American Involvement in the Vietnam War

Over thirty years ago the Vietnam War ended, and the U.S. came back home with their tails between their legs and nothing to show for other than a high number of casualties, and a huge pile of debt. The U.S. underestimated the North Vietnamese army, and it was costly. Many believe that the Vietnam War was none of the U.S. business, but on the contrary, many believe we should have tried to stop the spread of communism. The long-lasting Vietnam War was unnecessary for the U.S. to be a part of; it put many people through unneeded stress and hard times.

In fact, remarkable similarities exist between the Korean War and the Vietnam War; from the US support of a dictatorial and corrupt anti-communist regime to its conception of communism as a monolithic entity, under which all communist nations were necessarily allies, rather than individuals to be dealt with separately. However, though those parallels, Vietnam era policy-makers did not apply the lessons of the Korean War to the Vietnam War. Rather, they did not seem to recognize those lessons as lessons at all, and repeated in

When the war began many Americans believed that defending South Vietnam from Communist aggression was in the national interest. When operation Rolling Thunder began in 1965, only 15% of Americans opposed getting involved in the war. If America wouldn’t show its loyalty to its allies it would look bad on America. Also if we didn't put our foot to communism when we did, who would? Communism would’ve spread all over the world if we didn’t contain it while we still could. Americans fear the domino theory which is the theory of a communist victory in Vietnam might lead to a communist victory in other nations.

The overall efforts of the United States in Vietnam has been described as a ‘war of liberation’ this can also be used to define Eisenhower’s overall policy towards Vietnam as it was based fundamentally on the fear that it was ‘certain that the fall of Vietnam to Communism would lead to the loss of all of Southern Asia’ and in an attempt to prevent this; his administration adopted a new policy of nation building. The overall aim of nation building was to build a Western government within Vietnam that would be strong enough to withstand Communism and also build a new Vietnamese nation. This was done by appointing Diem; a Catholic, to run North Vietnam with the belief that him acting as a figurehead would make it less likely for Ho Chin Minh to take power of Vietnam. Herring further explains ‘The Eisenhower administration after Geneva firmly committed itself to creating in the Southern part of the country a nation that would stand as a bulwark against Communist expansion.’ However, this did not happen without its consequences, for example: this over amplified American’s commitment to Vietnam by following the precedent policies by Truman aligned the United States with unstable and unrepresentative regime, and ultimately failed in laying the foundations for a completely stable nation as David L Anderson explained America

Under Truman’s administration, Vietnam was separated by the 16th parallel north. After Hainan Island was captured, he approved the spending of $10 million for military aid to the French in order to prevent the spread of communism in Indochina. After the Korean War, the U.S. started becoming more involved in combating communism. Once President Dwight D. Eisenhower took over, he used the “Domino Theory.” The Domino Theory was an idea that suggests that if one country fell under communist control, neighboring countries would eventually follow. The theory was used to justify U.S. involvement in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. After Kennedy became President, U.S. involvement in Vietnam became much more notable. Before his assassination, Kennedy had increased the amount of military numbers in

The Vietnam War was a grousing, costly battle that drained our nation morally and psychologically. The war lives infamously with the unpopularity received by America and its people. Many believed that we had no business joining arms with South Vietnam to try and defeat a communist regime of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. With the war begining in 1954 due to the rise of the North Vietnamese and their leader Ho Chi Minh, an advocate for communism, which put a target on North Vietnam due to America’s pursuit to end communism around the world. By 1969 and the Wars 15th year of existence, more than half a million American soldiers had been involved. Many returning veterans and a large portion of the American public felt bitter about our involvement

As Eisenhower took office he and his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, chose to agree with the assessment of Ho Chi Minh as an “instrument of international communism”. This view would lock the United States once more in a policy driven by fear of communism. The administration set about bolstering a war-weary France with promises of additional aid, but also with demands on access to French battle plans. In March of 1954 the Vietminh’s successful assault on French Garrisons left the U.S. even more in doubt concerning France’s success.

I do not believe that it was in the best interests of the United States to get involved in Vietnam. It's true that the US was trying its best to stop the spread of Communism and the influence of the USSR (i.e. the Truman Doctrine). While that was an important aspect of the Cold War, the ​real​ goal of the Cold War was to "win the hearts and minds of the world." The later aspect was by far the most important, and the main reason why the US should have stayed out of Vietnam.

