How The Vietnam War Of 1965 To 1975 Affected The American Society

Abstract

The United States joined the Vietnam War to show the world its might as a superpower after besting the Axis powers during World War II. Because of the war, there were many casualties, and the American public was divided sharply. The American leaders were also left unsure about what the nation’s foreign policy would become. Besides, many lives were lost on both sides of the battling troops. The nation’s most debilitating and most prolonged war, which is also the only war ever lost by the US, had numerous and far-reaching impacts and consequences on different aspects of the US society, a topic often explored in history dissertation help..

In this study, I concentrate on how the war affected American’s life from their foreign policy, domestic politics, and the economy. I look at how the war resulted in the right to vote after one has reached age 18. I look at how the conflict leads to opposition from the masses because of the discrimination directed to the low-income and low-educated class and people young people forced to join the war through draft calls. I further analyze mistrust towards the American government due to the high political cost and the associated trauma because of the war. Finally, I examine some theories which emerged because of the war such as the quagmire theory the account of David Halberstam about the United States’ Vietnam military policy and the Truman’s containment foreign policy used to check the Soviet Union’s expansionist policy, also used in the Vietnam War by Johnson to contain advances by the communist by keeping the military presence of the US in this foreign country to the required minimum.

Introduction

After the defeat of Japan in the Second World War, Japan ordered its military from Vietnam. This left behind Bao Dai, a French-educated Emperor, in control. After seeing a chance to take control, the Viet Minh soldiers rose up immediately and the leadership of Ho and took the northern Hanoi city. This part of Vietnam was declared as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho as the president. Ho was after taking control of the entire region while Bao, receiving France’s backing, created the Vietnam state in 1949 with Saigon as the capital city. Even though both sides of the divide wanted a united country, Ho wanted a stated modeled after other communist countries. Bao, on the other hand, wanted a state with close cultural and economic ties to western countries. An active US involvement and the Vietnam War started in 1954. The United States entered this war to stop communism from spreading. However, geopolitical strategies, national fears, economic interests, and foreign policies are some other factors which influenced its involvement in the war. Historians argue that the US followed what is referred to as the Domino Theory, which states that if Vietnam became a communist state, communism would spread. As such, the US felt the responsibility to stop this from happening. Additionally, anti-communist sentiments being aired back home influenced the US’ foreign policy, influencing them into the war.

The first area to discuss in this study is the effect of this war on US foreign policy. This war affected the US foreign policy profoundly for years. The impact can still be felt today. It can even be argued that there is no other war that America has engaged in that has influenced or had a substantial impact on the US on how its viewed as a world power as the Vietnam War. This was made many American Presidents to rethink sending their troops to war without getting support from the people or without the backing of the United Nations. One central player who influenced the US foreign policy during this war is Senator William Fulbright. He chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. According to Berman, a historian, Fulbright never favored Johnson’s decision to send the US troops to the Vietnam War in the 1960s. However, his ideas evolved, making him become a very influential antiwar movement person. According to Berman, Fulbright became more apprehensive concerning the role of the USA as a world power in 1966. His belief was that there were other essential or more pressing matters which the US was facing as a country like establishing a balance between the political system and the economy to make the government and the big businesses to co-exist. According to Berman, the war was dictating a considerable part of what America’s foreign policy was.

Berman demonstrated how this political realist, Fulbright, had a change of his opinion concerning the proceedings of the Vietnam War. This war was challenging the status of the US as a superpower in the world. Berman demonstrates Fulbright’s belief that, like other great nations who overextended their foreign policies, the US was falling by making mistakes similar to those made in the past by France and Britain and which would lead to its declines as a significant world power.

Due to the effect of the war, making the US question its foreign policy, the Vietnam War started policy changes. There were a number of policy changes that took place after the ar. The first change occurred when the US Congress voted to end the military draft. An all-volunteer army then replaced this draft and led to the voting age being reduced to 18 years. The US Congress also passed a War Powers Act/Resolution over President Nixon’s Veto in 1973 that restricted the US president’s power to without restrictions, send American soldiers to war without congressional consent for 90 days, and more. This resolution led demonstrated the legislators' desire to limit the powers of the US president, preventing the US from getting involved in a war such as that which took place in Vietnam. It no longer made sense that individuals aged 18 could be forced to go to war after being drafted and risk their lives on the battlefield without being provided privileges such as engaging in local and state elections and the freedom to use alcohol. As a result, in 1971 March, the US congress reduced the voting age to 18 years.

