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The Domino Theory: The Effect Of The Vietnam War

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The Domino Theory: The Effect Of The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War began in 1954 after the rise of the communist party in North Vietnam and continued throughout the 50’s and 60’s. As the Cold War intensified, America strengthened their policies against the Soviet Union and anyone who was allied with them and in 1955 President Eisenhower pledged to support South Vietnam and Diem, their leader. Diem was a dictator who found anyone who sympathized with the North Vietnamese and tortured and executed them. In 1961 President Kennedy sent a team to build up American military in South Vietnam. The “domino theory” was a major part in this decision. The idea of the domino theory was if one asian country fell to communism, many others directly surrounding it would quickly follow. By 1962 there was nearly 9,000 American troops in …show more content…
War between the North and South continued until April 30, 1975, when the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, was captured by the North. The war was finally over after 1,313,000 deaths, including 275,000 American deaths. The effects of the war would linger in the U.S. far after end of the war. $120 billion was spent between 1965-73 on the war. The loss of the war destroyed the myth that America was invincible and divided the nation. Many veterans that came home were faced with negative reactions as people saw them as losing the war and killing innocent civilians. President Richard Nixon responded to these negative reactions by saying “No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now.” Hollywood was the source of all this negative reaction since they were the ones showing all the footage and pictures. “Hollywood never knew there was a Vietnam War until they made the movie.” Jerry Stiller said about Hollywood during the war. In all the Vietnam War didn’t solve anything and set the U.S.
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