The Cost of a Losing War

1443 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Why did the U.S. withdraw from Vietnam

The Cold War loomed, creating a red scare that dominated the United States culture. Communism had a large effect on the United States and many other countries. The Communism form of government expanded across much of Southeast Asia. This devastated America economy and generated a upset faithless nation. Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Nixon all felt the need to end communism in South Vietnam to bring peace upon the nation. The Vietnam War did not begin until 1965, which was after Truman and Eisenhower’s years in office they still had a significant role in this War.

The initialing of the Vietnam War began while President Truman was in office. Truman was a bold man who fought against communism and agreed to assist the French in their endeavor to terminate the communistic rule in Vietnam. This was critical for Truman because of the Soviet defiance in North Korea, which inflamed the tension of the Cold War. By 1954 the United States was funding for more than half of the war for the French. The French were not successful against the forcefulness of the Vietnamese nationalist coalition losing capturing twelve thousand French soldiers in the Valley of Dienbienphu. The French with a sense of defeat requested assistance of the United States military action. Eisenhower, the president to follow Truman, had a difficult choice, but chose to avoid war at all costs. Thus, the French conceded to the Vietminh. Following the defeat of the French, a international conference of Geneva was held to halt fire and split up Vietnam. There was an election to come in 1956 that would establish a government to unite the Vietnam nation. Eisenhower avoided signing the Geneva Peace Accords; he believed that it would result in a domino theory and every co...

... middle of paper ...

...end North Vietnam won by invading the South and demanding the United States leave immediately.

The Vietnam War was a long and severe war that ended in defeat. Not only for America but for all the people lives were ruined. The soldiers who lost their lives to President Johnson who lost all hope. America suffered internally economically for a war that never made progress in favor of an anticommunist revolution. Each President struggled to put an end to the communistic movement in Southern Asia to dissolve the spread from country to country. After three presidents tried to solve this problem Nixon finally had the plan that would put in to movement that the United States did not need to the the World Police but rather a supporter to other countries. This is a serious idea that today many people in America have forgotten, especially the lesson of the war in Vietnam.

Show More
Related

  • Should The Us Win The Vietnam War Dbq Essay

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War was one of many. One reason some people argue the US should have been in the Vietnam War is because of the belief the US was trying to help establish a democracy there. The Vietnam war helping America win the cold war was another reason people believe the US was justified in the Vietnam war. Others believe that the US should not have been there because they were supporting a corrupt government, another reason is that American warfare was excessive and abusively killed many innocent civilians and ruined the land. While it appeared that the US was trying to spread democracy and win the cold war, but in truth, the US was supporting a mini Hitler, and our strategy had little chance of

    Read More

  • The USA Should NOT Have Entered the Vietnam War

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War took place in between 1947- 1975. It consisted of North Vietnam trying to make South Vietnam a communism government. The United States later joined this conflict because of the stress North Vietnam was putting to South Vietnam to become a government that America did not want. The main reason why America joined was because of a theory called the Domino Effect. America and Russia were going through what has been dubbed the Cold War. The Domino Effect is the theory that communism will spread form one country to another. United states does not want this because our government is a democracy and communism opposes everything we stand for. America fearing communism was growing, stepped into Vietnam with America’s interest in mind, instead of Vietnam’s. There are several reason why American should have not gotten involved with this war. The most important reason was that America government officials made to much of a big deal about communism. This might sound cynical, but America to a certain degree did over react. Let it be said that it is much easier to say this after the fact. By looking back at McCarthyism, we can see the silliness of this fear. There is a serious side though. Thousands of people dies for a government that has no impact of their daily life. What regime Vietnam was going to change over to had no effect on the every day cycle of the United States. So truly, one can say, this can not one thing to do with America, its government and people.

    Read More

  • American Foreign Policy: Realpolitiks Vs. Human Rights

    1637 Words  | 4 Pages

    (4)The U.S. used realpolitiks in The Geneva Conference because the United States negotiated with a communist country over another country. (5) On April 27, 1954, the Conference produced a declaration which supported the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Indochina thereby granting it independence from France. In addition, the Conference declaration agreed upon the cessation of hostilities and foreign involvement (or troops) in internal Indochina affairs. Northern and southern zones were drawn into which opposing troops were to withdraw, to facilitate the cessation of hostilities between the Vietnamese forces and those that had supported the French. The Viet Minh, awaited unification on the basis of internationally supervised free elections to be held in July 1956. Most of the French Union forces evacuated Vietnam, although much of the regional governmental infrastructure in the South was the same as it had been under t...

    Read More

  • Why did the French loose the war in Vietnam?