Even though the draft had been in effect during the Civil War, it became very controversial during this war because President Johnson started committing large numbers of American ground soldiers to Vietnam in the 60s. The death toll of these soldiers also increased on a daily basis. The 1969 draft lottery had failed to solve unfair discrimination directed towards the low-income and low-educated class and instead encouraged an increased resistance to both the draft as well as the Vietnam War. Consequently, the number of draft dodgers increased immensely, as well as the growth of the anti-war movement. Amidst the high disillusionment with the Vietnam War, President Nixon promised to end this draft to increase his chances for reelection in 1968 because he saw that this was an excellent political weapon that he could also use to diminish or eliminate the rising anti-war movement. This president believed that the young people belonging to the middle-class would stop their protests once they saw that they would no longer be forced to risk their lives in Vietnam. The end of the draft system led to the announcement of an all-volunteer military force, which later became a positive outcome amidst the negative sentiments against the US military because of the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War changed how Americans perceived the army’s role and how the military should be used in other foreign conflicts. Many issues were brought to the people by the antiwar movement in the United States. This group brought many college students in support of stopping the war and brings soldiers back home. A majority of the people taking part in the US peace movement were anti-establishment hippies, mothers, and the students. By 1967, a large number of Americans believed that the US military presence in Vietnam was a mistake. With the help of the student movement and other groups, opposition to the Vietnam War increased, especially after the Civil Rights and the Free Speech Movements. The imperative moral sentiments against the Vietnam War were especially common with the US college students who found it easier to accuse the government of having imperialistic objectives in Vietnam as compared to the general public.

The war impacted the soldiers' lives significantly, especially those sent in Vietnam to take part in a war that some did not support. Many Americans started changing their minds about the draft, as well as how it affected many people’s lives. This antiwar movement was the longest and largest antiwar campaign starting in 1965 and ending in 1972. According to Melvin Small, the movement and the antiwar campaign gave Americans the feeling of performing their duty as patriotic individuals. They spoke out and campaigned against the war because they believed that it was their civic responsibility to fight the injustices being done in the war.

According to John Helmer, the war affected the lives of the US soldiers that were sent to Vietnam immensely. According to this historian, many Vietnam War veterans were victims of drug abuse when they returned home because many of those who took part in the war were looking for different ways to live with the horrific things that happened or that they saw while in combat. This historian alludes to the notion that the US military tolerated the use of marijuana as long as it did not impede a soldier’s work. He also points to the idea that the use of heroin among soldiers was common during the war. According to Helmer, about 10% of the war veterans received drug treatment. Helmer demonstrated how the veterans looked to get an immediate end to the war as well as to change the US political system to prevent any future possibilities of entering a similar conflict. Television coverage about the war affected people's perception of the reason and the impact of the war on their lives and American society in general. Many Americans were left questioning whether the country should have been involved in the war or the many other foreign conflicts. College students, among other young Americans, were especially influenced as they believed that rich people waged unreasonable war on poor people. The antiwar movement resulted in a huge cultural divide in the United States.

President Lyndon Johnson, after taking the place of President Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, called for a war against the Vietnam regime. It is at this time that he also proclaimed war against poverty through a program he started, referred to as “The Great Society Program.” His goal of pursuing a great society, with a major conflict at the same time, without raising taxes, accelerated inflation doubling it by the mid-1970s. He eventually decided to introduce an income tax surcharge of 10% in 1969. This decision was considered a late move by the economists at the time. This surcharge tax even slowed the US economy further. Additionally, massive financing of the Vietnam War led to an unfavorable trade balance that contributed to a global monetary crisis as a risk or threat to the United States’ gold reserves in 1968. This threat was used as convincing evidence to dissuade the US that it could not afford to pay for the war any longer. The inflation that was worsened by the Vietnam War and the Yom Kippur War raised food and oil prices in 1973. These impacts of the war made President Nixon introduce price and wage controls between 1971 to April 1973.

Because of the Vietnam War, US citizens did not trust the government. This mistrust is because of both the policy changes as well as the high political financing/cost because of the war. The traumatic and long war led to a high level of mistrust of government officials. There was a series of events mid-1960 that increased this mistrust. First, President Johnson acquired the resolution to send American soldiers to war in Vietnam. The secret Cambodia bombings were also revealed referred to as My Lai Massacre. The Kent State tragedy, which occurred under the administration of President Nixon, also came out. The Kent State Tragedy is about a shooting or a massacre that took place on May 4th, 1970, where unarmed Kent State University students by the National Guard of Ohio when they were protesting the Cambodia bombing by the US forces. The Cambodia bombing occurred when President Nixon gave a go ahead for a highly classified bombing raid to take place in Cambodia. This move further escalated the public’s opposition to the Vietnam Conflict.

The US president believed that Vietnam soldiers and supplies were being transported to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War through neighboring Cambodia and that bombing this place would make the US’ enemies weaker. An estimated 100 thousand Cambodian civilians died due to the bombings that ended in 1973 August. The media later published or aired some of the events that occurred in Cambodia, making the war critics even more vocal, particularly then college students in the US. Students of Kent State University also set fire to training corps building. As a result, four unarmed students were shot dead while nine others were left wounded with permanent paralysis. This incident led to an even bigger mass protest with about 4 million students from different high schools, colleges, and universities taking it to the streets to oppose this tragedy. This incident further affected the opinion of the public, at a time when people were even more opposed to the US’ role in the Vietnam conflict.

These activities led America to a crisis of faith and confidence. Americans no longer saw their leaders as being credible. This is even confirmed by the sudden end of President Nixon’s reign that came about due to the Watergate Scandal. The Watergate scandal was a massive political scandal in the US, lasting almost four years from 1972. This scandal occurred when President Nixon attempted to cover up the involvement of his administration in a crime. The scandal entailed a series of illegal activities done by this president’s administration, such as bugging his political opponents’ offices. His administration also investigated political figures and activist groups using the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as weapons. When it was discovered that this administration was abusing power, an impeachment process to remove this president from office commenced. This was followed by Nixon’s resignation.

