The United States got involved in the Vietnam War from 1954 -1964 to prevent and contain communism. In Vietnam, an independence movement under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh rose to challenge French rule. The United States helped France by giving financial and military aid. The US had moral and ethical reasons to stand up and face unethical leaders that oppressed other weaker people and to contain the spread of communism. Communism is horrible because the government controls every move you make and you have no say in what happens in your life.
In many ways the Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War which led to the withdrawal of American troops; however there is also evidence to suggest otherwise. This is caused by the undeniable fact that America suffered a major loss during the surprise attack but, they also came out on top and survived the ambush. The main reason to agree with this statement is that America heavily suffered from the attack in which many lives were lost, ammunition wasted and the government was shown in a new light. This light was that they were not on top of the Vietcong’s tactics and did not know what they were planning. 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.
Another event that impacted the public’s view of government dishonesty during this time was President Nixon’s involvement with the infamous Watergate scandal which eventually led to his resignation on August 9, 1974. Furthermore, when President Nixon began his presidency, people believed he would work to bring an end to America’s involvement in the Vietnam. Yet, this was not the case as Nixon increased bombing raids and authorized the invasion of Cambodia. When the war started, the American people were led to believe that the war was a necessity to ensure the protection of the nation as a whole.
Many troops were not committed to their duty in Vietnam and did not always see why they were actually putting their lives on the line. Not only were the VC more committed to the war, they were also greatly underestimated by the US and were not expected to have the advanced tunnel systems and weaponry they used. In summary, Americans simply believed their enemies were technologically inferior peasants, when in reality the VC were well aware of Vietnamese terrain, quick to improvise and extremely dedicated to their cause. Before Ia Drang the US had already commenced Operation Rolling Thunder, the strategic bombing of North Vietnam. Despite
During 1957 and 1965 they have some problems with the government and North Vietnam send their troops to fight against the government. After this the war started. The North Vietnam has the support of other communist countries for example the USSR and the South Vietnam have the support of the US, this because the US was anti-communist. The US sent equipment and troops to South Vietnam, because they were going to help them win this war against the communism. When the war started many American people was against it and want this to end son as possible.
The US intervened because of this as there was a great fear of communism around at the time. McCarthyism had just become a major issue, with many government officials being accused of being communist and as Truman had lost China, Eisenhower knew that if he ‘lost’ Vietnam, then his popularity would suffer greatly as the US public would think he was soft on communism. As a result, he would not be re-elected. The domino theory was significant because if Indochina fell to communism then there was a risk of the US losing Japan, after the effort the US put into restoring Japan after WW2 and all the trade that came from Japan, the US couldn’t afford for Japan to be threatened. Another significant reason why the US intervened in South East Asia was the power vacuum after Dien Bien Phu.
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.
This resulted in the bloody First Indochina War that resulted in the French granting independence to Indochina and the creation of two Vietnams, North and South. But before we go into that I think it’s important to look at why the people of Indochina wanted independence in the first place. To start with the French despised the Vietnamese and treated them very poorly. They despised the country so much that they built the city of Dalat to resemble “a French alpine town”. (Hunt, 2012) The French used local laborers to build the city, but most were forbidden from visiting it, except for those that
At the same time they tried to create a strong non-communist South Vietnam under the leadership of Diem. By the late 1950s, the communist rebels in South Vietnam declared a revolutionary struggle against Diem, so as to reunify Vietnam under communist rule. In turn, by the 1960s the USA became more and more alarmed at this prospect, leading to further intervention in Vietnam to stop this. When Kennedy was inaugurated he inherited many crises around the globe, the most pertinent was the loss of Cuba. After the well known Bay of Pigs fiasco, he felt he was advised that he needed a foreign policy success.
The war began due to North Vietnam being a communist country, while the US wanted to prevent a communist country taking over the south part of Vietnam. The media played an important role in the war, as the media brought the war into the American’s homes, showing the Americans all the realities of warfare. Many things were showed to the Americans. The coverage that the media showed to the Americans horrified them in many ways: wounded civilians, children who had lost their parents, many villages destroyed, search and destroy missions etc. The war was pointless in the American’s eyes and they thought that America had no right to impose its views on Vietnam.