Arguably, the Vietnam War is one of the known wars in the world. As a matter of fact, most conflicts in Southeast Asia were fought in South Vietnam between the guerrilla forces which are guided by North Vietnam and the Government forces that benefited from United States guide. The Vietnam War began in 1954 after a Geneva conference, which divided Vietnam into South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and North Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam). The war escalated from a civil war in Vietnam into an international conflict that US became involved. The war in Vietnam did not come to an end despite the 1973 peace agreement. The Vietnam War was a long lasting conflict that led to the death of many Vietnamese soldiers and American soldiers. The Vietnam War is the main cause of conflict and controversy between the United States and Vietnam. The Vietnam War affected various issues in the United States, especially the presidential elections of 1964, 1968 and 1972 and the presidencies.
The Vietnam War was part of the legacy of French colonial rule that came to an end in the year 1954. Before the WW II began French was in control of Vietnam, Indochina, as well as Cambodia. The French army was defeated at Dienbienphu on the same year, as well as the Geneva conference agreement. The French was forced out, and this marked the beginning of the division in Vietnam (Kellogg et al 39). The election in South Vietnam had been scheduled to take place in 1956, but President Dinh Ngo Diem cancelled the election. The cancelling of the elections was denounced by Chi Ho Minh because communists were expecting to be part of the beneficiaries. The government faced tremendous antagonism from the Viet Cong. In the course of war, the Viet Cong were the masters of guerilla strategies in Northern Vietnam (Bradley 12). Communists took control of the northern region while the French controlled the Southern Vietnam.
In the era of the cold war, America was against communism in many regions of the globe. Certainly, many of the United States presidents vowed to provide support to all the nations that communism was a threat. In this case, their influence in Vietnam began to grow because United States believed that if the Communists were given an opportunity to take over the southern regions in Vietnam other nations in the region were in danger of becoming communist countries. This became the Domino Theory (Small 57). The president of United States John F Kennedy began to send troops advisers because he foresaw the danger. These military advisers offered their help to South Vietnamese soldiers. The Domino Theory became one of the main reasons why the United States became more involved in the Vietnam War.
The attack of American Warship off the Northern coast of Vietnam forced Lyon Johnson to send troops to Southeast Asia. The Gulf of Tonkin scenario contributed more to American involvement (Hall 17). Due to the increasing American involvement, the Viet Cong attacked Marine barracks in 1965; this was later known as the Pleiku Raid. In response, the president Johnson ordered more troops, which included the navy and air force in the war. The operation was called the operation Rolling Thunder, which was meant to inform Viet Cong that were in a position to stop the attacks (Westheider 54). Unites states developed the containment policy that helped in the spreads of communism. In addition, there was the adoption of Truman doctrine that helped people to resist the subjugation.
The Viet Cong and North Vietnam force went against South Vietnam this was seen as going against the Trunam Doctrine aimed policy of containment. The attacks that followed was seen by the United States as they attempt to strengthen and spread communism internationally; this sort of communism support came from communist China and the Soviet Union. The Viet Cong were good in guerrilla warfare while American did not understand this sort of war. In fact, they copied most of the Red Chinese tactics (Lawrence 64). It was actually difficult for Americans to win this was. In the year 1968, the Vietnam war took another twist when U.S president Johnson began negotiations due to his re-election campaign. The contacts between the North Vietnam and US in Paris were expanded to involve the NLF and South Vietnam. The negotiations marked the beginning of U.S pulling out from the Vietnam war Goodman 3).
Undeniably, the involvement of the United States since the Vietnam War had various effects on the presidential elections and the presidencies of 1964, 1968 and 1972. The election that Vietnam war had its first effect was in 1964. Afterwards, Vietnam War became the central issue of 1992, 2004, 1968 and 1972. In the year 1964, the campaign in the United States was affected (Gitlin 45). The Democratic candidate Johnson Lyndon worked tremendously to convince Americans that he had not the motive of involving the United States in the Vietnam. Other scholars assert that this was not the case Lyndon had an intention of expanding the war. Thereafter, Johnson maintained the non-interventionists policy. The attack on U.S ship made the president declare war in Vietnam (Goodman 2). On the other hand, Barry Goldwater who was a Republican candidate in the year 1964 supported intervention policies. Many Republicans and the public deemed him as an extremist. In addition, he asserted that defeating communism in Vietnam required the use of all techniques, even the use of nuclear bombs (Levy 18). This sort of support and ideologies of the two candidates on the Vietnam issues manipulated the United state voters. The voters decided to choose Johnson, which made him win by a wide margin. Therefore, the effects of Vietnam War we witnessed on presidential elections and it also affected the presidencies.
In 19568, the presidential elections were no better. Most of the issues surrounded Vietnam War. Some supported Johnsons move while others opposed his decision to the Vietnam War. During this year, many students went to the streets protesting the United States involvement in the Vietnam (War Herzog 20). During this election, Eugene McCarthy was part of the election campaign. McCarthy was against the Vietnam war, from this perspective many students voted for him during elections making him a winner in New Hampshire. The republican candidate who came up was Richard Nixon. He focused on the general Vietnam issue and promised to bring the war to an end in honor. He won the race and became the president of the United States. This is a clear indication that the Vietnam war had a lot of impact on the presidencies and the presidential elections (Kellogg 67).
Nevertheless, in 1972, the contribution of the US in the Vietnam War played a crucial role in U.S elections and the presidency. President Nixon was in the election trail seeking to be re-elected. He focused on presenting himself through focusing on foreign policy and peace. During this time, Nixon had brought home many U.S troops, but the war was still on. United States supported the war through the provision of military equipment; this acted as a risk since it had the potential of expanding the war (Goodman 4). The democratic candidate focused on anti-war policies. McGovern move led to withdraw of troops from Vietnam. The suspension of Vietnam bombings and the negotiations towards ending the war propelled George McGovern to the presidency. In general perspective, the Vietnam War and the involvement of the United States has affected the election of United States since 1964. The policies and opinions of the presidential candidates influence the voting decisions of United States voters.
Work Cited
Bradley, Mark, Jayne S. Werner, and Luu D. Huynh. The Vietnam War: Vietnamese and American Perspectives. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 1993. Print
Gitlin, Marty. U.s. Involvement in Vietnam. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub, 2010. Print.
Goodman, Bonnie. How Many Elections have Vietnam Played a Role in?. History News Network. George Mason University, 2004
Hall, Mitchell K. Vietnam War Era: People and Perspectives. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print.
Herzog, Tobey. Vietnam Wars Stories: Innocence Lost. London: Springer, 1992
Kellogg, William O, and William O. Kellogg. How to Prepare for the Ap Advanced Placement Exam, United States History. Hauppauge, N.Y: Barron's Educational Series, 2004. Print.
Lawrence, Mark A. The Vietnam War: A Concise International History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
Levy, Debbie. The Vietnam War. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2004. Print.
Small, Melvin. Antiwarriors: The Vietnam War and the Battle for America's Hearts and Minds. Wilmington (Del.: Scholarly Resources, 2002. Print.
Westheider, James E. The Vietnam War. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2007. Print.
