“Defeat in Vietnam has left the United States deeply divided” (Hallin, 1986:3). The Vietnam War became a major Cold War conflict in the 1960s period. This essay will evaluate the following question; what are the main reasons for the United States (US) defeat in the Vietnam War? The research was done through the qualitative research method which included books, journals and articles. This essay will argue that the main reasons for the US defeat in the Vietnam War was because of their inefficient tactics, inexperienced soldiers, and both international and home pressure. This research is important because the question has not been answered to its fullest extent. Additionally, it provides evidence that countries with powerful nuclear weapons and …show more content…
“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 see the need to bring soldiers back home and stop the war. Americans failed to understand why the government did not give up on the war and instead of spending so much money on the war, they should have taken care of much more important issues at home. “People around the world followed print broadcast news reports on the Vietnam War with considerable interest which made them shape anti-war sentiments across the globe” (Halstead, 1973:104). Media coverage increased international pressure against
The Vietnam War was costly not only to our armed forces but to our American economy and American morale. We entered the war in an attempt to end the communist regime of North Vietnam and their southern allies, the Vietcong, from taking over South Vietnam. South Vietnam was an ally of the United States and due to this political relationship; the United States was entitled to help defend their ally. More than 58,000 Americans were killed in the Vietnam War. By 1969 it was the peak of American involvement in the war and more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were involved in the Vietnam conflict. Throughout the war growing opposition towards participation of military forces threatened the support of the war. American citizens began to
The opinion of the public in the United States’ government was affected from the Vietnam War. In the beginning, most of the Americans supported the war but when more conflicts occurred and more troops were shipped the support started to decrease. What began is that some college student movement against the war then it became as a national protest. By the end of 1965, most of the soldiers who had been fighting in the war were drafted into war. Some Americans opposed the draft and believed it is unfair. The Vietnamese war was the first war to be televised instead of writing down news in newspaper
The Vietnam War was one of the most deadliest wars in America, many were killed and even more injured. The war began because of America’s efforts to stop the spread of communism. The Vietcong may of won the war but America showed that we will not let communism spread, the domino theory come into effect, and America’s faults in our war program and way to attack the Vietcong. The war was lost but from a overview of the war America learned from their lose.
President Dwight Eisenhower conditionally pledged to support South Vietnam’s new nation in 1955. In the time period between 1955-1961 the United States pumped seven billion dollars in aid so that Vietnam would not “go over quickly” like a “row of dominoes” (McNamara 31). In the next 6 years Vietnam would cost America billions of dollars, thousands of lives, and the disaffection of much of the United States public. Yet in the end, South Vietnam would fall to the North less than 2 years after the United States military involvement ceased.
1)"Although the some Americans still supported their government policy in Vietnam in 1965, as the war went on, more and more Americans turned against it. The Vietnam War had been described to the US public as one where the richest and most powerful country would have a lot of problems defeating one of the smallest and poorest countries in the world. The protests against the war started
The American involvement in the Vietnam War was a very controversial decision, with many people being for the war, however many people in the United States were also against the war. The Vietnam War was the longest lasting war in the United States history, before the Afghanistan War, in which most people felt strongly about, be them United States citizens, Vietnamese citizens, or just the global population. In order to better understand the ideas of those American citizens that are either for or against the war, one would have to look at the reasons that the United States was involved in the war, the impact of the Vietnam war on the American society, and the impact on the United States foreign policy.
