Johnson’s administration tried very hard to keep distain for his policies at bay. “The pressure campaign produced mixed results. On the one hand, the administration succeeded in persuading many domestic dissidents to keep their objections quiet, partly by playing to their patriotism (true Americans do not challenge the commander in chief on global issues in a time of Cold War) and partly by seducing them into thinking their ides were taken seriously.” (Logevall’s, 188) In Robert Brigham’s essay “An Unwinnable War” he believes that the Chinese commitment to Vietnam was strengthened due to Operation “Rolling Thunder” to eliminate American aggressors. He believes that many felt that the Chinese would have “backed away from its military commitments to Vietnam during the Cultural Revolution.”(214) With the aid of China, it was apparently going to be difficult for America to focus on their main objective. It seems that not only did America have to worry about the issues in Vietnam
The Socio-political Effects of the Vietnam War Axia College of the University of Phoenix The Vietnam War was the most controversial and politically unsettling events in American history. While the war had many dramatic effects on society, the distrust in the American government and politicians that it generated has had a lasting effect on some of today’s citizens and advocacy groups. This attitude shaped many individuals political beliefs which have been passed down to younger generations. While this distrust does not affect all members of society, it is important to realize the strong emotions that the Vietnam War ignited and understand the impact it had on certain generations. There were several factors that created this general distrust.
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.
As well as this the fighting itself was filmed and broadcasted in North Vietnam to show that they had successfully attacked and breached the American defences. The information was then relayed back to the United States and shown, through the media and press, to the public. At this time Americans believed that the war was coming to an end and that they had almost total control over Vietnam. This was obviously not the case - as they soon found out. The images that were broadcasted all over America did not please the public and before long riots and protests were being held in the streets to end the war.
However, Johnson believed that it was important to end the conflict in Vietnam. According to him, if such disputes were allowed to continue, the whole world would not be peaceful. This reveals that his desire to end the Vietnam conflict was aimed at ensuring global peace. His critics state that during this time the United States experienced domestic problems, which would have been the priority for the president. The crime rate in the United States soured during the Vietnam War with numerous street protests.
The Media brings the Tet Offensive to the American people c. Lyndon B. Johnson and General Westmoreland 4. Controversy a. My Lai b. The Anti War movement go’s mainstream c. The Soldiers of the United States begin to lose their will to fight 5. Although the Tet Offensive was unsuccessful for the North Vietnamese Army, they showed that United States had seriously underestimated them and their capabilities.
His catholic family loathed communism, he was taught to hate it as it went against his religion and jeopardised his family’s wealth. Kennedy was surrounded by anti-communists; he had a tight relationship with Senator Joseph McCartney, a close family friend who was responsible for the ‘Red Scare’ of the 1950’s. These relationships further increased his hatred of communism, causing him to become very determined on the containment of it. Kennedy was so eager to fight communism that within his first few days of presidency, he had raised the amount of financial aid given to the South Vietnamese army, hoping they would grow stronger and overthrow Diem, however this was not enough and Kennedy was still threatened by the Domino theory. Kennedy strongly believed in the domino theory, his campaign rhetoric was entirely devoted to foreign policy and the containment of communism.
Many people demonstrated frustration and anger with the decisions that were being made by the leaders in our government. Additionally, as in the 70’s, and today, this ultimately resulted in a distrust our country‘s international intentions by many United States citizens, as well as citizens of other countries. In other news, the fear and threat of the Aids virus during the 1970’s was considered the new
The American Public today sees films as a wealthy source for Government criticism and social debate, all due to the Industry's ability to cover the Vietnam War and its social and its political aftermath, through contemplating eyes. This is true, even though the industry did not advocate ideas not already known and familiar to the public. In other words, films shown were always criticising government, but only to the extent the public was able to incorporate. None of the films I saw took totally new ideas and air them to the public. On the other hand, Corrigan writes that the extensive media coverage of the war in live and documentary makes it near impossible to cover the war by
Richard Nixon’s election to Presidency of the United States in 1968, marked a turning point in American foreign policy and a new strategic approach to the war in Vietnam. It was a war he had inherited from his predecessor, Lyndon Johnson. Domestic support for the war had diminished significantly, with national outpourings of opposition. This prompted Nixon to make his famous ‘silent majority’ speech, where he outlined his position on Vietnam, “After all, we became involved in the war while my predecessor was in office. I could blame the defeat which would have been the result of my action on him and come out as Peacemaker…But I had a greater obligation than to think only of the years of my administration and of the next election.