Trust In Government During The Vietnam War

The predominant problems the nation faced during this conflict was detrimental to the trust of American citizens and their trust in their leaders. The Vietnam War was the attempt of North Vietnam to establish a communist government in South Vietnam. The United States was a strong ally to the South. The ultimate result of this war was a defeat for the United States, and the effects still linger in the nation today. The loss of soldiers, the downfall of the economy, and the heated debates between the people are just a handful of problems the United States faced during this war. According to the polls by Pew Research Center, the Vietnam War caused the most dramatic decline of American trust in the government’s decision making, “trust in government

According to the chart provided by Pew Research center, the percentage of the public’s trust in the government hit a peak at 77% just at the commencement of the war and dropped dramatically to a shocking 36% at the end of the war. According to this Gallup poll, the people’s suspicion of the validity of the government’s decisions would continue to increase when it was barely a concern before the war. The lack and falsity of media coverage of the war undermined the people, caused the government to fight the government, and the war ultimately reduced the morale of the soldiers and the people. Many people today believe this war was a mistake because of the unnecessary loss of soldiers and the poor economy, but it taught the country valuable lessons. It is important to understand why the people changed their perspective of the government and to learn from history. The public’s distrust in the government resulted from the lack and falsity of media coverage of the Vietnam War, conflicts from inside the government, and the reduced morale of the soldiers and the

The poor draft decisions of the president caused agitation and terror among eligible citizens. Hundreds of troops were needed because of the heavy losses the United States faced across the Pacific, so the Selective Service heavily drafted citizens. This became highly controversial as the draft was disproportionate domestically. A major problem with the drafting process was how you could pay to have your draft request dissolved. This was expensive, however, so most of the drafted consisted of the less fortunate and minorities. The Vietnam Memorial Fund analyzed the Vietnam draft stating, “an October 1966 report by the National Advisory Commission on Selective Service showed that only 1.3 percent of local board members were African American. By comparison, African Americans constituted 11 percent of the U.S. population, 16.3 percent of all draftees, and 23 percent of all combat troops in Vietnam in 1967” (vvmf.org, 2018). This obvious disproportionation was emotionally scarring for many, and the poor socioeconomic citizens aimed their anger towards the government. They started to put their opposition towards the war effort to extreme measures with draft protests, inflicting minor injuries on themselves, or fleeing to Canada to make them ineligible for combat. The media televised the abuse of soldiers at war. This, along with the increase in drafting, caused