America's Involvement In The Vietnam War

Such coverage, along with the vivid images that emerge on T.V. led to a serious rise in anti-war protest that was merely strengthened by the events of 1968. The Tet Offensive of 1968 marked the greatest conflict in beliefs of the United Stated government and the media. In January, North Vietnamese troops attacked the North cities of South Vietnam and the U.S. embassy in Saigon. The media and the television, however, portrayed the attack as a brutal defeat for the U.S, totally altering the outcome of the war at the very moment when government officials were publicly stating that victory in Vietnam was "just around the corner" (Wyatt 167)[8]. The media covered all the events that immediately followed the Tet Offensive and the American public began wondering whether this war could be won. Don Oberdorfer a Washington reporter said that “there’s no doubt Tet was one of the biggest events in contemporary American history, within two months the, American body politically turned around on the war. And they were significantly

By nature, the role of the media is to tell the people what is going on. In the case of the Vietnam war, the most important role became to inform the people ‘at home’ how the boys in Indochina were doing. The current consensus is � with the restrictions imposed on the US troops in Vietnam � that the US never had a realistic chance in the Vietnam conflict. As one Vietnam veteran puts it: it was the “politicians [who] lost the war in Vietnam, by declaring we couldn’t go into Cambodia and Laos, which is where the NVA strongholds were.” (Melnick 2002)

In 1965, he “ordered an increase in U.S. military forces in Vietnam, from the present 75,000 to 125,000”(History). Immediate reaction followed from this, and communist leader attacked him for this decision. This became “a major turning point, as it effectively guaranteed U.S. military leaders a blank check to pursue the war”(History). Johnson's future tactics included more men and many bombings and plans such as operation rolling thunder. These failed due to the fact that the Vietcong was not defeated stepping down from war. The more men he sent overseas just generated more chaos in America and deaths in Vietnam. In addition to this, North Vietnam had significantly less troops than we did in the South, they had about “10,000 troops...meanwhile we have an occupation force of 500,000 ground troops”, this doesn't include the naval and air command(Doc G). Lastly, the biggest shock for not only the President but the citizens lied in the fact that everyone believed it wasn't “possible for us to lose the war. We are too strong…”(Doc F). Johnson along with the generals aimed to “fight it with the least cost to ourselves and the greatest cost to our enemy”(Doc F). Unfortunately, it did the exact opposite with the failure through the President's failed military tactics and policies.

Vietnam was an entirely new type of war for the United States. It still remains morally and historically problematic in today’s society. The Vietnam War had a tremendous impact on American society and culture, primarily because it was the first war to be televised. The American press played a significant

The Vietnam War, lasting for approximately 20 years, was the longest and one of the most controversial wars in American history. Not only did the war take a heavy toll on the American troops fighting abroad, but it also led to riots and tension amongst Americans on the homefront. Two presidents devoted to winning the war against the spread of Communism in Vietnam as quickly and effectively as possible were Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Although Johnson was a Democrat and Nixon was a Republican, their foreign policies in Vietnam were similar because they both kept secrets about the war from Congress and because both of their foreign policies were disliked by the American public. However, they differed because Johnson escalated the United

In the first essay Fear, Ambition, and Politics by Robert Dallek, he talks about the way that the United States started to really conflict with Vietnam and how some of Lyndon Johnson’s issues led the U.S. into it. One thing was clear and it was that Lyndon Johnson did not want communism to spread. Johnson’s advisors would continuously report to him that things were starting to become more serious in Saigon. Johnson did not want to send troops though, saying the he would “not permit the independent nations of the East to be swallowed up by Communist conquest, and it would not mean sending American boys 9 or 10,000 miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing themselves.” Clearly his word did not last though. Dallek seems to have a rather negative view of Johnson because he wasn’t taking the precautionary steps to prevent certain events, and he could not keep his word. Johnson seemed to disagree with his own actions about what we should do in Vietnam because it was so unpredictable. He did not want American involvement, but the pressure ended up getting the best of him. He sent one of his advisors, McGeorge Bundy, to Vietnam to talk about what we should do to help alleviate South Vietnam. Bundy thought that U.S. action was a must or “defeat would be inevitable and there is still time to turn it around.” Johnson then decided to start bombing the North on February 8th, but he was not pleased with having to make this decision. This is known as the Rolling

Anonymous: "[Johnson] had miscalculated: Even the richest and most powerful nation in the world could not do it all" (qtd. in Turbulent Years: The 60s 36). Lyndon Baines Johnson is a president torn to pieces by war. He glows in the passage of bills benefiting American society. He is someone who has suffered through an entire generation of rebellious teens. What impact did LBJ's foreign policies concerning Vietnam War have on American society?

