Cold War Vietnam Essay

United States intervention into foreign affairs is nothing new, but going back seventy years, Americans were fresh out of WWII, experiencing an economic boom, and wanted to stay on track. The nation feared the “Domino Theory”, “The fall of a non-communist state to communism would precipitate the fall of noncommunist governments in neighboring states” (Britannica) and in 1946, George Kennan came up with the containment doctrine stating that Stalin’s Soviet Union was expansionary and the United States needed to prevent communism's growth. The containment doctrine was mirrored in the 1947 Truman Doctrine, which pledged to support nations fighting communism. The cold war was set to begin, and soon the world witnessed a global power struggle. From

The north was controlled by Ho Chi Minh, a communist with American ties, and the south was controlled by Ngo Dinh Diem, a catholic. President John F. Kennedy, saw instability in the Diem regime and sent 15,000 American soldiers in 1961. By 1963, the Kennedy administration recognized drafted plans for a withdrawal from Vietnam. Those plans never took effect as Kennedy was assassinated and replaced by Lyndon Johnson. Johnson was eager to silence those who accused him of being soft on communism. His opportunity lied in the “Gulf of Tonkin Resolution”. When two American ships were attacked in the gulf, Johnson swept into an unwinnable war backing a leader who had abysmal support. To keep American casualties down, we used bombs, napalm, and Agent Orange. More bombs were dropped on Vietnam in 1967 than in all of World War II. Civilian casualties were estimated at one thousand a week and half of Vietnam's rainforests were destroyed. In 1968 North Vietnam launched a major counterattack which on the Vietnamese New Year, Tet. This massive offensive allowed the North Vietnamese to capture most of Saigon and even the U.S embassy. The land was regained, but public opinion had hit an all-time low and by 1973 the troops were withdrawn and Vietnam was under communist control. America’s entry was unjustified in joining the ground war and should have remained as an influencer in