During 1968 the Vietnam War was a defining moment in American history, in that due to the Tet Offensive, American morale concerning the war and President Johnson decreased, mistrust in the government increased, and the end of the Vietnam War seemed nearer. This year was truly a turning point in American history; the three listed examples are only a few reasons why. The Vietnam War in general changed the history of America, but the year,1968, especially affected the American society. During this time, fear and suspicion were prevalent due to the decisions of the government, and battles occurring in Vietnam.…
The war was a twenty year war starting in 1954 and ending in 1975. The Vietnam War, a long war between North and South Vietnam over communism, impacted all generations by changing the way Americans viewed war and by hurting the Vietnamese people; furthermore, the U.S. presidents during the Vietnam War had many different views, which affected U.S. polices and the country for many years after.…
Although very popular the Vietnam war was huge conflict during the years of 1964 through 1975, this single incident changed many Americans opinions about the nation's role both in foreign affairs and domestic ones. The Vietnam war failed in its primary purpose which was to assists in the defense against north Vietnamese communism, just like the cold war previously this proved to be another example of escalation. The US involvement in Vietnam damaged the us reputation due to very misguided and complex intentions on the part of political leaders like those in the Johnson and Nixon administration which brought upon unhappiness and social unrest among the public. This political corruption along with mismanagement on the economic system and the…
It can be argued that the Vietnam war forever changed the path the United States took to wage warfare, the hippie movement changed American culture. The Vietnam War shaped warfare forever in that war had always been convention, there was a definite enemy who wore a uniform. The Viet-Cong used guerilla tactics, the act of blending in with the civilian population and conducting hit and run attacks on your numerically superior enemy. The Vietnam war shaped the way that the public viewed the United States government, the war changed the public’s trust in their all mighty government. It may also be argued that the Vietnam war didn’t affect the path that the United States was on in that, as the world became more progressive in their societal advancements.…
The 1960s and 1970s were a turbulent time for Americans as the country entered in the Vietnam War, from 1965 to 1975. The lives of young men were drastically changed as they were entered into the draft lottery. Others were outraged by the United States entering yet another war. Americans across the country came together and formed huge, diverse protests to stop the Vietnam War and save the lives of the soldiers and innocent civilians. Protesters weakened America's support of the war effort and exposed the horrors that were happening in Vietnam. American citizens were correct in protesting the country's involvement in the Vietnam War.…
The Vietnam War lasted about two decades. The United States was engulfed in a civil war between North and South Vietnam and wanted to assist the south with preventing a hostile takeover by North Vietnam under the Communism banner. The Vietnam War was not only America’s longest War, but also costliest and deadliest. We spent over $150 billion and suffered close to $58 thousand American deaths and nearly 300 thousand wounded. By the time we decided to withdraw from the war, North Vietnam easily swept through the south and unified Vietnam under Communism. Still to this day, one of the most debated topics regarding the Vietnam War is why the United States got involved and why, when and how we should wage future wars. (Dunn, 2001)…
The United States involvement in Vietnam started out as simply a way to support the new leader of South Vietnam, Ngo Dunh Diem in the late 1950’s. As time passed, the US was drawn deeper into the unstable politics of this unstable new nation. In 1960, the Vietminh started an armed struggle for national unification. Under orders from Hanoi, the Vietminh soldiers created the National LIberation front (NLF) and had both materials and manpower support from North Vietnam to begin military operation in the south. This marked the beginning of what Americans know as the Vietnam War. The US role steadily changed from aid support to intervention with Johnson sending an additional 5,000 military advisers there in 1964. “The Gulf of Tonkin supposed attack on American destroyers was enough of a threat that Congress passed a resolution which authorized the president to “take all necessary measure” to protect American forces and present additional aggression. This was essential an open-ended legal authorization for escalation on the conflict.…
The Vietnam War greatly changed America forever. It was the longest war fought in America’s history, lasting from 1955 to 1973. The Vietnam War tarnished America’s self image by becoming the first time in history the United States failed to accomplish its stated war aims, to preserve a separate, independent, noncommunist government. It was the first war ever broadcast on television. The public was able to see what happened on the battlefield. One of the chief effects of the war was the division it caused among the people. The war also had great effects on the presidencies of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.…
