The United States involvement in Vietnam started when the Vietnamese were fighting the French for independence. From the year 1945 up until 1975 the United States had a role in lives of many Vietnamese and Americans. This war was consisted North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the Americans after the French decided to give up to Vietnam. According to the United States we decided to go to war to stop communism from taking over Asia, also known as the "Domino Theory" and its freedom from attack. The Vietnamese had another reason to continue fighting the United States.
As the communist party gained influence in Vietnam during the late forties and early fifties, at the beginning of the Cold War, the people of the United States were extremely worried about the threat of communism spreading to Southeast Asia. The Cold War agendas of the major world superpowers made Vietnam a major point of conflict because of the widespread hate of Communism in the United States, the pro-communism agenda of the Soviet Union, and both of their interest in Vietnam. As in most colonized places, the Vietnamese people were oppressed and treated as
The American involvement in the war between North and South Vietnam would drastically change the views of many Americans. With this the nation was split between two parities, ones who were all for the war, and the other that were against it. With every night bringing a live update on the war the views of the people would constantly change biased on the progress of the war. The main part of the war came to a head between the 1960’s and 1970’s, with the Tet offensive taking place which single handedly end Lyndon brown Johnson’s future of running for a second term for president. During the war, the nation seemed to be separated into two parties.
Vietnam War Rob Watson History 135 Sunday May 27, 2012 Mona Rocha Vietnam War There were many wars in the history of America, but the one war that faced much controversy then, even still today, which brought about many changes, was the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War lasted 19 years, from 1954 to 1973(Vietnam War). This war had an impact on many aspects of life in America, and the actions of America affected the war efforts in Vietnam. As the War ended, it sparked many changes in America, both political and social that still affects us even today. This paper will examine the ways in which the war influenced the lives of America, and how the events in America influenced the war.
This occurred some years after 1950. In the 1960s and 70s, the American public became very angry and frustrated with the military-industrial complex. The protest against the Vietnam War had reached its very highest. In President Eisenhower‘s farewell address, he warned, “ In the councils of government, we must guard against acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” The American public should refrain from gaining any negative or unauthorized influences by the military-industrial complex.
1 The USA was deeply hostile towards the Soviet Union and fearing a spread of communism, adopted a policy of containment. 4 In Vietnam the target of containment was Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh front he had created in 1941. Ho and his chief lieutenants were communists with long-standing connections to the Soviet Union. 5 Hoping to halt a takeover by the communist North Vietnamese (led by Ho Chi Minh) 6, US officials chose to support the anti-Communist prime minister of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem1,. As opposed to the other superpower, America got directly involved, sending not only financial aid1 but actively participating in the military effort.
• It has its roots in the Truman doctrine and its goal of containing communism. • Vietnam was a major zone of cold war tension after it defeated the French colonialists and created a new government in the north. • President Kennedy and Johnson thought it was a barrier to the spread of communism throughout the regions, perhaps the world. • Secretary of defense Robert McNamara warned Johnson that failure in Vietnam would result in a “complete shift of world power” with the “prestige and integrity” of the US severely damaged. This lead Johnson to continue with the fight.
However, most historians place the start date back between 1955 and 1959, when North Vietnam gradually become more active about their presence in the South. The United States was afraid that North Vietnam was attempting to take over South Vietnam. At this time, United States foreign policy believed in the policy of containment, that communism must be contained where it is, and in the Domino Theory. This theory said that if one country was allowed to fall to communism, the countries surrounding it would be more likely to fall as well. The prolonged war left many Americans bitter about U.S. involvement in a war they could not
Although many students were moved by the war, it also caused great changes to politics in the United States. It was an extremely trying time for student during the Vietnam War. Although you were able to avoid the war as a student once you graduated you were at risk for the draft. However, the war escalated and a Selective Service System operated on a lottery system was enacted forcing some students to join the war. These lottery systems lead way to college students using their campuses for large protests to stop the war in fear that if it continued they would be drafted (History and Records, 2009).
As the protests continued they eventually put enough pressure on our government influencing them to bring our troops home, thus ending the United States’ involvement in Vietnam and releasing the Vietnamese from foreign colonial occupation. Many hippies joined forces with the Civil Rights Movement and believed that everyone was equal and that no one had the right to tell them otherwise. Hippies took part in