The Vietnam War
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No conflict since the Civil War more divided Americans than U.S. involvement in the Civil War in Vietnam. American involvement in Vietnam resulted in deep divisions in U.S. society and remains a bitter pill in history and consciousness for many Americans. The Vietnam War was a largely unpopular war that claimed 58,148 men with an average age of 23.11 years, (Roush 2003, 1). There were deep polarities and divisions within American society over the issue of AmericaÆs participation in the Vietnam War. Because of the dubious motives for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and strong opposition toward it, the basic concept of patriotism underwent reexamination by many Americans. In her book discussing the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Carried to the Wall, author Kristin Ann Hass (1998) argues, ôThe Vietnam War shattered what it meant to be a patriotic American,ö (1). To fully understand the impetus for the deep divisions engendered from American involvement in the Vietnam War, one must explore U.S. policy toward the region prior to and during American involvement in the conflict. During the period from 1954 and 1973, United States officials from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to Richard M. Nixon were convinced that they had to ôsaveö Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh and his communist brand of nationalism. The pursuit of this goal was to prove not only fruitless, but extremely damaging to domestic interests as well (Roberts and Mart
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ted American politics. Officials divided into two camps, of "hawks" and "doves," according to their sentiments regarding the war. Every night, the television news programs carried footage about the war and America's losses - the "body count" - which made it increasingly clear that the war was "going nowhere," and that American troops were not "winning." Geoffrey Perret (1989), in his analysis of America's participation in this and other war efforts, has noted that television coverage of the war shaped both public opinion and influenced military activity, (498). Lyndon Johnson succeeded in getting almost unlimited authority to wage war in Vietnam from the Congress via the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution; this legislation, passed after the North Vietnamese sunk American skips off the Vietnamese coast, was passed almost in the heat of the moment and reflected wounded American pride as much as Congresses' willingness to accord Johnson extraordinary powers similar to those given to Roosevelt in World War II.
General William Westmoreland, attempting to fight a conventional war against guerilla forces, sought and received increasing supplies of men and materials throughout the 1960s. Nevertheless, as public opinion turned against the war, W
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Approximate Word count = 1808
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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