    1960 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... the Viet Minh. However by April it was clear that the French forces were losing the battle, and it was now it was clear that the French were putting their last remaining efforts in to Dien Ben Phu. It was an all or nothing situation. The French high command had hoped that Giap would throw his army in to the will of the occupying French forces and in the end be forced to retreat and regroup with a battered down weak force. However this was not the case and by May 7th the remaining French forces at Dien ben Phu will surrender. Peace talks between the French and Viet Minh open up in May of 1954. The agreement at Geneva would once again split Vietnam in to two. The North would be a pro Communist government at Hanoi led by Ho Chi Minh, and the South a pro democratic government backed by the United States out of Saigon. By 1956 the last remaining French forces would leave Vietnam, and a new struggle would begin in the South. The beginning of the American War in Vietnam was just around the corner. The Viet Minh had defeated a major European power, however it would be another 20 years before the reunification was complete.

    Read More

  • Bernard Baruch's Containment Policy After The Cold War

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    After the Cuban missile crisis, the Soviet Union started developing arms control and achieves balance of nuclear weapon with the United States. The Vietnam War led to the frustration of American public about the policy of intervention during the cold war. “As Nixon and Kissinger had hoped, the warming of U.S.-Chinese relations furthered their strategy of détente, their term for easing conflict with the Soviet Union. Détente did not mean abandoning containment but instead meant focusing on issues of common concern, such as arms control and trade. Containment would be achieved not only by military threat but also by ensuring that the Soviets and Chinese had stakes in a stable international order. Nixon’s goal was “a stronger healthy United States, Europe, Soviet Union, China, Japan, each balancing the other.”(Page 894). When Richard Nixon took office in 1969, the war in Vietnam has lasted almost four years. The bloody conflict was killing more than 25,000 American soldiers and countless Vietnamese people as of that time. Nixon campaigned in 1968 with the promise of a "peace with honor" in Vietnam. First of all, he assured American allies in Asia will keep the commitments in Vietnam. Second, President Nixon marked the official announcement about the plan "Vietnam war” that the U.S. military will gradually withdraw from the conflict in Southeast Asia and will be replaced with the army of South Vietnam. The peak phase of peace is the 1972-1973, but it does not last

    Read More

  • Fear of Communism Caused the Vietnam War

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longest being 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being an essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam War.

    Read More

  • The War that Changed America Forever

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War has had its effects on America, both good and bad. We can ridicule it, we can deny it, we can say it was for the best, we can say we shouldn't have even gotten involved, but the one thing we can't do is ignore it. Because it's become an unforgettable part of history, and we all need to remember Vietnam.

    Read More

  • Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy and the Vietnam War

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    After World War II, the French began a fight for their former colony of Indochina, which included Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The French and other countries failed to see at that time the will and desire of the Vietnamese people to gain independence from foreign rule and to have their country unified. Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese nationalist, fought the French and overtook the North Vietnam capital of Hanoi with his followers, the Viet Minh, declaring the area the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. (Anderson, 2002) The French were unwilling to give up their colony and drove the Vietminh from many of the larger cities in the south. The United States entered the Vietnam struggle in 1950 when $15 million in aid was pledged to France in order to fight the Vietminh. (Anderson, 2002) The rationale was to align with France and keep the Soviet Union from expanding in Europe and to keep another country from falling into communist rule.

    Read More

  • Why Did The United States Go Into The Vietnam War?

    461 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Vietnam War is a very arguable subject for Americans. People were either for the war or were against the war. Some people think that there was no reason for the United States to be going into this war and that it was not our problem to try and fix. The others think that we were doing a good thing trying to helping the Vietnamese. Even though a lot of people thought positively of the war to begin with a lot of people soon realized that the government was lying to Americans, the war strategies the Vietcong used were harsh, and this war killed so many innocent people.

    Read More

  • Watergate Scandal In Vietnam

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    saw a high political cost in the conclusion of the Vietnam War, as the long and weary conflict also brought light onto the distrust of the government and officials. Events such as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which lead to U.S. troop deployment in Vietnam, the secret invasion of Cambodia, and the tragic Kent State shooting had put America in a crisis of faith and confidence in its own government. To the American people the ones that lead that nation were no longer credible, and this was further confirmed with the resignation of president Nixon along with the Watergate Scandal. Because of these factors, the Vietnam War changed the views of a generation as they became more and more skeptical in their own government in the wake of the Vietnam War. After the war the U.S. and it’s people were wounded and humiliated. Over 50,000 thousand men gave their lives for a pointless cause: to contain the spread of communism. America’s defeat undermined its superiority, confidence, and ultimately its commitment to internationalism; as future leaders would be wary of any involvement in foreign countries, they were afraid of being stuck in another Vietnam. This reluctance to commit overseas was known as the “Vietnam Syndrome”, were leaders would not send troops to foreign land unless it was in national interest or when there is strong public support. Gradually this syndrome would be shrugged off as America regained its status as a superpower and won relatively quick wars such as the Gulf War shaping the nation we know

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of President Nixon And Obam Ending War

