Background
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As the Vietnam War approached, the US had just come out of the 1950's, commonly know as the "Golden Age." Many inventions and innovations were made during this time period, such as the polio vaccine, and color television. Americans as a whole hated communism, and looked to abolish the practice of it not only at home, but in the world. Going into the war, Americans thought of themselves every highly and were anticipating a short and swift end to the Vietnam War and the communist power that threatened the south. The US intervention in the conflict was widely accepted in the beginning of the war and wasn't until much later in the war that people started to turn against it.
Until the War in Afghanistan, the Vietnam War was the longest war in United States history, lasting from 1956 to 1975, with official U.S. involvement lasting from 1965 to 1973. The war spanned over several separate presidencies, from the administrations of Johnson to Ford and involvement dating back to the Kennedy administration, with each president carrying out different itineraries in the war. The overall goal of the United States was to keep the communist threat in North Vietnam from entering South Vietnam. The United States had promised this to the South Vietnamese, and, despite the long fought battle with North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, the United States failed in keeping this promise.
There were many factors that led to the failure of the United States keeping the communist power out of Vietnam. One explanation is that United States citizens' support for the war declined as the war carried on. The initial idea of going into Vietnam was fairly well accepted by most Americans. Most believed that going into Vietnam was a just and moral cause and the general belief was that the war would be over in a timely manner. This did not prove to be the case. As time went by and the war dragged on with no clear view of the end in sight, people became impatient and angry. This became even more apparent after the Tet Offensive and My Lai Massacre.
Until the War in Afghanistan, the Vietnam War was the longest war in United States history, lasting from 1956 to 1975, with official U.S. involvement lasting from 1965 to 1973. The war spanned over several separate presidencies, from the administrations of Johnson to Ford and involvement dating back to the Kennedy administration, with each president carrying out different itineraries in the war. The overall goal of the United States was to keep the communist threat in North Vietnam from entering South Vietnam. The United States had promised this to the South Vietnamese, and, despite the long fought battle with North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, the United States failed in keeping this promise.
There were many factors that led to the failure of the United States keeping the communist power out of Vietnam. One explanation is that United States citizens' support for the war declined as the war carried on. The initial idea of going into Vietnam was fairly well accepted by most Americans. Most believed that going into Vietnam was a just and moral cause and the general belief was that the war would be over in a timely manner. This did not prove to be the case. As time went by and the war dragged on with no clear view of the end in sight, people became impatient and angry. This became even more apparent after the Tet Offensive and My Lai Massacre.
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Videos such as the one above is a prime example of how the war was portrayed in the media. Although not all men who fought in the war had such a state of mind, the media gave the country the idea that all men felt the same. The idea that all men fighting in Vietnam were "killing machines" was widely accepted to be true. This angered many Americans because it was not what they felt the original mission of the US intervention was. People began to question the government's intentions. Because the American people only saw what the media allowed them to see of the war, a very tinted portrayal of what the war in fact was entered the minds of the population and support for the war started to decrease.
As the war grew longer people began to disapprove and hate the United States intervention. People opposed such things as the draft, the portrayal of the devastation cause by the war, and moral arguments against United States intervention began to rise. Mainly American college students, also classified as the baby boomers, were known to be against the war and would accuse the government of imperialistic intentions of the war instead of the initial moral reasoning for the intervention. These people were the main cause for the "Hippie Movement" during this time and started protests and riots in trying to prove their point.
As the war went on, and more and more lives were lost, the cost of winning the Vietnam War proved to be too great. Because the Viet Cong's main form of protest was through guerrilla warfare, the United States had a hard time identifying members as they would "disappear" into crowds after performing their attacks. Since the United States was not used to, or well enough equipped to fight in this manner, most strategies in defeating the Viet Cong proved to be ineffective. The troops' general morale had ceased to exist as there seemed to be no progress in fighting against the radical group all hope in defeating the Viet Cong was lost.
In January of 1973, President Nixon signed a ceasefire. In the years to come the communist power from the north overran the south, uniting Cambodia and Laos under a new governing power. The long fought war had come to an end, leveling the seemingly untouchable American nation. Questions of what the role of America was and how, as a nation, it would deal with further international affairs arose during the war and in the years to come. The once seemed unbreakable enthusiasm of the country going into the middle 1960's had been crushed by their failure to keep the communist power in northern Vietnam out of the south, thus effectively changing the identity of the country.
As the war went on, and more and more lives were lost, the cost of winning the Vietnam War proved to be too great. Because the Viet Cong's main form of protest was through guerrilla warfare, the United States had a hard time identifying members as they would "disappear" into crowds after performing their attacks. Since the United States was not used to, or well enough equipped to fight in this manner, most strategies in defeating the Viet Cong proved to be ineffective. The troops' general morale had ceased to exist as there seemed to be no progress in fighting against the radical group all hope in defeating the Viet Cong was lost.
In January of 1973, President Nixon signed a ceasefire. In the years to come the communist power from the north overran the south, uniting Cambodia and Laos under a new governing power. The long fought war had come to an end, leveling the seemingly untouchable American nation. Questions of what the role of America was and how, as a nation, it would deal with further international affairs arose during the war and in the years to come. The once seemed unbreakable enthusiasm of the country going into the middle 1960's had been crushed by their failure to keep the communist power in northern Vietnam out of the south, thus effectively changing the identity of the country.