 2,200 US soldiers involved in the war are still in the category of missing in combat. Clinton explained during a brief ceremony at the White House that this initiative does not mean full normalization of diplomatic relations. He said that to get to that point is necessary for the Government of Hanoi collaborate more actively in the investigation into the fate of missing persons. Vietnam’s communist regime has traditionally argued that there
Imagine if you lived in a place where you had no freedom, and you were ruled by a man like Joseph Stalin. That is what it would be like in many countries if it weren’t for the United States’ policy of containment. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union wanted to take over other countries and make them have the government system of Communism. The United States didn’t like that, because they thought their governmental system of Democracy was better. As a result, the U.S. adopted a policy of “Containment”.
Yes, preventing other countries and their citizens from being taken over by communist rule, was the moral thing to do, but was communist control of Vietnam a threat to our national
The Vietnam War was strictly between North and South Vietnam. Many people say that we had no business in getting involved. Furthermore, the Americans were lied to by their own government. Who would trust a government that as been lying to them the time? Especially in a time of war.
In using artillery and air power of weapons like the M163 Vulcan, M42A1 Skysweeper, and the MIM23 Hawk we were able to take down our enemies. There was 2.7 million soldiers that served in the Vietnam War. In this being said there were 58,000 that died or remained missing, and 300,000 that were wounded. More than one hundred forty billion dollars was spent on this war. The U.S failed to overcome its objective of preserving an independent, noncommunist state in Vietnam, now no one knows how or why we fought this war or weather the military outcome was possible for the United States.
The United States believed that it was their responsibility to contain Communism. They wanted to stop the spread of communism across the world. They saw that Vietnam as the start of the spread of Communism so it contributed as one of the reasons of going to war. The Domino theory was a theory that if one country in a region falls to Communism that the surrounding countries would fall to communism as well. The U.S. also saw the Domino Theory in Vietnam.
