Vietnam

A detailed Summary of Vietnam

Vietnam is the most controversial events to ever divide the US aside from the Civil War. Although throughout history the US is known to be very isolationalist, this time they took charge. As time passed and the threat of Communism spread to Vietnam, the US gradually became more and more involved between 1954 and 1975.

In 1954, the US was in the process of shrugging off the Great Depression, WWII, and the Second Red Scare and suddenly another conflict presented itself. By May, Dien Bien Phu fell into the hands of Vietnam from the former local power of France. As a temporary arrangement, Vietnam was divided into a north (controlled by communist Ho Chi Minh) and a south (still controlled by France and anti-communists).

In 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected into the office of the presidency. He was a steadfast believer in the containment policy and wanted to stop communism at the regional level, but without missiles. The Domino Effect must be stopped before all of South-East Asia falls. Soon into his presidency, he sent 16,000 military advisors to South-East Asia to train the South Vietnamese military to fight the North. His initial plan was to merely train the south to fight and keep US military troops out.

Finally on April 30, 1975, the north captures Siagon, SV. Once this city falls to communism the domino effect occurs and within a brief period, all of SV falls to communism as well as Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. Althought the effects of the Vietnam war were great in South-East Asia, in the US the minds of the American people and the faith in their government had been destroyed. The country was badly scarred by the civil war movements at home, but the dividing lines that ripped apart society would be very evident and take many years to overcome. The US military was nearly destroyed with thousands dead and many more injured both physically and mentally.

, the situation worsens with the assassination of the South Viet. President. Not long after, JFK himself is assassinated and Lyndon Johnson comes into office. Johnson had many issues (such as the Great Society) that he wanted to tackle at home and did not put full effort behind international or internal affairs.

By early 1972, Nixon ordered more constant bombing of NV. He and his secretary of defense, Henry Kissinger, began making secret plans with the Soviet Union and China. They decided to stop dealing with communist nations as a whole and start talking with them individually from one another. This reduced the tensions between the US and China and the Soviet Union. By being on fairly friendly terms, the US w

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Approximate Word count = 934
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Foreign