The Vietnam War is the longest war in American history. It came about and fitted in with what was happening during the Cold War between the United States and the U.S.S.R. The mortal devastation that took place which included the deaths of 58,000 American soldiers and an estimated two million Vietnamese, as well as, injuring 350,000 Americans, single it out as one of the most deadly wars in recent history.
According to digitalhistory.uh.edu, "Between 1945 and 1954, the Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France, which received $2.6 billion in financial support from the United States. The French defeat at the Dien Bien Phu was followed by a peace conference in Geneva. As a result of the conference, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam received their independence, and Vietnam was temporarily divided between an anti-Communist South and a Communist North. In 1956, South Vietnam, with American backing, refused to hold unification elections. By 1958, Communist-led guerrillas, known as the Viet Cong, had begun to battle the South Vietnamese government."
According to history.com, the Vietnam war officially began in 1954 (though conflicts in the region began after the end of World War II) after the rise to power of Ho Chi Minh and his communist Viet Minh party in North Vietnam. The war continued against the backdrop of an intense Cold War between two global superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. By the end, more than 3 million people (including 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War; with more than half being Vietnamese citizens. By 1969, at the peak of U.S. involvement in the war, more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were involved in the Vietnam conflict.Opposition to the war continuted to grow in the United States which caused divisions among the citizenry of the U.S. By 1975, communist forces seized control of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War, and the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the following year.
Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh, born in 1890 in central Vietnam, was a Soviet-trained Communist who began converting individuals to Communism outside his own country decades before he returned to his native Vietnam. He worked to form a Communist party in France in the 1920s and in China in 1930. He spent much of the 1930s in China and the Soviet Union studying and living the Communist rhetoric.
Minh returned to Vietnam to fight the Japanese in 1941. At the end of World War II, civil war erupted and Ho Chi Minh was determined to see a unified Communist Vietnam. The United States, fearing the spread of Communism, became more involved in the early 1960s.
Ho Chi Minh never saw his dream realized. He was in poor health from the mid 1960s until his death in September 1969.
Leaders of the United States
The long war saw four presidents who led the nation into a battle that seemed never-ending. They were:
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-1969)
Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974)
According to digitalhistory.uh.edu, "Between 1945 and 1954, the Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France, which received $2.6 billion in financial support from the United States. The French defeat at the Dien Bien Phu was followed by a peace conference in Geneva. As a result of the conference, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam received their independence, and Vietnam was temporarily divided between an anti-Communist South and a Communist North. In 1956, South Vietnam, with American backing, refused to hold unification elections. By 1958, Communist-led guerrillas, known as the Viet Cong, had begun to battle the South Vietnamese government."
According to history.com, the Vietnam war officially began in 1954 (though conflicts in the region began after the end of World War II) after the rise to power of Ho Chi Minh and his communist Viet Minh party in North Vietnam. The war continued against the backdrop of an intense Cold War between two global superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. By the end, more than 3 million people (including 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War; with more than half being Vietnamese citizens. By 1969, at the peak of U.S. involvement in the war, more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were involved in the Vietnam conflict.Opposition to the war continuted to grow in the United States which caused divisions among the citizenry of the U.S. By 1975, communist forces seized control of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War, and the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the following year.
Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh, born in 1890 in central Vietnam, was a Soviet-trained Communist who began converting individuals to Communism outside his own country decades before he returned to his native Vietnam. He worked to form a Communist party in France in the 1920s and in China in 1930. He spent much of the 1930s in China and the Soviet Union studying and living the Communist rhetoric.
Minh returned to Vietnam to fight the Japanese in 1941. At the end of World War II, civil war erupted and Ho Chi Minh was determined to see a unified Communist Vietnam. The United States, fearing the spread of Communism, became more involved in the early 1960s.
Ho Chi Minh never saw his dream realized. He was in poor health from the mid 1960s until his death in September 1969.
Leaders of the United States
The long war saw four presidents who led the nation into a battle that seemed never-ending. They were:
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-1969)
Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974)
In February 1954, President Eisenhower refused to commit American troops to the Franco-Vietnamese War. In a press conference he stated, "I cannot conceive of a greater tragedy for America than to get heavily involved now in an all-out war in any of those regions." By April, however, his administration revisited the question of direct intervention in the war. Though he sent no U.S. troops to the region, he authorized military aid to the French. After France surrendered to the Viet Minh, Ho Chi Minh's group, Eisenhower's administration aided anti-communist leader Ngo Dinh Diem in consolidating power in Saigon. Throughout his second term as president, Eisenhower remained committed to Diem's regime.
