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The War Of The Vietnam War

Decent Essays

Between 1964 and 1975 the heightened tensions over the Vietnam war caused many americans to become divided on the actions taken by the government across seas. Americans questioned whether the government could be trusted. The feeling of betrayal and government secrecy created the “Credibility Gap,” in which many americans believed that the government no longer was for the people, but for anything else that would benefit the government. The Vietnam War exacerbated the gap between the pro-war traditionalists and anti-war liberals along with an increase in military action, causing controversy over government spending; as a whole these factors established a sense of distrust between the American government and its people. The Credibility Gap expanded during the Vietnam War causing citizens to question the truthfulness of president Johnson’s administration and the reports on events that were occurring overseas in Vietnam. When Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers to the media in 1971 he increased the public’s distrust in the American government. The pentagon papers, originally named “Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force” by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, contained secret government reports detailing the decisions made in the Vietnam War under the Kennedy and Johnson administration. Also written within the report was a detailed layout of operation Rolling Thunder, in which the United States strategically bombed north Vietnam from

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