One reason Eisenhower shouldn’t be blamed for America’s involvement in Vietnam is that his advisors were too focused on how to win the war in Vietnam rather than if winning the war in Vietnam would actually be beneficial at all. So if his advisors only spoke of strategies to win in Vietnam, this may have lead Eisenhower to believe there weren’t any other options and that continued involvement in Vietnam was the wisest choice. Therefore it could have been the fault of Eisenhower’s advisors and not Eisenhower’s fault himself that America continued its involvement in Vietnam. A second reason that means Eisenhower shouldn’t be blamed was because of the Quagmire theory. By the point of Eisenhower’s presidency, President Truman had already gotten America deeply involved in Vietnam, therefore it would have been difficult for Eisenhower to become uninvolved and it also would appear wasteful of resources, so the only
However, the USA in the 1950s believed that if South Vietnam (which was not controlled by Ho) fell to Ho, this would mean communist expansion. This was because the American administration believed in the domino theory, i.e. once a country falls to communism, this will mean that Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, etc will start to fall to communism. In turn, the USA under Eisenhower drew a line in Vietnam to stop Ho reunification attempt. At the same time they tried to create a strong non-communist South Vietnam under the leadership of Diem.
After that, nation after nation might fall to Communism. Communism is a political and economic system that the United States strongly opposed. Vietnam had been split in half in 1954, after fighting a war to gain independence from France. When French forces withdrew the US felt they needed to take matters into their own hands but the Vietnamese Communists gained control of North Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the North Vietnamese Communists.
Explain how far the views in source B differ from those in source A in relation to Kennedy’s concern for South Vietnam’s independence. (12 marks) Source B is mainly suggesting that Kennedy was planning to withdraw the USA from Vietnam as he states that Communism would be the overall victor as it was seen to be very successful and persuasive to many of the Vietnamese people which was seen by the growing support for the Communist troops by the South Vietnamese, especially with the NLF with their anti-Saigon propaganda. Source A is however different to this as it shows that Kennedy is determined to defend South Vietnam from the Communist force and also to maintain their independence. This is backed up by the military adviser and economic aid that Kennedy gave to the Saigon government which was increased greatly during the beginning of his presidency. However, the fact that in source B, when he says that the death of American soldiers is unacceptable, also fits with the economic and military adviser aid as he was not willing to use military force to uphold their independence even though in source A, he is very devout to protect their independence at all costs, which may have included military force.
Laos was threatened by Communist insurgents and Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia had renounced aid from the US and demanded neutrality in any further conflicts. Left-wing insurgents were threatening Thailand and the British were having similar issues in dealing with threats in Malaysia and Borneo. Sukarno. Leader of Indonesia, had started to show an interest in the Indonesian communist party, much to the ire of America. While the more sophisticated of the US advisers realised that the domino theory was too simplistic in an increasingly non-linear world, split not just by ideology but also historically through ethnic and nationalist conflict, this didn't mean that the USSR and China would exploit any weakness shown by the USA.
Another significant reason why the US intervened in South East Asia was the power vacuum after Dien Bien Phu. The French were defeated and withdrew from Vietnam, and the US were worried that China, or even perhaps the Soviets would begin to take control. Then Ho Chi Minh emerged as a potential leader; Ho had spent time in Moscow and the US viewed him as a communist rather than a nationalist, which meant they feared him being in power and therefore, they had to get involved in South East Asia. Alternatively, the US may have intervened in South East Asia because of the lack of faith in the Geneva accords.
When the war started many American people was against it and want this to end son as possible. They were against it because United States didn´t have any trade with Vietnam or something like that. Many people give their opinions about the war in Vietnam. In the next paragraphs I am going to talk about two American groups fell about the war, the two groups are the American public and the soldiers. The first group the American public at the beginning of the war agreed with the fact that Us was helping South Vietnam, this because the president of the united States in this year told the people that they need to go to war and they have to go even if they don´t like the idea.
Nevertheless, this move did not get the support of some Americans. His opponents believed that the United States should not engage in the Vietnam War. Johnson believed that it was necessary to adopt a forceful move towards solving the Vietnam Conflict. The decision by Johnson to engage in the Vietnam conflict led to the disruption of law and order in the United States. However, Johnson believed that it was important to end the conflict in Vietnam.
To help counter that threat Truman started secretly sending money as well as supplies to help back the French forces against Ho Chi Minh's forces (Schomp The Vietnam War 5). This led Ho to seek help from China and the Soviet Union, which made Ho favorable towards communism (Schomp The Vietnam War 5). Although the United States was not directly involved in the war until 1955, they did still indirectly play a role in the move against Ho Chi Minh's forces. In an attempt to regain control, France left the French educated, strongly anti-communist Bao Dai in control of the region ("Vietnam War"). This enraged Ho Chi Minh, and his forces immediately rose up seizing the northern city of Hanoi, creating the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ("Vietnam War").
McNamara’s advice to withdraw military personnel prior the coup was no longer an option as instability in Vietnam posed a threat to national security. Although McNamara concedes the conflict was a civil war, he presses the importance of understanding the conflict as an element of the Cold War. Out of fear for further spread of communist interest, the US began to unilaterally support South Vietnam militarily. McNamara however argues that had the US been more able to empathize with and to better understand the Vietnamese, large-scale military intervention could have been avoided. America’s duty to act where others can not or will not stems from McNamara’s belief that there’s something beyond oneself.