According to history.com, "President Eisenhower gave an histroic press conference in April of 1954. He spent much of the speech explaining the significance of Vietnam to the U.S. First was its economic importance, "the specific value of a locality in its production of materials that the world needs (such as rubber, sulphur and jute)." There wasw also the "possibility that many human beings pass under a dictatorship that is inimical to the free world." Finally, the president noted, "You have broader considerations that might folloow what you would call the falling domino principal." He went on to explain that by not becoming involved in Vietnam, it would lead to the disintegration in Southeast Asia losing Indochina, Burma, Thailand and that even trade with Japan could become compormised. His words had little impact. One month later Dien Bien Phu fell to the communists which ended ujp giving Ho Chi Minh's forces control of northern Vietnam. Eisenhower's domino theory laid the foundation for U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Later presidents, Kennedy and Johnson, both cited the theory to justify their escalation of forces in non-communist South Vietnam.
According to history.com, "President Eisenhower gave an histroic press conference in April of 1954. He spent much of the speech explaining the significance of Vietnam to the U.S. First was its economic importance, "the specific value of a locality in its production of materials that the world needs (such as rubber, sulphur and jute)." There wasw also the "possibility that many human beings pass under a dictatorship that is inimical to the free world." Finally, the president noted, "You have broader considerations that might folloow what you would call the falling domino principal." He went on to explain that by not becoming involved in Vietnam, it would lead to the disintegration in Southeast Asia losing Indochina, Burma, Thailand and that even trade with Japan could become compormised. His words had little impact. One month later Dien Bien Phu fell to the communists which ended ujp giving Ho Chi Minh's forces control of northern Vietnam. Eisenhower's domino theory laid the foundation for U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Later presidents, Kennedy and Johnson, both cited the theory to justify their escalation of forces in non-communist South Vietnam.
Kennedy believed strongly in halting the spread of Communism. In 1961, Kennedy broke the Geneva Accords by sending 1000 American "advisors" to Vietnam. Thus began the escalation and American involvement in the Vietnam War.
According to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, "In the final weeks of his life, President Kennedy wrestled with the future of the United States' commitment in Vietnam. Whether he would have increased military involvement or negotiated a withdrawal of military personnel still remains hotly debated among historians and officials who served in the administrations of President Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson."
By the time Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963, there were 16,000 advisors with boots on the ground in Vietnam.
According to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, "In the final weeks of his life, President Kennedy wrestled with the future of the United States' commitment in Vietnam. Whether he would have increased military involvement or negotiated a withdrawal of military personnel still remains hotly debated among historians and officials who served in the administrations of President Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson."
By the time Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963, there were 16,000 advisors with boots on the ground in Vietnam.
President Johnson greatly escalated the number of American forces in Vietnam. The United States went from having advisors in 1963 to regular military in 1964. Johnson sold this deployment to the American public by promising them that it would be a short-term measure. Most Americans believed that the President was telling the truth.
According to the BBC, despite his promises to bring a swift end to American involvement in Indochina, President Johnson steadily increased the number of troops deployed to Vietnam, hoping to ensure a U.S. victory before withdrawing forces. No American president had yet "lost" a war, and Johnson hoped he wouldn't be the first. By the end of his second term as president, his approval rates had plummeted and his hopes for bringing an end to the war in Vietnam had disappeared. In March of 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, Johnson announced to the American people that he would not seek reelection.
According to the BBC, despite his promises to bring a swift end to American involvement in Indochina, President Johnson steadily increased the number of troops deployed to Vietnam, hoping to ensure a U.S. victory before withdrawing forces. No American president had yet "lost" a war, and Johnson hoped he wouldn't be the first. By the end of his second term as president, his approval rates had plummeted and his hopes for bringing an end to the war in Vietnam had disappeared. In March of 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, Johnson announced to the American people that he would not seek reelection.
Nixon promised in his campaign for the presidency that he would withdraw from Vietnam. Unfortuantely, this promise took him five years to complete. He ended up keeping troops in Vietnam just as long as his predecessor.
According to digitalhistory.com, " follwing his election, President Nixon began to withdraw American troops from Vietnam in June 1969 and replaced the military draft with a lottery in December of that year. In December 1972, the U.S. began large-scale bombing of North Vietnam after peace talks reached an impasse. The so-called Christmas bombings led Congressional Democrats ot call for an end of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia."
In January 1973, the U.S. North and South Vietnam and the Viet Cong signed a cease fire agreement. The agreement stated that the U.S. would withdraw from South Vietnam. Some historians do not agree whether the president believed that the agreement gave South Vietnam a chance to survive as an independent nation or if he used the agreement to be able to withdraw from the region with some sort of honor.
According to digitalhistory.com, " follwing his election, President Nixon began to withdraw American troops from Vietnam in June 1969 and replaced the military draft with a lottery in December of that year. In December 1972, the U.S. began large-scale bombing of North Vietnam after peace talks reached an impasse. The so-called Christmas bombings led Congressional Democrats ot call for an end of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia."
In January 1973, the U.S. North and South Vietnam and the Viet Cong signed a cease fire agreement. The agreement stated that the U.S. would withdraw from South Vietnam. Some historians do not agree whether the president believed that the agreement gave South Vietnam a chance to survive as an independent nation or if he used the agreement to be able to withdraw from the region with some sort of honor.