During WWII Ho Chi Minh worked for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt had publicly endorsed Vietnam's independence and Ho believed the President would bring Vietnam its long awaited goal, freedom. But with his passing FDR was more to Vietnam than a changing of the guard, it meant the end of a promise for U.S. support. When Ho Chi Minh sent communiqués asking the Truman Administration to recognize Vietnam as a sovereign nation, and to not fund the revitalization of French colonialism in Southeast Asia, his words fell on deaf ears. Shortly after that the French came back, funded by American dollars. But they did not last long, and their military forces were fully defeated by 1954. Ten years later the American war in Vietnam began, and more than ten more years would pass before our country's final pullout. Had we listened to that request for freedom in 1945, there might have never been a Vietnam War. It is almost as though the country most interested in protecting the world from Communism, the U.S., was the facilitator of this country's aspirations to become Communist in the first place, at least Moscow responded to Ho Chi Minh's letters. U.S. started this war; it was still under the influence of McCarthy's view of communism as "evil," that is, a system that ignored religion as a political necessity. So, there was no possibility of a negotiated peace in Viet

During the war people could see a possible communist victory. So, the US decided to get involved. Before they were fulling engaged, some US troops were serving as advisers and were sending equipment to South Vietnam. I believe the United States involvement wasn't justified for many reasons.

U.S involvement in Vietnam developed gradually and through a series of steps. Both FDR and Truman took the first step, with Truman providing aid to France in their struggle to retain control in Indochina in 1950, thus; supporting French Colonialism. The U.S had at first, a non-involvement approach, despite claims that they supported self-dependence in countries and having granted independence to the Philippines. Vietnam became the battleground for global powers amidst the Cold War. The decision to provide military power and economic aid to France was dominated primarily by the influence of the consolidation of a communist China, with Mao Zedong becoming China’s ruler. The U.S foreign policy quickly became one of containment. They were determined

government believed the cost of sending American troops was too high. The French defence of Dien Bien Phu collapsed in 1954 and soon France surrendered and Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh declared victory. The avoidance of becoming involved in Vietnam is debatable and controversial. The Johnson administration believed it was critical to suppress the spread of communism and it was vital to prevent South Vietnam from coming under North Vietnamese rule (Tucker). Those opposing US involvement believe that the war posed no direct threat to the U.S. and caused great debts, casualties, and social dismay. The war was protested in America and abroad. Steps to winning the war would have been to destroy the Ho Chi Minh trail, which was vital to the survival of the Viet Cong. More strategic bombing sites and setting up North Vietnamese bases would have also contributed to a possible win. The unfavorable public opinion and false media reporting added negative support and riots of the the U.S. involvement in the war. The US ignored faults and corruption of the the SOuth Vietnamese government and if the US recognized reform and gained support of the South Vietnamese people, they had a better chance of winning the war. The complete elimination of the communist party in Vietnam and the success of an establishment of a democracy in Vietnam would have produced a victory and allowed the U.S. to exit the

Eisenhower viewed Vietnam as their way of regaining a foothold in Asia, which was moving toward becoming a Communist continent. He viewed Vietnam assistance as a way to protect Indonesia and the Southeast Asian regions, to establish a working relationship and alliance that would benefit America not only in global dominance, but the emerging capitalist markets, as well. Ho Chi Minh certainly did not take Eisenhower’s comments lightly. While not truly a die-hard communist, it seemed clear that he took offense to American

We left World War II with a victory. However, the end of the war left us scared and paranoid of another rise in communism. We enacted containment policies to attempt to keep communism at bay. The Cold War made our country even more scared. Soon after, we entered into the Korean War to help save democracy in South Korea. The fear of communism spreading would have us do anything to stop it, including helping our ally France take control of Vietnam. Before WWII France controlled Vietnam, unfortunately, during the war it was taken over and the Vietnamese established their own government run by Ho Chi Minh. At the end of the war South Vietnam was given to France and the North was given to non-communist Chinese, this would be taken over by Ho

Vietnam constantly battled for independence after it became a colony of France in the late 19th century. After declaring their independence from the French at the end of World War II, Vietnam became divided and started a civil war between the communist North and the democratic South. Across the ocean, the United States feared that Communism rising in the Soviet Union and China would threaten the independence of their country; to prevent this from occurring, the United States supported the South in the Vietnamese civil war. The attempt of the United States to protect their freedom would prove to harm the Vietnamese in countless ways. President Dwight Eisenhower’s “Domino Effect” focused on removing the threat of communism in Europe and