The Vietnam War differed from many wars due to the controversy of nearly every aspect of the war. During the Vietnam War, it was not only soldiers who were killed during all of the fighting. Yes others besides soldiers were killed in every war fought, but the war in Vietnam War was just greatly more so than nearly every other war. During the war, there were approximately four million civilians and innocent bystanders that were killed (Estimated n. pag.) The American population had minimal knowledge of what was actually happening in Vietnam during the war, so they ended up blaming the soldiers for all of the deaths and wrongdoings. After a short amount of time during the war, the majority of America’s public was actually opposed to the war. The public saw many parts of the war as inhumane and completely unnecessary. Americans were against the war in Vietnam because of the fact that it seemed as though we were getting interfering with a civil war, the U.S. army implemented draft, and the tactics used by the army were frowned upon by the public (Vietnam n. pag.) People can argue that the public was against many other wars, but never to the extent of the war in Vietnam, the public started turning on…
New president Lyndon B. Johnson inherited a difficult situation in Vietnam, as the South Vietnamese government was in shambles and the Viet Cong was making large gains in rural areas of the South. Although Johnson billed himself as a tough anti-Communist, he pledged to honor Kennedy’s limited troop commitments in Vietnam. The ensuing political instability in South Vietnam persuaded Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to further increase U.S. military and economic support in August 1964. Early that month, two U.S. Navy destroyers (spy-ships) in the Gulf of Tonkin reported that North Vietnamese gunboats attacked them unprovoked. The American public was incensed, and Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Out of the 535 total members of Congress, only two voted against this resolution. Although Johnson deferred openly escalating the war until after the election of 1964, the furor over the Gulf of Tonkin incident only helped Johnson in his campaign. By 1965, Viet Cong attacks on U.S. forces were becoming increasingly violent. With the free hand recently provided by Congress, Johnson ordered the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to begin an intense series of air strikes called Operation Rolling Thunder. He hoped that the bombing campaign would demonstrate to the South Vietnamese the U.S. commitment to their cause and its resolve to halt the spread of Communism. Despite Johnson’s campaign promise to keep “American boys” out of Vietnam, Operation Rolling Thunder set the gears in motion for a major escalation of the war, culminating in the first arrival of U.S. ground troops in 1965. The war was undergoing “Americanization.” Throughout 1965, the U.S. military continued its bombing campaigns, so heavily that by the end of the decade it had dropped 3 million tons of bombs on Vietnam.The campaign had little effect because target selection was difficult against the hidden Viet Cong in the rural, non-industrialized Northern…
From 1959 to 1975, America has been engaged in her longest and most disappointing war she has ever been in, the Vietnam War. The war heavily taxed the country’s patience and will of the government. There were several bad decisions which led to the ultimate defeat and retreat of U.S. The Vietnam War had a mostly negative impact on United States, by showing eventual failure of the American government, the collapse of U.S economy, and the loss of trust from the American People.…
Between 1954 and 1964 US involvement in Vietnam increased significantly about the time that the Gulf of Tonkin occurred and to an extent it can be seen that the Gulf of Tonkin was the main reason that the US got involved in Vietnam because shortly after the event happened, it lead to various battles between North and South Vietnam in which two élite battalions of South Vietnam troops were defeated by Vietcong ambush tactics. However,this event has speculated other possible reasons why the US got involved in Vietnam which include: President Johnson’s desire for a blank cheque, the Domino Theory and the Policy of containment. These factors will be explored in the following paragraphs.…
In this coursework essay, I am aiming to explain why the United States of America became increasingly involved in the Vietnam conflict between the years 1945 and 1966. During this time, America had five different presidents: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.…
One of the most notable changes to come out of the Vietnam War that still affects The United States is the right to vote. Many people were angry that men could be drafted into war but not vote in local or state election. Because of this President Johnson ratified the 26th amendment in 1971 changing the legal voting age to 18 (Rohn). Another change the United States tried to make was to stay out of foreign conflicts. A few years after the war had ended, President Bill Clinton ordered American troops to withdraw from a Somalia conflict know as 15-hour Battle of Mogadishu after having sent them there days earlier and 18 were already dead. A lot of distrust of the government arose because of the Vietnam War. The first publication of the Pentagon Papers revealed confidential details about the war’s conduct. This cause a lot of disgust from many Americans. Some Americans never let go of their anger and it only deepened when many decades later bad events were still occuring due to the United States involvement in the war. In 2003, children in south-east vietnam were playing with a war-era steel pellet bomb when it exploded and seriously injured them. Later that year, a 37 year old craftsman wanted some scrap for a project; he was sawing an artillery shell when it exploded and killed him and injured his assistant very badly. These bombs were from the United States and could still happen to anyone in…
The Vietnam War could be characterized as one of the most controversial incident in America’s history. United States acted paradoxically; they claimed that they protected democracy, they raised an oppressive dictatorial regime in the area of South Vietnam and later the US army was destroying villages in order to protect them (Wiest, 2002).…