Vietnam Essays - Vietnam War, Presidency Of Richard Nixon

Vietnam Essays - Vietnam War, Presidency Of Richard Nixon Vietnam In the early 1960s, North Vietnam wished to unify North and South Vietnam through military force. Since the United States feared the spread of communism in Asia, John F. Kennedy provided economic and military aid to South Vietnam to prevent the takeover by North Vietnam. At this time, this was still a civil war. The United States were not yet officially involved. The North Vietnamese resented this intervention by the United Sates and so, three Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on the U.S. destroyer, Maddox on August 2nd, 1964. The Maddox had been in the Gulf of Tonkin ( international waters ), thirty miles off the coast of Vietnam. On August 3rd, 1964, President Johnson gave the right to attack with the objective of destroying attacking forces . Retaliation air attacks began on August 3rd. Their aim was to destroy North Vietnam's gunboat capability. As two more United States destroyers were supposedly sunk, more air and sea forces were sent. Up until now, the U.S. had refrained from direct combat. This is when the United States formally entered the Vietnam War. The U.S. did this for two reasons. We wished to maintain the independence of South Vietnam and we had to prove to allied nations that we would help them resist Communist takeover. As Congress was about to vote whether or not to allow the combat to move into North Vietnam, the North Vietnamese attacked a major U.S. airbase at Bein Hoa. On February 7th, 1965, Johnson ordered retaliation bombing on North Vietnam. Rolling Thunder was the name of this operation. It's purpose was to put pressure on Hanoi and convince them that Communism could not and would not win. At the end of 1965, one hundred and eighty thousand Americans were in South Vietnam under General William S. Westmoreland. The U.S. mainly depended on superior firepower and helicopters. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese depended on surprise attack and concealment. The United States soldiers realized that the war would last for many more years and wondered if the U.S. war effort could succeed. At the end of 1968, The number of American troops in South Vietnam reached it's peak of 542,000 men. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launched a major invasion against the United States called the Tet offensive from January 30th to February 25th, 1968. At the Khe Sanh U.S. firebase, there was a major ground battle. There was a siege from January 21st to April 14th. It was thought to be the American Dien Bien Phu . The United States turned it around however, with their victory at Hue. By 1969, combat decreased rapidly and American troops began to return home. The role of Communism was extremely important in this conflict. Communism was one of the main reasons of why the United States entered the war in the first place. The U.S. had to enter the war to stop the spread of Communism in Asia since North Vietnam was Communist. Had North Vietnam succeeded in converting Vietnam into a Communist country, it could become very powerful and go on to persuade other countries to become Communist. The U.S. believed that Vietnam could become powerful. They were amazed that France, an Allied power, had been beaten by the Vietnamese. North Vietnam was a Communist country. The man who had proclaimed Vietnam independent, Ho Chi Minh, was a Communist. During the war with the French, Ho Chi Minh took refuge in northern Vietnam and settled there with his followers. He founded the Indochina Communist Party and the Viet Minh. He became the president of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969. North Vietnam was a poor area and was cut off from the agricultural benefit of South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was forced to ask assistance from major Communist allies - the Soviet Union and China. Both aided North Vietnam before and during the war. The North Vietnamese invaded South Vietnam. They wanted to use military tactics to force unification. The United States did not allow their unification. The U.S. knew that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese wished to establish one ruling government, the Communist Party. This led to the Vietnam War and U.S. intervention. On January 27th, 1973, South Vietnam Communist forces ( Viet Cong ), North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the United States agreed on many things during the Paris peace talks. The talks lasted over two years before any agreements were made that suited all of them. The forces involved agreed that U.S. troops would gradually withdraw from Vietnam and all