The Vietnam War had discredited the United States’ stereotype of being the strongest world power for being “undefeatable” in war by trapping the most powerful foreign nations into a merely undefeatable war, and by destroying any hope that the United States had for institutional change in Vietnam. The United States’ involvement in domestic affairs had again proved that the nation felt confident enough to present itself as the “problem solver” in issues regarding foreign policy. The main intention of Americans was to bring forth an established democracy to Vietnam that would overpower
There were two sides to how the war was felt by the American population: pro-war and anti-war. The side that overpowered the other in terms of popularity was the opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The quotation below briefly describes why the majority sided with
One of the biggest blunders in the United States’ history was the decision to involve the nation in the feud between North and South Vietnam known as the Vietnam War. It is safe to say that the United States might not have gone to war if American citizens did not support it. History has shown that there were many indications that this was a poor decision so why did the American people initially support their government’s aspirations to fight communism in Vietnam? The 1960s were a time where the U.S. federal government had overwhelming control over their behaviors and actions the American public were able to perceive. Americans had very limited knowledge of what was really happening in Vietnam and what the true motives of the U.S. government were in residing in the Asian country. This gave the government the advantage in gaining support because they had full control on how to present the ongoing conflict to the people. President Lyndon B. Johnson was able to successfully sway the majority of Americans into supporting his decision to send armed forces to fight in Vietnam in his speech addressing the concerns over Vietnam. However, there were some Americans who opposed the war including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who also wrote a speech about Vietnam titled “Beyond Vietnam” and offered his arguments against the war. Johnson managed to persuade the public to his favor with his speech by convincing Americans that communism posed a threat to the U.S., the fate of Asia was
The movement against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began small among young college students, but eventually gained relevance in the United States during 1965, after America began the bombing of North Vietnam. The Vietnam War was taking many lives like never before. Many young American soldiers were dying in order to rescue a nation under the threat of communism. The Soviet and Chinese supported North Vietnamese were advancing at a fast rate towards the American supported South. With guerilla tactics paving a way for the invasion of the communist Vietcong fighters, America had no other choice but to pull out from the war or face unreasonable
American Public Opinion of the Vietnam War At the beginning of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, in 1965, the American Public favored the idea of war because they feared the threat of communism. Polls conducted in 1965, showed 80 percent of the population agreed with President Johnson and were for the war (Rousseau 11). The U.S. got involved with the war to stop communism from spreading throughout South Asia. Americans were afraid if one country on South Asia turned to communism, it would extend to other countries, which is known as the "Domino Theory".
“Defeat in Vietnam has left the United States deeply divided” (Hallin, 1986:3). The Vietnam War became a major Cold War conflict in the 1960s period. This essay will evaluate the following question; what are the main reasons for the United States (US) defeat in the Vietnam War? The research was done through the qualitative research method which included books, journals and articles. This essay will argue that the main reasons for the US defeat in the Vietnam War was because of their inefficient tactics, inexperienced soldiers, and both international and home pressure. This research is important because the question has not been answered to its fullest extent. Additionally, it provides evidence that countries with powerful nuclear weapons and
The longest war in the history of the United States of America has taken place in Vietnam during the Cold War. “The US fear of a communist Europe led them to intervene in a war that was not seen in a vital importance or that would not be in the country`s interest to gain any advantage” (Bernstein 1987/8, p. 86). One of the main reasons why the US lost the war in Vietnam was the lack of preparation and understanding of the Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese fighters had several advantages due to the countries geographical location and language barrier. Furthermore, the insurgency in Vietnam was almost impossible for the US
The United States intervention in Vietnam is seen by the world as America’s greatest loss and longest war. Before the start of the war in Vietnam, the thought of the United States losing this war was unheard of because America was technologically superior, no country in south East Asia could contend with them. Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would not be the president to allow South East Asia to go Communist . Why the United States lost the war has been a huge debate since the end of the war, because there were so many factors affecting why they lost; the war was a loss politically, after losing support from not only the American public but also the South Vietnamese and losing a political mandate for the war by 1973, when the last
President Johnson ordered revenge air strikes against the patrol boat’s bases. After that, Congress had approved the resolution eighty eight to two and Johnson had been granted the powers to prosecute the war in Vietnam. Senator Wayne Morse or Oregon voted against it, reminding McNamara that “the North Vietnamese patrol boat attacks had been provoked by U.S. presence in Tonkin Bay” (Armstrong 52). It was apparent that the past of American policy in South Vietnam seemed to be leading America into war. The United States had affiliated themselves with a policy that was a form of American colonialism, of saving U.S. interests at the cost of the Vietnamese people. The Tonkin Resolution was evidence. Prior to the war President Franklin D. Roosevelt had stated that American policy should be changed, but no steps were taken to change it. In 1954, the U.S. refused to sign the Geneva Accord, so from then on America claimed that North Vietnam was violating the accord by sending help to the rebels against the South Vietnamese Government. But we decided not to go to the countries that signed the agreement and who were responsible for its enforcement. But, instead we violated by joining in the fighting. Every American person or item that was sent to South Vietnam was a violation. “In January 1965, five months after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, West Point graduate Richard Steinke refused to join a unit operating in Vietnam” (Schutts). Many knew that the decision to join the war was not a