(Teacher)
The recent history of the United States is filled with conflict against other nations, peace negotiations, and cooperation within the country in a constant struggle for growth. After almost 250 years since becoming an independent nation, this country is still young and establishing its culture. Not only does the United States have a political history of conflict, it struggles to keep children from poverty and seems to fail miserably.
Pacific Relations with Vietnam.
The Vietnam War was originally between North Vietnam with support from its allies who were communist and the South Vietnam who wanted to avoid communist and had the United States as its ally. The war was a conflict that was started on November 1, 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975.The reason that the United States got involved was because it wanted to end the spread of communism.
The war was controversial in the United States, as there was a huge anti-war movement. Meanwhile, many Americans thought it was their duty and thousands were forced to enter the military specifically to fight this war. The result was that millions of people left, and a fraction of those came home, most were injured or poisoned with Agent Orange, a gas that was sprayed on the jungle to kill all the vegetation and . When the veterans of this war came home, there were mixed greetings. Some were welcomed with a hero’s honor, while others were spit on and ridiculed for their part in this conflict. Regardless, the war had a significant impact on United States society.
Although the Vietnam war was a controversial issue, Kennedy was graceful as he followed through to continue support for South Vietnam. His reasoning was often backed by his recollection of historical issues such as the end of World War II, and the battle with China. He kept his integrity unwavering as he condemned past presidents such as Truman and Roosevelt. His toughness in his fight against Communism was sturdy and empowered United States citizens to also take a stand against the world and feel as if it is the duty of the Americans to protect other countries from falling to Communism.
This attitude that Kennedy held against Communism was apparent in his decision to involve the United States in the Vietnam conflict and support South Vietnam. He told the media that the reason for fighting was to fight against Communism. At first, this tactic worked, however, Americans grew weary of this cause and wanted the whole thing to end. The general attitude was that things needed to be tended to on the home-front, such as poverty, equal rights, and job creation. The support for the war dwindled and the United States began withdrawing troops. However, this was not the start of the withdraw, instead Lyndon B. Johnson took office after Kennedy was assassinated and he found that he needed to continue to stay in Vietnam. Especially after the Viet Cong begam increasing their attacks. Johnson inerited a mess both at home and abroad.
Johnson was forced to send more ground troops to Vietnam and in response to an unprovoked attack on U.S. Navy Destroyers from the North Vietnamese, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was created and signed. However, later reports have surfaced to state that it is more likely the attack was not unprovoked as the media was told. The American people were outraged and Johnson used that as his justification for increasing the war efforts in Vietnam.
Progressivism in the 1970’s
The United States and South Vietnam had a difficult time winning the war because the Viet Cong were able to use the instability of the South Vietnamese and the increase of military technology against them. This allowed the situation to get worse before it got better. Although Johnson ordered an increase of air attacks, the Viet Cong came back harder, faster, and more violent than before. Johnson seemed frustrated and decided that he would promise Ho Chi Minn, the leader of North Vietnam, the opportunity to discuss a resolution. However, at the request of General Westmorland, he sent about one hundred thousand new troops to Vietnam in July of 1965. More troops were on standby to be shipped out the next year. The result was that although statistics show that the North was losing about ten soldiers for each American military person, Americans were less likely to put themselves in harm’s way for the cause. The north was more adept at complete self-sacrifice for the control and capture of the South. After all this was a Vietnamese issue that the United States stuck its nose in where it didn’t belong.
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An unfortunate consequence about the reality of the Vietnam War was that the American public saw the conflict as something that the United States needed to stay out of. Because of this attitude against the war, the veterans did not receive a hero’s welcome. Conversely, the men wand women who fought in World War II did receive a hero’s welcome because that was a war which was backed completely by the American people because WWII involved our country with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It would seem therefore, that unless a war involves the United States directly, most of the American people do not think that the country needs to get involved. At least that seems the most accurate attitude of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.
Pacific Relations with China.
Conservatism
President Nixon was viewed as a fine example of leadership, bravery, and ethical strategy. However, it may have been a media stunt to gain support from the American people and create a sense of comradery between China and the United States. The reasons do not matter, what is most important are the results of that trip. Since that trip, the United States has maintained a free trade agreement with China. As the first president of the United States to go to the People’s Republic of China. Although Nixon intended to follow the strategy that countries such as Great Britain, France, and Germany wished to do, such as establish colonies in China to protect their interests, Nixon decided that having free trade between the two nations would be more advantageous that cutting up the country which would likely end in war. However, the U.S was able to convince the other countries to have free trade with China. Image Credit: The National Security Archive.
Leadership
The 1960’s and 1970’s was an era when Liberalism took giant strides after Kennedy was Assassinated in 1963. The country had barely had a change to mourn his death because the war in Vietnam was still raging and the civil right laws were still being fought at home. After that, the conservationism grew and as a result Reagan becomes president, which brings the illusions that the Democratic party held on to tightly. During this time ethnic isses began to rise and the public demaned more laws to keep the peace.
Developing countries were referred to as Third World countries which seems to dehumanize the people in those countries. Nixon continues to be a thorn in the Liberal agenda, although he did use presidential authority to do good things, such as programs to help the poor, increase wages, and create the Environmental Protection Agency. All of this good was in spite of the Watergate Scandal.
