Why Did the Us Withdraw from Vietnam?
HISTORY ASSESSMENT
In the early 1960’s John.F.Kennedy pledges financial and military aid to South Vietnam who were struggling. As a political unrest grew, the support from a war in North Vietnam grew and in 1963 John.F.Kennedy was assassinated. President Johnson felt that, to keep in with the US foreign policy of containment, he would have to send a vast amount of young troops into Vietnam to help fight the rising influence of the Viet Cong. For over 10 years, the Us pledged thousands of soldiers and billions in financial aid until public opinion and guerrilla tactics forced the US to withdraw from Vietnam. Many reasons had an impact on the war which forced America out, which will all be explained throughout this essay.
The first reason (which I believe is the most important) was the media. The media broadcasted live footage of the war in Vietnam to the public which meant that this was the first war ever to be watched on live TV. The footage was shown without any censorship or watershed which meant kids could watch it. Everyone was able to see it as the footage interrupted any programme that they were watching. The footage devastated American civilians by the terrifying images and the fact that they had to watch villages being destroyed, Vietnamese children burning to death, and American body bags being sent home. At the beginning the media coverage generally supported U.S involvement in the war, but television news dramatically changed its frame of the war after the Tet Offensive. Images of the U.S led massacre at My Lai dominated the television, yet the horrific things that were committed by North Vietnam and the VC rarely made the evening news. Celebrities added to this by singing songs about the war such as Elton John and some celebrities refusing to join the army by ripping up their drafts such as Muhammad Ali. All of these things increased the support of the anti-war movement which leads on to the next reason.
The second reason was the peace protests and
In the early 1960’s John.F.Kennedy pledges financial and military aid to South Vietnam who were struggling. As a political unrest grew, the support from a war in North Vietnam grew and in 1963 John.F.Kennedy was assassinated. President Johnson felt that, to keep in with the US foreign policy of containment, he would have to send a vast amount of young troops into Vietnam to help fight the rising influence of the Viet Cong. For over 10 years, the Us pledged thousands of soldiers and billions in financial aid until public opinion and guerrilla tactics forced the US to withdraw from Vietnam. Many reasons had an impact on the war which forced America out, which will all be explained throughout this essay.
The first reason (which I believe is the most important) was the media. The media broadcasted live footage of the war in Vietnam to the public which meant that this was the first war ever to be watched on live TV. The footage was shown without any censorship or watershed which meant kids could watch it. Everyone was able to see it as the footage interrupted any programme that they were watching. The footage devastated American civilians by the terrifying images and the fact that they had to watch villages being destroyed, Vietnamese children burning to death, and American body bags being sent home. At the beginning the media coverage generally supported U.S involvement in the war, but television news dramatically changed its frame of the war after the Tet Offensive. Images of the U.S led massacre at My Lai dominated the television, yet the horrific things that were committed by North Vietnam and the VC rarely made the evening news. Celebrities added to this by singing songs about the war such as Elton John and some celebrities refusing to join the army by ripping up their drafts such as Muhammad Ali. All of these things increased the support of the anti-war movement which leads on to the next reason.
The second reason was the peace protests and