Preview

Why Did The Anti-War Movement Influence The Policy Towards Indochina?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
937 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Did The Anti-War Movement Influence The Policy Towards Indochina?
The anti-war movement didn’t play a large role in the direct change of US policy towards Indochina, however it was able to restrict the escalation of the war and limit the military options up until 1973. The antiwar movement, played a minimal role in direct change of policy due to the fact that it was often disregarded by politicians such as the president, in terms of military decisions. The Antiwar-movement wasn’t too influential due to the fact that there were much larger factors in play such as loss of human life, and drain on the economy, in which was comparatively more significant in the decision making process of the US. However, the antiwar movement did play a part in the influence of the American public, which allowed for the restriction …show more content…
Issues such as Lack of reason for fighting, Financial drain, and the failure of the war caused a far greater shift in American policy makers opinions, hence deeming the movement insignificant.. American Policy makers eventually came to the realisation that it was a war not worth fighting, a conclusion derived mainly from factors other than the anti-war movement. The Economic drain on which it had on the American government was a Factor in which outshined the Anti-war movement. Over the course of the war, the American Government spent $173 billion dollars, not including the depletion of the workforce. This, when paired with the unsuccessful nature of the war and lack of reasoning, were the main reasons for the eventual withdrawal from Indochina. American politicians, began to acknowledge the fact that the war was one not worth fighting, regardless of the anti-war movement. Due to its comparative insignificance, the American anti-war movement, played a minor role in the influence of US Policy towards …show more content…
It is believed that the Antiwar movement, by being vocal, was able to gain the support of the majority of the American Public throughout the war. However, a poll taken in 1969, showed that 77% of the American Public, supported Nixon’s Vietnamization policy towards Indochina. This shows us that the antiwar mov¬¬¬ement, didn’t make up the majority of Americans, nor did it effectively influence the public opinion. Furthermore, the mainstream American public believed that the antiwar movement were, unpatriotic, un-American radicals, showing that once again the antiwar movement, was looked down upon and not generally supported by the American Public. Additionally, The idea that the beliefs of the Antiwar movement weren’t shared throughout the American public was reinforced with President Nixon’s, re-election in 1972. Nixon won with 60.7% of the vote, again showing that the anti-war movement lacked the necessary support from the majority of the public. The Anti-war movement, failed to gain to gain the support of the American public, and consequently was unable to successfully influence the American Policy

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Eisenhower’s eight year presidency was riddled with United States involvement in Southeast Asia - specifically around the Indochina foreign policy. Eisenhower’s administration was truly the first administrations that was tested by the conflict in Vietnam to aid in solutions and help promote diplomacy. The war torn region of Southeast Asia had been challenged by violence for decades already to this point in history and the United States understood how critical it was to America’s strategic direction; labeling South Vietnam vital to both military position for security, and for natural resources. These are both important to have under a non-communist control, but it was even more important to insure the region of the world was not under the control of the communist regime.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    joined the Vietnam War because they were afraid of what was known as the “domino effect” (Schweikart and Allen 704). However, the U.S. became stuck once they were fully committed and the war dragged on due to poor decisions. Zinn also mentions the domino effect: “like a row of dominoes, if one country fell to Communism, the next one would do the same and so on. It was important therefore to keep the first one from falling” (Zinn 471). In addition, America became involved extremely quickly because Eisenhower and Kennedy sent thousands of military advisors to Vietnam when the U.S. was only permitted to have 685 advisors (Zinn 474). While Schweikart, Allen, Zinn agree on the reasons for U.S. involvement in the war, they disagree on the reasons for the anti-war movement. Schweikart and Allen explain that it started because the U.S. government made no attempt to portray their enemy negatively and “at no time did the administration launch even the most basic education campaign to explain the communists’ objectives to the American people” (Schweikart and Allen 718-719). Moreover, Schweikart and Zinn clarify that there were two main groups of Americans: doves, who opposed the war, and hawks, who supported it. However, Zinn traces the citizen’s disapproval of the war to the fact that many Americans had died in the war (Zinn 483), and ignores the people who supported the war, calling the time period “the greatest antiwar movement the nation…

    • 1371 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The analysis of opinion polls from before and after the Tet Offensive demonstrate that US public support for the war had dramatically reduced, most likely as a consequence of media coverage. Before the Tet Offensive, the proportion of Americans who thought of themselves as hawks (pro-war) stood at 60%, but afterwards that number had dropped to 41% . This significant drop in public support could have resulted from the fact that the Vietnam War was the first televised war: “The scope, scale and intensity of the Vietcong Tet Offensive shocked most Americans. Nightly, television news beamed the sights and sounds…of battles…into American living rooms. ” Most Americans had not seen many images of American defeats because “initial coverage generally supported US involvement in the war.” In fact, in 1967 the US government’s ‘Victory Campaign’, which most media organisations supported, increased Johnson’s approval rating to 48%. During the Tet Offensive the US public saw graphic pictures of Americans being killed and brought home in body bags. This…

