Vietnam was under French occupation after the Second World War. Ho Chi Minh led a revolution against the French colonial power in his country. Once France had been expelled in 1954, Vietnam became divided into North and South Vietnam, with Ho controlling the North. Ho was not pleased that two countries would be created instead of just one "Vietnam." Consequently, the solution was simple: Reunification.
The crime rate in the United States soured during the Vietnam War with numerous street protests. Although the decision to engage in the Vietnam War had some merits, the approach taken by Johnson was not ideal. He focused his attention on the war at the expense of domestic welfare. Nevertheless, Johnson still enjoyed substantial support by some Americans. Some people believed that the Vietnam conflict was a threat to global peace.
It is imperative to understand the factors which influenced President Nixon’s strategies and decision making during the Vietnam War. Nixon operated in a political context in which the policy-making establishment and the public were pessimistic towards a favourable outcome in Vietnam. Kimball (1998), argues that Nixon’s strategies were born out of restraint, rather than authoritative freedom. Nixon was walking a political tightrope to maintain the status quo between the ‘hawk’ advocates and the ‘dove’ pacifists. “Nixon realised there was both an influential right-wing alliance in favour of the war and a heterogeneous liberal, pacifist, and leftist coalition in opposition…He looked at American national
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.
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.
However, both of these beliefs are inaccurate, as Gifford has written to full description of what happened in America when the Vietnam War happened and it accounts for why it was a major reason of America’s defeat in the war. However the representation is balanced, even though it only has one paragraph on the ‘majority of the American people who supported President Johnsons actions in Vietnam and believed in the ‘domino theory’’. This gives people who are reading the representation the different views on how the Americans reacted to the war. ‘Majority’ gives evidence that despite the lack of morale some Americans had being the turning point of the war, there was still a lot of people who supported President Johnsons and America’s involvement in Vietnam were for a good reason. Representation 1 accounts the Tet
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
Just this alone was a just cause for the United States to get involved in the Vietnam War. Many feel that this wasn’t a good enough reason for the United States to get involved and was immoral unjust war, or that communism is not that bad. According to Aquinas four things for the just war rules which are: legit ruler, just cause, right intention, and self-defense legit. All four of these in my opinion were met in the Vietnam War. US has a legit ruler, president of the United States.
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.
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").