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    While Nixon was in office, he used the war to his benefit, helping him win another term in office. Nixon’s plan was to use “Vietnamization,” a process in which American soldiers would train South Vietnamese to fight for themselves and eventually drawing American troops out of the war (Vietnamization). At first, General WestPoint was in charge, raiding Vietcong bases and trying to eliminate them. The original plan was to use the body count to discourage any more NVA troops from fighting, but this strategy backfired because both Vietnamese and American troops had high body counts. General Abraham was appointed as commander and began the “Vietnamization” strategy, which only seemed to work in the public’s eyes. Nixon made a treaty with South Vietnamese President, to have a ceasefire to withdraw American troops and release American POWs while South Vietnam took over the war (The). Nixon planned to use this strategy to withdraw all American troops, however it was “worse, Nixon would leave North Vietnamese troops occupying and controlling much of the South, while withdrawing all remaining American ground forces (Hughes).” Nixon’s use of Vietnamization helped to further his political resolve. He “sacrificed the lives of American soldiers to further his electoral ends (Hughes).” The ...

    Read More

  • President Lyndon. B Johnson and the Vietnam War

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    The conflict in Vietnam for the United States started when President Dwight D. Eisenhower went along with the domino theory and sent in military advisors in South Vietnam to stop the communist movement from taking place in South Vietnam. The Vietnam conflict was between the communist’s and the United States. North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh, and Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Cong, a guerilla group to help spread communism. The United States were supporters of the South Vietnam because they wanted them to maintain their government rather than falling to the domino theory of communism. After Eisenhower’s term ended, John F. Kennedy became president and took control of the situation in Vietnam.

    Read More

  • JFK and the Vietnam War

    1800 Words  | 4 Pages

    JOHN F. KENNEDY IN VIETNAM There are many critical questions surrounding United States involvement in Vietnam. American entry to Vietnam was a series of many choices made by five successive presidents during these years of 1945-1975. The policies of John F. Kennedy during the years of 1961-1963 were ones of military action, diplomacy, and liberalism. Each of his decision was on its merits at the time the decision was made. The belief that Vietnam was a test of the Americas ability to defeat communists in Vietnam lay at the center of Kennedy¡¦s policy. Kennedy promised in his inaugural address, Let every nation know...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty. From the 1880s until World War II, France governed Vietnam as part of French Indochina, which also included Cambodia and Laos. The country was under the formal control of an emperor, Bao Dai. From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese struggled for their independence from France during the first Indochina War. At the end of this war, the country was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam came under the control of the Vietnamese Communists who had opposed France and aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. Vietnamese who had collaborated with the French controlled the South. For this reason the United States became involved in Vietnam because it believed that if all of the country fell under a Communist government, Communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia and further. This belief was known as the domino theory. The decision to enter Vietnam reflected America¡¦s idea of its global role-U.S. could not recoil from world leadership. The U.S. government supported the South Vietnamese government. The U.S. government wanted to establish the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), which extended protection to South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in case of Communist subversion. SEATO, which came into force in 1955, became the way which Washington justified its support for South Vietnam; this support eventually became direct involvement of U.S. troops. In 1955, the United States picked Ngo Dinh Diem to replace Bao Dai as head of the anti-Communist regime in South Vietnam. Eisenhower chose to support Ngo Dinh Diem. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass., on May 29, 1917. Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in 1940 and joined the Navy the next year.

    Read More

  • Short Summary of Vietnam

    470 Words  | 1 Pages

    Vietnam was a struggle which, in all honesty, the United States should never have been involved in. North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so that they would be a unified communist nation. To prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism, the U.S. held on to the Truman Doctrine and stood behind the South Vietnamese leader, Diem.

    Read More

  • Dr. Strangelove: A Critical Analysis Of Stanley Kubrick's Nuclear War

    1309 Words  | 3 Pages

    Initially, the Viet Minh considered that collaborating with the United States was necessary to achieve independence. However, the United States contributed to the French war effort. After the French withdrawal, Vietnam separated into two different states. It was assumed that these two states would make a referendum in order to achieve their reunification or their definitive separation. But this referendum never happened and the Second Indochina War, also known as the Vietnam War, began. In this war, as Robert Nixon said in his Address to the Nation of November 3, 1969, “President Eisenhower sent economic aid and military equipment to assist the people of South Vietnam in its efforts to prevent a Communist takeover. Seven years ago, President Kennedy sent 16,000 military personnel to Vietnam as combat advisers. Four years ago, President Johnson sent American combat forces to South Vietnam”. In other words, this means that many governments, including Eisenhower’s one, participated in this dispute. Nevertheless, Nixon – as well as Eisenhower – considered the intervention of the United States in this war necessary to defeat global communism. This is observable in the following statement in the previously mentioned Nixon’s speech: “For the South Vietnamese, our precipitate withdrawal would inevitably allow the Communists to repeat the massacres which followed their takeover in the North 15

    Read More

More about The Cost of a Losing War

Open Document