US History: Vietnam War

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Topic 5: What was the impact of the Vietnam War on American society, particularly its divisive effects on politics and culture? How did the war affect the United States' international standing? What lessons can be learned from this episode of history?
Vietnam War photos: iconic images
In June 1963, Malcolm Browne captured a frightening protest. Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk, set himself on fire in Saigon to protest the government's alleged persecution of Buddhists. Photo of the Year for Browne.


 


The Vietnam War was not America's bloodiest or most costly war, but its ramifications were profound. Its unpopularity polarized the country, and its cost hampered President Johnson's ambitious domestic agenda. When communist-led rebels beat French troops at Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam was a French colony. The country was divided at the time, with communists ruling the north and non-communists ruling the south. No elections meant no peaceful union of the two. They fought. The US sent military advisers to South Vietnam as part of its anti-communist policy. By the end of 1962, there were 11,000 American military advisers (up from 900 in 1960), and they were allowed to fight if fired upon. On August 2, 1964, North Vietnamese patrol boats fired on a US ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. A year later, the US Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing the President to take "all necessary steps" to deter future assaults. This empowered the President to interfere in Vietnam. By June 1965, 50,000 American forces were in Vietnam, and by December, 180,000 were. As American engagement abroad mounted, so did domestic opposition. In mid-1965, Senator William Fulbright, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, held public hearings on the war and expressed his disapproval. During the Tet holiday in January 1968, the North launched a massive onslaught against the South. The South, backed by America, won a crushing military victory.
The fight changed American ideas regarding war since it was televised to millions of households. Protests and opposition grew. President Johnson quit bombing North Vietnam in March 1968 and announced his resignation. Peace talks between the warring parties began in 1969, and the first American troops left Vietnam. In 1970, American and South Vietnamese soldiers invaded Cambodia, while American jets destroyed Laos. Both rekindled anti-war protests. After the 1973 peace deal, there were very few American troops left in Vietnam. The North attacked the South a year later, and Saigon fell. The war ended. More than 55,000 Americans died, and over a million Vietnamese civilians (Gardner, n. a.).
The war shattered American culture, casting doubt on America's global leadership, morality, and objectives. The war's actions fueled distrust toward the government and other institutions. The Vietnam War forced John Gardner out of President Johnson's cabinet. Gardner did not speak out against the war until 1970 when he quit without explanation (Gardner, n. a.).
The war's most immediate result was the terrible death toll. 2 million Vietnamese civilians, 1.1 million North Vietname...