In the wake of the Watergate Scandal, President Ford pardoned Nixon for his crimes and the nation was shocked. Although there was no way that the general public could understand his seemingly humanitarian move, the political gain from this had great potential. Ford was able to learn some important tactics from the Nixon era and how to avoid them. The largest reason, however, is that Ford likely wanted to avoid a lengthy and possibly messy court hearing which would further complicate the government. Because there were no previous cases such as this one, it was a very humanitarian thing to do.
In the wake of Ford’s disappointing loss to Jimmy Carter, the nation held their breath through several conflicts and crisis to see what Carter would do. Carter was considered an outsider to the typical politics in Washington. Neverthless, Carter won the presidential election over Ford by a narrow margin and began running the country in a fresh humanitarian perspective.
Because Carter was a humanitarian who started and supported social program reforms, he was the kind of President that the middle and lower classes could relate to. He dressed informally, he spoke with a friendly tone, and in spite of his southern Baptist ways, he was able to manage two treaties with Panama. Additionally, Carter was part of a ground-breaking treaty between Egypt and Israel. However, Carter faced many roadblocks to complete these humanitarian programs in his first couple of years. During Carter’s second half of his term in office, the crisis in Afghanistan with the Soviets invading the territory occurred. In response, Carter decided to recall the American Ambassador and refuse military action to intervene with the foreign problem was intended to show that the U.S. took a stand on moral high ground. Instead the action of inaction was viewed as a weakness to the world, instead of a strength. Ethically, this student thinks that Carter was morally right in his convictions.Photo Credit: Before Its News.com
After Jimmy Carter lost the election to Ronald Regan in 1980, the country faced new challenges. For example, Reagan, a conservative, was opposed to environmental protection issues. He dismissed anything that required him to take the environmental decline that industry creates, seriously and was objectionable about several humanitarian and environmental programs. His support of industry over nature was what allowed industry to continue polluting the air, water, and soil around the country. Looking at the historical evidence that is backed by official documents, it is easy to understand why Ronald Reagan, the leader in the ultra-conservative movement, was criticized in many textbooks, and was seen as an epitome of republican presidents. Unfortunately, the republican party has continued to decline in ethical policy for the United State conservative movements as evidenced by the last few Republican nominees for president.
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Globalization
During the 1970’s the LGBT community began to become more active about their public visibility. Although homosexuality was still in the psychology books as a mental disorder, it was not until 1974, when it was officially removed as a disorder and accepted as a valid sexual identity. Although this was on the records, society in America did not accept the term and many were still abused and ridiculed for their sexual orientation. The LGBT community has grown past all of that in some ways. However, society still has a way to go to mature and grow into the evolution of acceptance of all people.
In addition to the LGBT rights movement, Communism was still a large issue during the Reagan administration. In Reagan’s opinion, the Soviets were an entity to be taken down or overwhelmed and suppressed. Although this idea of suppressing a communist influence across the globe may have seemed like a good idea, it was a strategy that was part of the Cold War. This approach to foreign policy may have successfully pushed the Soviets back, it did not squash Communism completely. Instead, the Soviets relaxed and although a few trade sanctions were tested between the countries, the Soviets and the United States made peace with each other near the Olympic Games in 1980.
In spite of the many hurdles that Reagan had to overcome, he did accomplish the escalation of the war on drugs, lowered the federal income tax, appointed the first female Supreme Court justice and signed the Civil Liberties Act if 1981. The accomplishments seemed to overshadow many of Reagan’s shortcomings as President.
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The United States has been viewed by the world as a country with attitude. Because we switch government leadership every four years, the inconsistency of the global interactions can change with the leadership of the country. Just as the world is comfortable with one set of policy, it often changes, which makes globalization difficult, especially with those countries which must deal with us on an ongoing basis. Thankfully, the United Nations is able to keep a strong foreign trade agreement together, establish the global rules for how the world will operate with each other and tried to stay out of domestic issues that occur within the borders of a country.
In addition to the role of the U.N., the place that America has placed itself is the role of world policing. For example, Americans think that its rules need to apply to every country. This means that the United States sees what it believes to be an injustice and it swoops in to try to correct that injustice, even if the U.S. was not involved. However, if the issue is presented at the United Nations, and many countries agree that something needs to be done, it is likely that the United States may choose not be involved if there is no profitable resolution. In this way, Globalization is not foreseeable in the near future.
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Two Key Terms from Chapter 31 are:
Americans with Disabilities Act that was enacted in 1991. This act banned all discrimination against people with disabilities. This included discrimination at their place of employment or any other public establishment.
Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman and although it does not discriminate against gay marriage, it does not support it either.
Possible discussion questions:
What was significant about the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy? What has changed singe then?
Although the rules sound good for U.S. education what was inherently wrong with the No Child Left Behind Act that was created in 2002 and what has replaced it since then?
Works Cited
"1965: New Role In Vietnam Has Dire Consequences". Stars and Stripes. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 May 2016.
"Dag Hammarskjold Library - Map Library". Un.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.
Field, Mona. California Government And Politics Today. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.
"Nixon's Trip To China". Nsarchive.gwu.edu. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.
"Obama Didn't Ask Carter For Advice Because Jimmy Was A Foreign Policy FAILURE | Opinion - Conservative". Before It's News | Alternative News | UFO | Beyond Science | True News| Prophecy News | People Powered News. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.
Roark, James L et al. The American Promise. Print.
Storey, William Kelleher. Writing History. Print.
"Transforming America: Politics And Culture During The Reagan Years: Robert M. Collins: 8580000637052: Amazon.Com: Books". Amazon.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.
