Comparison Of The Vietnam War And The Watergate Scandal

“No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War” - Richard Nixon. In the years following the second World War, the United States got involved in a war that involved both Russia and a sharply divided Vietnam. During the crux of the war, a massive scandal that would be called “Watergate” encouraged additional conflicts of ideologies within the United States. Although there was much conflict overseas, much of the debates took place domestically, for the media, the government, and the people all played a crucial role in determining the future of the United States. T:The media’s coverage of the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal drastically dropped the American public’s trust in the government and its officials; however,

Nixon tried to fulfill these wishes with an attempt at negotiating with Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam. The negotiation efforts are a miniscule part of what allowed Nixon to be victorious in his second election, although many believed that it played a major role at the time.CITE1 Shortly after the 1972 election, the negotiations at Hanoi, North Vietnam’s capital, quickly fell apart. Much to the public’s chagrin, the discussions dissolved back into physical combat. As combat continued to ensue, Nixon ordered the execution of Operation Linebacker II, also known as the “Christmas Bombing.” Operation Linebacker II was an intense bombing of North Vietnam by U.S. aircraft that lasted 10 days and dropped Nixon’s approval rating down to 39%, which was a change of over 10%. CITE1 The Christmas Bombing was reported by most national news outlets and routine updates were being delivered live. The American public became increasingly concerned with each additional day the bombing was carried out, and the media’s criticisms of the government become increasingly direct. Although the people had been questioning the government as a whole in recent years, this was the first time the public began to directly be skeptical of Nixon. He had been previously trusted as president, with approximately 75% of people agreeing that he could be

What specific reasons were given by the media that caused the public to have a negative reaction to the violence? The public’s primary disinterest in the war came when it was evident that no militaristic or domestic progress was being made. The United States had a vastly superior military than the North Vietnamese, yet it still struggled to compete on the battleground. This is due to the fact that the conflict in North Vietnam was based around guerrilla warfare, which is not traditional to the United States military. Additionally, the concept of containment lost the momentum that it initially had, for the American public didn’t sense any danger of communism as an ideology spreading westward.CITE1 The “Red Scare” was essentially over, so Americans no longer feared the presence of communists in the United States, especially in a position of authority. Whether or not there had been a goal of the war in past years is irrelevant, for at the time of Nixon, there was no clear and concise goal of the Vietnam War. The public’s disinterest in war could have very easily been predicted based upon support trends for previous wars; anything that does not contain a clear mission will not have the majority support. Both the Philippine-American War in the early 1900s and the Korean War shortly before the beginning of the Vietnam War had a complete absence of public approval. CITE1