US Foreign Policy During The Vietnam War

In 1960s, the US was faced with another crisis of communist expansion in the war between North and South Vietnam. The Kennedy Administration decided to further pursue their containment strategy out of fear being seen by the international community as weak towards communism. During the Johnson Administration, an attack against American vessels that happened in the Gulf of Tonkin led to President Johnson being granted the ability to conduct broad military operations without congressional approval. The American public began to largely oppose American intervention in Vietnam because the optimistic statements made by the government ran contradictory to the reports of the violent fighting by American news outlets. During the Nixon administration, the US switched to a policy, later known as Vietnamization, where the main goal was to strengthen the South Vietnamese forces and provide them with better armaments so they can better defend themselves. Vietnamization proved to be ineffective as the South Vietnamese forces were unable to hold their own against the North without US air support as proven during Operation Lam Son 719 and the Easter Offensive. The signing of the Paris Peace Accords officially ended US involvement in the Vietnam War. The US followed containment policies during beginning of the war due to the underlying fear of the spread of communism and since the policies were inherited from previous

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.

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

Exploring the Reasons for United States' Involvement in Vietnam 1. US involvement in Vietnam The US wanted to stop communist expansion into South Vietnam after successfully stopping them from capturing South Korea but President Eisenhower could not get the support of the people. Therefore he used a different way i.e. sending a team of 12 intelligence agents under Colonel Edward Lansdale to win over the South Vietnamese people by spreading lies about the Ho Chi Minh government killing political opponents and the presence of Chinese communists in South Vietnam. Besides that colonel Lansdale also employed mercenaries to sabotage North Vietnam and boost up the image of President Diem.

During the Indochina war, the United States aided the French, but if we inspect France

There is no single fixed reason as to why the U.S. entered the Vietnam War. The United States became involved in the war step by step until it was completely committed, which was when Japan took over Indochina. There is, however, multiple reasons as to why stopping communism in Vietnam became a major U.S. priority. Presidents Eisenhower and Truman both advocated doing everything in their power to keep communism, which is a social system where all property is collectively owned instead of by individuals, from spreading throughout the world. Therefore, the domino theory is one of the major reasons it became a U.S. priority to prevent Vietnam from falling to communism. Another major reason for the action taken by the United States towards this dilemma would be that if the United States hadn’t taken part, the non-communist people of South Vietnam would have been persistently victimized and tortured. Lastly, it became a priority to the U.S. because the nation just generally felt responsible in helping Vietnam become independent and to be involved in the global fight against communism.

The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War helped for the South Vietnamese for a while,

After World War Two, the United States government was very apprehensive about the spread of communism(Nash 592). The post war landscape saw the failing of the colonial powers with many former colonies achieving independence. Communism or socialism appealed to some of these countries and the U.S. worried that communism would spread to neighboring countries and viewed this expansion as a threat to democracy. America responded to this threat of expansion with the policy of containment. A government report in 1950 stated that “the goals of containment were to block further expansion of the soviet union, expose the falsities of soviet pretensions, induce a retraction of the kremlin's control and influence, and foster the seeds of destruction

The United States involvement in Vietnam was the longest war the U.S. has ever took part in and was considered an extended military engagement due to the fact congress never formally declared war with Vietnam (FCNL). The Vietnam War began on November 1, 1955 and lasted for 20 years until April 30, 1975. The war was fought between the communist Northern Vietnamese and the anti-communist Southern Vietnamese after the country was temporarily divided by the Geneva Accords. Americas entering of the Vietnam War proved to be an extremely controversial decision due to citizens belief that the United States reasons for intervention were unnecessary nor justified, and young teens were mainly drafted under the Selective Service Act. The death toll of nearly 3,595,000 people from the war was the result of years of conflict in Vietnam prior to the war (Statistical). The policy of imperialism, division of Vietnam, and American Ideology created circumstances in which the Vietnam War was an inevitable outcome that would forever change the lives of millions of people.

As well as taking office in 1969, U.S. President Richard Nixon introduced a new strategy to office called Vietnamization that was aimed towards finally ending American involvement in the Vietnam War (1954-75) by moving all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. This increasingly unpopular war had made deep division in American society, so Nixon believed his Vietnamization strategy, which involved building up South Vietnam’s military strength in order to create a slow building withdrawal of all U.S. troops, would prepare the South Vietnamese government to take responsibility for their own defense. In 1973, the U.S. negotiated a treaty with North Vietnam, withdrew American fighting troops and then declared the Vietnamization process complete.

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.

America’s involvement in Vietnam goes back to World War II when it was still a French colony. After World War II, Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel with the Geneva Accords into the Communist North and Democratic South. The proxy war in Vietnam occurred in the Turbulent Sixties, after the Eisenhower years which the death of Stalin occurred. John F Kennedy was assassinated; with instability in the nation, Lyndon Johnson was installed as president.

The Vietnam War caused a spike in American deaths in the 1960’s. Even more Vietnamese citizens died due to United States troops. Children in South Vietnam wandered the streets as they yell for their dead parents. Soldiers lose their sanity over seas and kill there own United States soldiers. Even though the government told citizens the war would be over soon, the war seemed like a never ending battle full of ruthless killings and long suffering deaths.

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

Vietnam War. President Lyndon B. Johnson began to release for the first a juncture of air attacks