The Vietnam War had no restrictions on what the media could and couldn’t cover, making a very public war. Journalists from big companies and small towns went to Vietnam to cover what was happening. Some went for the excitement and adventure. Others wanted to be on page one and be part of the exclusive combat correspondent club. These journalists were taking any information they could get and were sending it back to for American people to view. These journalists could even go into North Vietnam, if they had the courage too. Some journalists, based of what they saw, believed that the war was unwinnable. The military ended up blaming the media for the loss because the turned the American people against the troops in Vietnam through the information

The military had invented many strategies on the North, but that this time President Johnson had anxiety that the public would not give appeal to the expansion. Early that month the U.S troops (Navy) reported that the North Vietnamese gunboats had barraged them and was unstoppable. The public had become to be outraged and uncontrollable. Congress had voted opposed to the resolution and made a decision to declare war. Others had thought that Johnson was very tremble to be seen as a leader. On the other hand, forces were stable when it came to the control over half South Vietnam. Johnson had gotten bash because the war had become destructive. Johnson had sent an order for bombing on the North Vietnamese but the incident had already

The amount of bad press and criticism received from the whole country showed how poorly the conflict was being handled. Citizens of the United States became peace protesters and would cause massive scenes and rally against the war in public. This gave the public a negative view towards Johnson because a majority of Americans wanted out of Vietnam completely. Cohen quotes Todd Gitlin who states “Imagine the sixties without . . . the Vietnam War, and you can imagine an enduring era of reform . . . a reasonably successful wave of racial integration, a modestly successful War on Poverty, a weakened black power strain.” Gitlin is completely correct if Johnson had been able to end the war in Vietnam his presidency would’ve been completely spectacular. Johnson would have been able to end the war, grant more rights to all Americans regardless of race, and have an era of reform on his

The Vietnam War was a long, expensive war between the communist regime of North Vietnam and Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its ally the United States of America. The war began in 1954 after the rise to power of Ho Chi Minh in North Vietnam, and continued against the image of the previous Cold War between two global superpowers; the US and The Soviet Union. In this essay I will investigate the changing role and attitudes of the media in the United States, and the impact, if any, it had on the United States Government.

Johnson’s escalation in Vietnam was a defining moment of his presidency. Many things influenced him to escalate, including the cold war context, the advice from the working group, the weakness of the South Vietnamese Government, and protecting the US bases. I think that the main factor which influenced Johnson to escalate US Involvement was the advice given to him by the Working group because these were his closest and most trusted advisors.

President Kennedy saw the Vietnam situation as America’s fight to stop the spread of communism. Kennedy, who was young and well liked by the American people, did not really see much protest from the American people. He wanted equality in America, and supported open-mindedness in his country; at his assassination in 1963 only 15,000 troops were in Vietnam. His successor, Lyndon B. Johnson greatly increased the number of troops that went to Vietnam, reaching 500,000 in 1966. Television allowed the American public to see what these soldiers were facing and that this was a senseless war. Too many men were coming home in American flag draped coffins, causing many Americans to rebel and move to the new hippie counterculture.

The use of propaganda has helped United States out in many ways and has become a tactic to win wars. For example, during World War 2 the United States used posters and newspapers to get the public riled up about the war. This eventually helped the country out and helped them win the war. The use of media propaganda can help out in many ways such as encouraging soldiers to fight, implant a strong dislike for the nemesis, or just get support from back home. These little things have helped United States win wars in the past when done correctly. But when the technique of propaganda is used wrong, it can be the key factor of losing a war and that is exactly what happened in the Vietnam War.

“The American people were pro war due to Cold War propaganda against the US; however, due to conscription of young men the support decreased” (Bottaro, 2012:52). Americans supported the involvement of the US in the Vietnam War because of the propaganda which was against the US due to the Soviet Union. Also, they supported the fact their country was preventing communism take over in Vietnam. However, things changed after conscription of young men to fight and media coverage of the war. “The Vietnam War was complicated by factors that had never before occurred in America of a war, because the American media had come to dominate domestic opinion about its purpose and conduct” (Hallin, 1986:3). Since the Vietnam War was the first ever televised war, Americans and the world were able to see the destruction caused by the US soldiers on Vietnamese land and people. Americans did not understand why the US government allowed soldiers to continue a war America was clearly losing. “Along with the Civil Rights movement campaigns of the 1960s, the anti-war movement was one of the most diverse forces in the 20th- century in US history” (Halstead, 1973:22). Despite the increase in anti-war protest, poverty decline in the economy and the Civil Rights movement situation were happening in the US during this period in America, the government still did not