The war in Vietnam remains one of the most controversial wars in American history. The hearts of the majority of American citizens were against American involvement in this foreign conflict; and as a result, support for the war and American soldiers waned. Several presidents – President Harry S. Truman, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and President Richard M. Nixon – took part in this foggy war; but Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara remained one of the largest actors throughout the conflict. By observing this war from a realist perspective, and describing, explaining, and predicting how the actions of American individuals affected the war in Vietnam, we can predict how the Vietnam conflict changed America’s approach to war in the future.
American involvement in Vietnam spanned over two and a half decades. It began in about June of 1950 when the United States and President Harry S. Truman identified the Viet Minh, a group backed by the Soviet Union and China — a newly communist country, as a possible communist threat. As a result, the American government stepped up military assistance to France in its actions against the Viet Minh. It was not until April of 1954 that United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower believed that the fall of the French to communism would create a “domino effect” throughout southeast Asia. Domino theory, the basis of the domino effect, states that when one country falls to communism, the rest of Southeast Asia would follow and also fall, and this would continue to “domino” until the entire world is engulfed by communism. “This fear, justified by some realist perspectives, led to numerous interventions by superpowers in third world conflicts.” These interventions included the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. Eisenhower having the mindset of the domino effect would lead from his involvement in Vietnam to future president’s thinking on Vietnam until the 1970 and would cement the realist perspective into the Vietnam war.
In addition to presidential involvement, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara played a significant role during the Vietnam War. Robert Strange McNamara, of California, graduated in 1937 from the University of California, Berkeley then attended Harvard Business School, graduating in 1939. Due to poor eyesight, McNamara was barred from combat in World War II. In place of combat, McNamara used statistics to develop systems for bomber raids and systems that use statistics to monitor troops and supplies. His interest in statistics would just be the beginning of his use of realism throughout life.
After the war, McNamara returned home where he joined a group of military officers who would later be referred to as “the whiz kids.” This group assisted in turning around the Ford Motor Company who, at the time, was struggling financially. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, McNamara served as general manager, vice president, and later president of the Ford Motor Company. McNamara would be the first President of Ford that was not a member of the Ford family. Soon after, President-elect John F. Kennedy asked Robert McNamara to join his cabinet, though he was a republican and Kennedy a Democrat. McNamara accepted, and after just one month as President of Ford Motor Company, resigned to take his spot in the cabinet. This move was, most likely, based on McNamara’s demonstration of expertise in military strategies as well as his work in rebuilding the Ford Motor Company.
Taking his position in President Kennedy’s Cabinet in 1961, McNamara focused on numbers and statistics in planning each move the United States would come to make in Vietnam. From a realist perspective, McNamara focused on power, or “the material capabilities of a country, such as size of population and territory, resource endowment, economic capability, and military strength.” McNamara would continue using statistic-based decisions until Kennedy’s assassination and Johnson’s step up into the presidency in November of 1963. While McNamara and his strategic planning were respected by President Kennedy, Johnson was harder to get along with. Through the tensions of a very demanding President, McNamara continued his tactics as best as he could and also came to be the day-to-day spokesman for President Johnson in the war’s prosecution.
In the mid 60’s, government leaders, pressured by American’s reactions to the war, started to change their opinion. By 1965, McNamara began privately questioning the United States involvement in Vietnam. In 1967, he publicly aired his want for peace between the United States and Vietnam. One year later, under scrutiny by Johnson and his administration, McNamara resigned from his position. At this point, Johnson wanted to pull out from Vietnam, but realized he was not only in too deep but also knew he could not finish this war. With an approval rate of below 40 percent, Johnson knew it was time to get out of Vietnam, but also knew that, at this point, the security dilemma created was too much to just pull all troops. A security dilemma is “the situation that states face when they arm to defend themselves and, in the process, threaten other states.” If Johnson were to pull out of Vietnam, not only would it make the United States look weak, it would risk other states, such as Vietnam, seeking to get payback for the power the United States had built and used against them militarily. Johnson was unsuccessful in getting the troops out of Vietnam and left office with men still at war.
In November of 1968, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the Presidential election by promising to restore law and order to the country and end the draft. Nixon began to remove troops in June of 1969 and kept his promise of ending the draft by replacing it with a lottery in December of that same year. In December of 1972, the United States, ready to end the war, began to bomb North Vietnam after long peace talks were unsuccessful. The bombings took place near Christmas and led Democrats in Congress to call for an end of involvement in Vietnam. “In late January 1973, the United States, South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and North Vietnam signed a cease-fire agreement, under which the United States agreed to withdraw from South Vietnam without any comparable commitment from North Vietnam.”
America’s humiliating loss in Vietnam caused “far-reaching consequences and impact on most aspects of American life from the economy, culture to domestic politics and foreign policy – some of which continue to do so today.” In the 1960’s, President Lyndon Johnson attempted to fund both the war in Vietnam and the war on poverty. This effort resulted in increased inflation due to the lack of an increase in taxes. In an addition, the US gold reserves were threatened due to an unfavorable balance of trade caused by the huge spending (over $160 billion) on the Vietnam war. This resultant inflation raised food prices and oil prices which President Nixon was left to correct.
The Vietnam conflict also resulted in policy changes by leaders. The 26th Amendment which passed in 1971 reduced the voting age to 18. Legislators were pressured to lower the voting age since 18 year olds were considered old enough to be drafted into military service without the ability to vote in local, state or federal elections. The military draft also came to an end because of Vietnam. A system that had been in place since the Civil War became controversial during Vietnam. The draft lottery was viewed as unfair toward low-educated and low-income and the number of draft dodgers and anti-war protests increased. Nixon felt that ending the draft would diminish the protests, and by 1973 the last men reported for duty.
The most devastating affect the Vietnam War had on America was a growing mistrust of the government. Events such as bombings in Cambodia kept secret from the public, the My Lai massacre, and the Kent State tragedy, cause a confidence crisis. Americans no longer trusted their leaders. Even the military was discredited for their actions in Vietnam. The skepticism and suspicion of American citizens changed a generation.
Finally, the conflict in Vietnam caused future leaders to exercise caution when becoming involved in foreign conflicts. President Jimmy Carter failed to stop Russia from invading Afghanistan and lost 8 servicemen in the Iran hostage crisis. President Ronald Reagan employed small, covert operations like his secret support to the Contras in Nicaragua. Even President George H.W. Bush used caution in his war against Saddam Hussein. President Bill Clinton withdrew troops from Somalia and refused to intervene in Rwandan genocide out of fear of deadly firefights.
The Vietnam War caused foreign and domestic disaster for the United States Our country poured billions of dollars into and lost more than 58,000 American men in an unwinnable war. Our government and military leaders lost the trust and confidence of the American citizens. Future leaders fell victim to the “Vietnam Syndrome” becoming overly cautious of U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts. The idea of staying out of foreign event could be considered a realist ideology. This event teaches us that although power may sound good in theory, it leads to security dilemmas and a loss of balance of power, or “the strategy by which states counterbalance to ensure that no single state dominates the system, or an outcome that establishes a rough equilibrium among states.” In future events, we can use these teachings to prevent the balance of power from becoming unequal throughout the world. In this case, it was communism challenging capitalism, but in any case where a group or state tries to gain complete hegemony, it is possible for such an event to occur yet again. Vietnam will remain as a caveat in the minds of American leaders and will likely continue to influence American foreign policy far into the future.