    • 2319 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Vietnam Era Antiwar Movement was one of the largest social movements in American history. In 1964 the United States began its military involvement in Vietnam. At this time, very few Americans were not against the United States’ involvement. But some Americans believed that the United States should have stayed out of the Vietnam War and should have withdrawn immediately. The U.S intervened because they didn't want South Vietnam to have a communist take over by North Vietnam. When the U.S started regularly bombing North Vietnam and increasing the draft in 1965, the protests and the Antiwar Movement became more serious. The Antiwar movement started from peace and social justice organizations that already existed. In a massive show of civil…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    DBQ Vietnam War APUSH

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Throughout America’s history, few things have left the nation in such controversial turmoil as the Vietnam War. With an American death toll of almost 60,000 troops, the Vietnam War has gone down in infamy as one of the most tremendous struggles Americans have faced both overseas and on the home front. Because of the tumultuous controversies caused by the war, Americans split into two social factions – those against the war and those who supported it. During the years of 1961-1975 - the era in which the war had its greatest effect on Americans - the population of citizens from 18-35 years old and the Presidency were both affected irreversibly.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many Americans believed it was important to prevent South Vietnam from falling to Communism. Others believed the country should not get involved in the region's affairs. In addition, many Americans were opposed to the government's authorization of required enlistment as a way to mobilize troops for the war. By the mid 1960s, public protests against American involvement in Vietnam were becoming more common. Perhaps nowhere was this objection more evident than on U.S. college campuses. Students staged rallies and marches. They penned essays and songs to express their opinions. Many of these protestors expressed their opposition to the war by practicing a strategy of passive…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many misconceptions about the anti-war movement, one being that it was the reason the Vietnam war ended. On the contrary, the movement was more social and cultural than it was political. As a single organization it had little impact, but as a whole movement, it was able to influence on a broader level the politics in America. Even the Johnson and Nixon administration insisted they would ignore the anti-war efforts yet still, they adapted their policies to those who dissented.(456) Those in opposition to the anti-war wave tried with great effort to discredit the movement.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Australians changed their responses to our involvement in the Vietnam War for many of reasons. Australians were initially in favour of the war, but these feelings soon changed. The Media Influenced these changes in attitudes as it was the first war that had ever been televised. This means, Australian families were able to view every night on television what was really going on in Vietnam. This effected the Conscription Debate, which never seemed to end. It eventually discouraged the amount of support for conscription. To explore these changes in attitudes, I will be using…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abc Clio

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Marking one of the most traumatic periods of U.S. history, the Vietnam War spanned more than a decade and caused massive disruption both in Southeast Asia and on the American home front. Although U.S. leaders were often ambiguous about American involvement in Vietnam, they nevertheless pursued a fairly unbroken policy of interference in the country in an effort to halt the spread of communism during the cold war. In the end, the U.S. defeat in Vietnam proved costly, both financially and in terms of the number of lives lost, and diminished America's reputation as the defender of democracy and freedom throughout the world.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Between the Cold War, the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, there was a great deal of animosity and conflict amongst U.S. citizens. Notably, the Cold War had ideological and geological conflicts had sizable impacts on Vietnam in terms of economic and military assistance. Additionally, the Vietnam War was not all as it appeared to be. While Americans were leery of cost and the amount of soldiers being drafted, unimaginable occurrences were taking place as well as incidents going unreported and deaths skyrocketing. Lastly, the U.S. pursued an unsuccessful attempt to organize a reasonable government in South Vietnam due to cultural differences.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conflict In Indochina

    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Assess the impact of the conflict in Indochina for the citizens of Vietnam and Cambodia…

    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although very popular the Vietnam war was huge conflict during the years of 1964 through 1975, this single incident changed many Americans opinions about the nation's role both in foreign affairs and domestic ones. The Vietnam war failed in its primary purpose which was to assists in the defense against north Vietnamese communism, just like the cold war previously this proved to be another example of escalation. The US involvement in Vietnam damaged the us reputation due to very misguided and complex intentions on the part of political leaders like those in the Johnson and Nixon administration which brought upon unhappiness and social unrest among the public. This political corruption along with mismanagement on the economic system and the…

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If America never would have entered this conflict, the death rate of American soldiers would’ve never existed in the first place. The viewpoints on the Vietnam War made by American citizens are debated throughout the country. Many argue that the Vietnam War should’ve been a civil war between northern and southern Vietnam to settle the conflict of if the south should be under communist rule. From the beginning, it can be argued that America’s Vietnam War involvement should have potentially never been…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Vietnam War Protests

    • 1767 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The 1960s and 1970s were a turbulent time for Americans as the country entered in the Vietnam War, from 1965 to 1975. The lives of young men were drastically changed as they were entered into the draft lottery. Others were outraged by the United States entering yet another war. Americans across the country came together and formed huge, diverse protests to stop the Vietnam War and save the lives of the soldiers and innocent civilians. Protesters weakened America's support of the war effort and exposed the horrors that were happening in Vietnam. American citizens were correct in protesting the country's involvement in the Vietnam War.…

    • 1767 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vietnamization

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It is has been about thirty-five years since the last American soldier set foot on Vietnamese soil, but the Vietnam War still remains to cast a dark shadow on American history. During the war, the United States fought to protect South Vietnam from the terrors of North Vietnam and the threat of turning to communism. Despite America’s valiant efforts, it lost about $150 billion on the war, as well as about 58 thousand American soldiers (Gilbert 377). Many people believed when President Lyndon B. Johnson stepped down from office in 1969, that the war was coming to an end, however it was far from over.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays