The United States during the 1960’s was a time characterized by domestic tensions and foreign conflicts with the rising Civil Rights movement and progressing Cold War. With the Cold War came the irrational fear of Communism heightened by the Domino Theory. The Domino Theory motivated the US entrance in the Korean War because the United States wanted to prevent Communism spreading to South Korea, fearing that if one Southeast Asian country fell to Communism then all of Southeast Asia would fall as well. To the Americans, their war against Communism was their moral duty as a powerful Democratic nation that was not severely hurt by WWII. In their view, Communism was an oppressive system of government that they must contain to the Soviet Union
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The American public was led to believe that the war in Vietnam would not last more than a few months. The logic behind this conclusion, was that it was a political war between Democracy and Communism and that when the North Vietnamese forces come face to face with the American forces they would surrender. The American people believed this because the “war on Communism” was what their government presented as the motive for US intervention. In fact, in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Speech at Johns Hopkins University in April of 1965, he stated that, “We have helped to build, and we have helped to defend. Thus, over many years, we have made a national pledge to help South Viet-Nam defend its independence” (Johnson). Americans had no reason, up to this point in history, not to trust that they were defending South Vietnam from Communism however what they did not know was that Vietnam was not a political war. It was a war for Vietnamese sovereignty. Robert Kennedy goes so far as to say that the US failure in Vietnam was “because we have misconceived the nature of the war” (Hillstorm). Fortunately, American ignorance would only last until 1968 with the disillusionment of the Tet …show more content…
At the end of each day, the major new stations would report the American deaths. At the height of the war, 1968, there was close to 17,000 deaths over the course of the year, meaning each day there was an average of 45 deaths (PBS). Americans were constantly being reminded of their boys dying despite the war being 9,000 miles away. Additionally, the anti-war movement was gaining support from prominent figures such as Muhammed Ali and Martin Luther King Jr. MLK was horrified by the death toll of the war saying, “it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population” (Hillstorm). With King’s support, the anti-war movement also gained the majority of the African American community who believed the United States should be focusing on the domestic Civil Rights Movement rather than
The American public was led to believe that the war in Vietnam would not last more than a few months. The logic behind this conclusion, was that it was a political war between Democracy and Communism and that when the North Vietnamese forces come face to face with the American forces they would surrender. The American people believed this because the “war on Communism” was what their government presented as the motive for US intervention. In fact, in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Speech at Johns Hopkins University in April of 1965, he stated that, “We have helped to build, and we have helped to defend. Thus, over many years, we have made a national pledge to help South Viet-Nam defend its independence” (Johnson). Americans had no reason, up to this point in history, not to trust that they were defending South Vietnam from Communism however what they did not know was that Vietnam was not a political war. It was a war for Vietnamese sovereignty. Robert Kennedy goes so far as to say that the US failure in Vietnam was “because we have misconceived the nature of the war” (Hillstorm). Fortunately, American ignorance would only last until 1968 with the disillusionment of the Tet …show more content…
At the end of each day, the major new stations would report the American deaths. At the height of the war, 1968, there was close to 17,000 deaths over the course of the year, meaning each day there was an average of 45 deaths (PBS). Americans were constantly being reminded of their boys dying despite the war being 9,000 miles away. Additionally, the anti-war movement was gaining support from prominent figures such as Muhammed Ali and Martin Luther King Jr. MLK was horrified by the death toll of the war saying, “it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population” (Hillstorm). With King’s support, the anti-war movement also gained the majority of the African American community who believed the United States should be focusing on the domestic Civil Rights Movement rather than