Vietnam’s Effect on the Home Front

The United States involvement in the Vietnam War changed the United States social and political views of society as a whole. America’s beliefs of Communism cost them thousands of lives and ruined thousands of others. The Democratic United States hated Communist nations just as much as most white people hated black people in the early 1900’s. The United States was willing to cut off all political relationships with communist nations. The government had the public’s support until the death total began to rise higher than it was expected to.

The Vietnam War started with President Dwight B. Eisenhower, but it ended four terms later with Richard Nixon. The War was between 1959-1973. President Johnson heightened America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. “To yield to force in Viet-Nam would weaken that confidence, would undermine the independence of many lands,” which was said by Lyndon Johnson in his State of Union Address on January 12, 1966. Johnson and much of America believe in the Domino Theory. Unfortunately, because of Johnson’s political beliefs, and lack of military strategy 58,209 American soldiers died and an estimated 430,000 American soldiers received the posttraumatic stress disorder. This took some men away from his family, and I know this because I don’t know my biological grandfather because of it. Luckily, America voted in a President who planned on getting them out of the war and away from communism. That President was Richard Nixon and his Vietnamization theory. This theory didn’t work either, but Nixon’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) is part of the base of America’s modern-day defense plan. Senator J. William Fulbright was 100% correct when he said, “...We are trying to remake Vietnamese society, a task which certainly cannot be accomplished by force and which probably cannot be accomplished by any means available outsiders...” in The Arrogance of Power. If other politicians actually listened to him the most of the war would have been avoided, and many deaths would not have happened.

Society began questioning its involvement with in the war when the death toll began rising higher than expected. On November 30, 1965 Vietnam Protestors stood outside the White House and demanded that the soldiers be brought home. This was as sign to the government from society that we don’t like what’s going on and it needs to be changed. The significant part about this was that this was before a significant amount of soldiers were dying. In, addition in a comic by Bill Mauldin of the Chicago Sun Times drew a man walking blindfolded up a ladder with a sign that said “ESCALATE! There is no substitute for victory”. That man was the government’s strategy. While another man had his head in a box holding a sign that said “REPENT Asia is none of our business”. That man of American society. If researchers looked all through out history whatever public wanted to do the government did the opposite when following the ideals of the public was the solution. The public has the solution to everything. In a way, the American public is smarter than the people in office, because the American public is wiser than the government. If politicians paid any attention to a simple comic. Millions of dollars would not have been owed and thousands of lives would have been saved. It’s ironic how a simple comic could have changed the world.

The Vietnam War was the climax of the Cold War. After the government realized that couldn’t contain communism they decided to back off. Communism began to fade from their conscious. In present-day communism doesn’t phase anyone. I think that if another dictatorship like Adolph Hitler came into affect then there would another war similar to the Vietnam War.