The Vietnam War transformed the attitudes of the American generation. Many Americans became skeptical, cynical, and suspicious concerning public institutions and the government because of this war, and particularly, the military was discredited for many years post the Vietnam War. Thousands of men sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War, and hundreds of billions of US dollars were used to finance this conflict while the US tried to stop communism in Vietnam, an agenda which flopped abjectly. The US confidence as a global power was undermined due to their humiliating Vietnam experience. Both their military and moral prowess was tested in this war, especially their commitment to being a country that embraces internationalism.

President Jimmy Carter, after assuming the presidential office in 1977 was hamstrung by “the Vietnam Syndrome or effect,” a situation which demonstrates the nation’s reluctance or public aversion to send their soldiers overseas to foreign lands unless it is totally necessary that the national interests should be protected or only with strong backing from the American public with a promise or an inexpensive and relatively quick victory. President Carter’s inability to stop the 1979 Russian invasion, as well as his clumsiness in handling the hostage crisis in Iran that led to the death of at least 8 American servicemen, shows this Vietnam effect.

The Vietnam War led to what is referred to as the quagmire theory, started by the account of David Halberstam’s account of America’s Vietnam military policy. Halberstam is a New York Times reporter who, during the war, was stationed in Vietnam and operated with a North Vietnamese agent in secret, an individual known as Pham Xuan An. This theory was developed further by Arthur Schlesinger, an American historian who worked as a court historian and a special assistant to John F. Kennedy. In line with the quagmire theory discussed by Schlesinger, quagmire represents a one-step-at-a-time process which led the US to be trapped in a diplomatic and military confusion and loss in Vietnam. This theory details and demonstrated the stepwise process which the US followed during their involvement in the Vietnam War, something that was not in the best interest of the people and which led to wrong inadvertent decisions to be made as well as caused false hope. This quagmire led Vietnam to triumph over America’s political inadvertence.

According to Schlesinger, every step that the leaders saw was a necessary commitment that was considered to be reasonable at that particular time. However, every action taken led to other next steps until the US found themselves entrapped in the nightmare of the Vietnam War. According to Schlesinger, the Vietnam War was a tragedy and demonstrated that the main reason behind America’s involvement in this war was because of nationalism instead of communism. According to this theory, the security and economic risks estimation by the US that the war could cause was an exaggeration and an incorrect assessment of the actual circumstances in Vietnam, which led America’s leadership into several bad decisions.

The US also put at work what is known as the containment theory. This is a foreign policy used by the US between 1940 and the 1950s to put in check the Soviet Union’s expansionist policy because they were afraid this would increase communism around the world. This theory is best described by Truman 1947 Doctrine, which was applied for the first time when it guaranteed immediate military and economic support to Turkey and Greece. In 1964, a Republican candidate known as Senator Barry Goldwater challenged this theory.

To answer him, President Lyndon Johnson, a democratic nominee at the time, said that it is because the rollback of victory would risk nuclear war, which nobody wished for. The Republic candidate lost the election to Johnson in 1964 because Johnson followed and adhered to the theory of containment closely in the Vietnam War. President Johnson even rejected General William Westmoreland’s proposals for America’s ground soldiers to advance Laos and cut off the supply lines of the communist. President Johnson established a group of statesmen known as The Wise Men, including Truman’s former advisors, Acheson, and Kennan, among others. Because of the containment theory, any rallies supporting advancements of the troops were stopped for fear of a patriotic response, which would make the people ask for victory and an eventual rollback. The US divided military responsibility between three generals to prevent any commander from becoming too powerful to challenge Johnson’s decisions.

In 1969 when President Nixon, who took the place of President Johnson, this new President referred to Johnson’s foreign policy as a “relaxation of tension.” Although the containment theory or policy was used to put the Soviet Union in check, it was based still on political realism where national interest was put first, unlike the crusades for democracy or against communism. The containment theory emphasized discussions where interested parties such as the US and the Soviet Union talked about their concerns for nuclear weapons what came to be known as the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. In Vietnam, the US reduced its military presence to the required minimum to contain any more communist advances. This policy became known as Vietnamization. The more the war progressed, the more it became less popular, forcing the Democratic Congress to abandon its policy by implementing what came to be known as the Case-Church Amendment that ended America’s presence in Vietnam, leading to the invasion of Cambodia and Laos by the communists.

Conclusion

The Vietnam War is what brought an end to the post-World War II unquestioning and aggressive foreign intervention by the US. Because of the pressure from the masses and the loss of many American lives in Vietnam, the government was forced to change its foreign policies for instance from the draft enforced recruitment of young people into the army to an all-volunteer system where those who wish can join the military. The government also became more reluctant to send its soldier overseas. Because of the War, individuals aged 18 years could now vote and take alcohol. Because of suffering humiliation, the US became more cautious with meddling of other countries’ affaires unless it was totally necessary.

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