Nixon’s main argument is that he won the war in Vietnam but Congress lost it by cutting off aid to South Vietnam. Nixon says his plan all along was to give South Vietnam the tools to their own victory because American combat troops could not win the conflict for them. This would also enable the withdrawal of American troops already stationed in Vietnam. Soon afterwards once the Paris Peace Accords were signed and all troops were out of Vietnam, Nixon felt confident in his strategy. Soon enough though, the North broke its agreement and the U.S had to determine whether or not to start helping the South once again.
Then Vietnam splits at the 17th parallel, France leaves and the U.S stays, JFK sends troops, LBJ then escalates war after JFK assassination, on July 1964 LBJ approved to attack on North Vietnam coast. On august 2, 1964, North Vietnam retailed and attacked U.S Maddox in the gulf of Tonkin. President Johnson then tells congress to pass the gulf of Tonkin resolution. It gave him the authorization to use military forces and send more troops. But it was not a declaration of war.
How accurate is it to say that Eisenhower and Kennedy must share responsibility for the escalation of US involvement in south-east Asia in the years 1954-63? Throughout their history the Vietnamese people suffered foreign interference and conquest. This began with the early French interest in the 17th century and by the late 19th century France had conquered Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, which were collectively known as French Indo-China. This French capture was highly supported by the US government. Harry Truman is an important figure in relation to Vietnam as it was him who made the decision to oppose communism throughout the world.
A reason Nixon was elected for president in 1969 was because his campaign was all about Vietnamize the war. This statement means that their would be more fighting turned over to the Southern Vietnamase military, and Nixon would start bringing the American troops home. When Richard had US troops attack in Cambodia, and had an extreme
After the failure of that he introduced things such as the strategic hamlets (Agrovilles) which were villages that were surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by troops, to isolate National Liberation Front (NFL) guerrillas from political recruits and other responses. In November 1961 Kennedy agreed to provide aircraft, intelligence equipment and additional economic aid which show that he was keen to introduce military forces to Vietnam. But due to the takeover of the NFL this meant that Kennedy had to up his enforcement in Vietnam so he left Johnson with a US military force of 16,000 troops and a commitment to the growing Vietnamese war. Source B also suggests that Kennedy was willing to use military force and it does this by saying “Kennedy would have agreed that withdrawal would case the fall of the dominos” this is suggestion that if Kennedy withdrew from Vietnam then this would be the realisation of the domino theory and everyone would see if Vietnam was the trigger that set of the domino theory. This source shows that Kennedy was willing to us military force and would not withdraw from
Beginning in the 1950s, maintaining a non-Communist South Vietnam became crucial in American efforts to contain communism. What was the nation's justification for its actions in South Vietnam in the 1950s and its determination to abide by the outcome of free elections there only if those elections yielded a non-Communist leader? For a long time the United States were in fear of the threat of communism stemming from a direct attack and the aspect of the Cold War, played a vital role in the fears. In the beginning the Vietnam War was first thought to be just another Cold War between northern and southern Vietnam. While the United States was nervous of Communism consuming the entire globe.
President Kennedy was entirely responsible for American involvement in Vietnam? How far do you agree with Carters interpretation of Kennedy’s foreign policy? I disagree that John Kennedy was entirely responsible for American involvement in Vietnam, as before Kennedy even came into power, by the end of his presidency, Eisenhower had already got the United States involved, by giving support to the French military attempts, and by injecting billions of US dollars into the unpopular Diem government. This huge commitment had already made it harder for the USA to pull out; they had made obligations to prop up a democratic government, and this obligation would follow onto Kennedy and Johnson. Charles de Gaulle said in 1961 "The more you become involved out there against Communism, the more the Communists will appear as champions of national independence… you will sink step by step into a bottomless military and political quagmire, however much you spend in men and money" Eisenhower had already begun the sinking process, and Kennedy would act as a catalyst for a further descent.
Nixon • Republican president elected in 1968 and 1972; resigned from office in 1974 due to Watergate scandal • Promised he would reduce U.S. troop levels in Vietnam, but force levels remained high and Nixon actually expanded the war into Laos and Cambodia • Pursued a plan he called “Vietnamization” to push the South Vietnamese army to shoulder the bulk of the fighting • In the first months of his second term, the last U.S. combat soldiers left Vietnam EVENTS 1963 Buddhist Protests • Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk, set himself on fire in protest against South Vietnamese government policies, including religious intolerance • Other Buddhists followed his example in the following months • His suicide shocked and confused many Americans and created doubt in their minds about U.S. support for the South Vietnamese government 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • Gave President Johnson the power to take any military action he deemed necessary to defend South Vietnam against the Viet Cong • Passed in response to an unconfirmed attack on the USS Maddox off the coast of Vietnam 1968 Tet Offensive • Occurred on 31 January, beginning of Vietnamese Tet
Americas politics, America used Diem as a way to stop to spread of communism in Vietnam, they supported him in becoming Vietnams first president and to set up an Anti-Communist government at the same time, this was another way for the us government to stop the spread of communism the American government also stopped a Vietnam vote for either capitalism of communism America when to extreme measures to stop this from happening. In 1964 the us navy reports of an incident involving two American destroyers and several Vietnamese gunships, this is what lead to the us declaring full out war on Vietnam and the Viet mihn, it stated that Viet gunships fired
1. The Vietnam War was a very costly war. It not only affected those in battles, but it also left behind long term effects on people everywhere in the world. It was an extremely costly war with over 58,000 Americans dead and over 150,000 wounded in battle. North Vietnam was victorious over South Vietnam and allied forces.