Vietnam War Lessons Learned Analysis
Lessons Learned by
The American Experience of the Vietnam War
Christal K. Jones
Professor Anderson
August 15¸ 2013
Introduction The Vietnam War lasted close to twenty years; the American experience help to put into perspective, the complex lessons that the United States military and its leadership should have learned from their involvement in this war. This paper will discuss some of the lessons learned from the following arenas: diplomatic negotiations, presidential leadership, and cultural/social contexts. In addition, wearing the historian’s hat that is necessary and greatly appreciated, this writer will discuss personal lessons learned in this course.
Diplomatic Negotiations Oxford Dictionary of the U.S Military (2013) defines …show more content…
They all wanted to win the war; each implemented strategies they hoped would assure a win which included military training offered by Eisenhower and Kennedy, military troops implemented by Johnson, attempts at negotiations attempted by Truman, or strategies of military withdrawal introduced by Johnson. These strategies in the face of losing a war eventually rested in the lap of President Nixon and hinged on his agenda of ending the war by conveying “peace with honor” (Moss 2010). The best lesson learned from a presidential leadership perspective, is that having to “save face” could have been avoided if the truth was disclosed regarding the strategies necessary to win, true accounts of the war and if the government simply operated transparently by admitting its …show more content…
America never took in to account the Vietnamese people’s determination to unify their country; essentially, America was fighting to divide a nation that culturally and socially was united and committed to self-governance. According to Moss (2010), “nearly all Vietnamese, northern and southerners, whatever their political beliefs and affiliations, held to a concept of single all-embracing nation” (pg. 73). Therefore, the lesson learned here is that if you only seek to divide and conquer, instead of understanding and respecting another’s cultural commitment to independence and self-sufficiency, you will only embark upon a war fueled by lies, and you will not be
The American Experience of the Vietnam War
Christal K. Jones
Professor Anderson
August 15¸ 2013
Introduction The Vietnam War lasted close to twenty years; the American experience help to put into perspective, the complex lessons that the United States military and its leadership should have learned from their involvement in this war. This paper will discuss some of the lessons learned from the following arenas: diplomatic negotiations, presidential leadership, and cultural/social contexts. In addition, wearing the historian’s hat that is necessary and greatly appreciated, this writer will discuss personal lessons learned in this course.
Diplomatic Negotiations Oxford Dictionary of the U.S Military (2013) defines …show more content…
They all wanted to win the war; each implemented strategies they hoped would assure a win which included military training offered by Eisenhower and Kennedy, military troops implemented by Johnson, attempts at negotiations attempted by Truman, or strategies of military withdrawal introduced by Johnson. These strategies in the face of losing a war eventually rested in the lap of President Nixon and hinged on his agenda of ending the war by conveying “peace with honor” (Moss 2010). The best lesson learned from a presidential leadership perspective, is that having to “save face” could have been avoided if the truth was disclosed regarding the strategies necessary to win, true accounts of the war and if the government simply operated transparently by admitting its …show more content…
America never took in to account the Vietnamese people’s determination to unify their country; essentially, America was fighting to divide a nation that culturally and socially was united and committed to self-governance. According to Moss (2010), “nearly all Vietnamese, northern and southerners, whatever their political beliefs and affiliations, held to a concept of single all-embracing nation” (pg. 73). Therefore, the lesson learned here is that if you only seek to divide and conquer, instead of understanding and respecting another’s cultural commitment to independence and self-sufficiency, you will only embark upon a war fueled by lies, and you will not be