True to my word we took a break from notes today. We explored the Vietnam war through the voices of those involved in it. Your homework assignment however is to view the crash course video on Vietnam below and respond to the following prompt right here on the blog.
Prompt: To what extent was the course of the Vietnam war decided by the everyday American as opposed to politicians?
PPT we did not do if you want to view it:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Br2RBwz0R7dXZEa01wWDdZOE0/view?usp=sharing
Video we actually watched in class:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgtQIEZym2w
Everyday Americans were able to have a strong influence on the Vietnam War. because as americans being increasingly aware due to the pentagon papers and broadcasting they begain to see the amount of lives being lost and how America was losing. When LBJ took over dude to protesting and everyday americans being divided by the war it most likely influenced LBJ to not take another term and once more people were able to vote for a president to get americans out of vietnam which was nixon. And by the strong voice of people being against what the goverment was esstentially doing led to another presidential election which they voted for nixon who promised to end the war, the goverment( LBJ and his military general guy) really didnt have such a strong influence because they still didnt understand how to win the war and how to get troops back
ReplyDeleteWhen the Vietnam War was put into action, Americans didn't oppose it nor did they understand why it was occurring. This lack of involvement and understanding aided the course of the war. Another reason why the course of the Vietnam War was decided by Americans opposed to politicians is because they were extremely divided. Some people fully supported the war while others strongly opposed it and saw no purpose for the war's existence.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Vietnam War began most Americans were not opposed to the war they viewed it as a fight against communism. As the war went on however media coverage showed clips of the War and for the first time Americans could sit and watch the war. This was not good for the government because what they were telling us and what they were telling us about the war did not match up that was when the anti war effort began and led to protests which in some cases (Kent State) led to civilians being shot. The governments view on the war was that they had to win because if they failed another communist state would rise adding a "domino" to Asia.
ReplyDeleteThe American people’s decision in the war in Vietnam was primarily influenced by politicians.Although many citizens did support the war, many were also against it. Politicians were afraid of communism spreading due to the domino effect in Asia. If South Vietnam fell to communism, politicians would be extremely worried. The government of America was willing to do anything to make sure communism wouldn’t spread. In order to do this, it required them to lie to the citizens of America. The people were told that we were winning the war in Vietnam; while in Vietnam American soldiers were being hammered by Chinese and North Vietnamese troops found out by the release of the pentagon papers. This made Citizens not trust the governments decisions and raised to attention the need for our troops to come back home and “get the hell out of Vietnam”. While the fear of cold war tensions from communism from the Soviet Union and the United States was on the governments mind, to many troops, supplies, and trusts were being lost to not avoid ending the conflict.
ReplyDeletehaha this is kevyn boiiiiiii i am using maggies computer.
ReplyDeleteThe VietNAM war was in a way controlled by the average american in the way that Americans were not opposed or involved in the war. The common average american decided to leave the politics to the politicians and "Experts" and were not informed,nor did they care very much, about the ongoings of the war. As years passed and things got worse and the distrust of the government grew, people began finding out and looking into the war and protesting about it. As always, there is always opposition to any view, and while there people protesting, there were also strong supporters. American indifference to affairs allowed to government to get into a war that they could not easily get out of. Da END BOIIIIII
(AIRHORN) WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!1!!!!1!!11!!
I think average americans are at fault for the Vietnam war because they did nothing to stop it, until it was to late. This americans felt confident and empowered enough to belive that the U.S could win any war they fought. They felt this way not only because the won great wars, but because of the lies the government was feeding them. If they were more involved in the outside world instead of focusing in the inside they would have realized how powerful the Vietnam war was. They would have seen how hard was to win against an enemy so strong. They thought they were fighting for democracy and freedom, but instead they were fighting for containment. Maybe i'm wrong but this is why I think.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam war caused much controversy among us citizens. At the Beginning of the war people didn't really understand or even care about the war as a whole, but as they began to see how bad and pointless it was they began to protest. A large amount of people began to protest but at the same time a large amount of began encouraged and supported the war. When people started finding out the truth and what was really going on, our government began to, for lack of better words, panic and preceded to make a lousy decision. It was almost like americans were having a private war inside a much larger one.
ReplyDeleteFor so long,every American was dependent and put all their trust into the politics’ word, because there was only communication through a radio. Also during the 1940s and 1950s Americans were somewhat brainwashed into hating everything that dealt with communism. So anytime during the Vietnam War when anything associated with communism was brought up, they became scared and automatically ran into the arms of the politicians. It wasn’t until the appearance of televisions in almost every home that Americans started got to see first hand what their country was really in for and the truth was revealed about their government. So for awhile the people allowed every decision to be made by the politicians and this resulted in the politics wanting to just keep America’s reputation at any cost and the Americans to realize that the war was pointless.
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the Vietnam War, all Americans were for it because they had the hopes of defeating communism in Southeast Asia. Certain incidents like the Gulf of Tonkin resolution led to more Americans being shipped to Vietnam in order to fight. However, in 1969, the Pentagon Papers were discovered and revealed to the public that many events in Vietnam either didn't actually happen or were only half told. One of the biggest lies Congress kept hidden was that America was losing the war. That led to angry Americans protesting against the war and asking Congress to end the war and bring troops back. Eventually, in 1973, an agreement was made and all American troops left Vietnam, this pleasing many Americans on the home front.
ReplyDeleteAmerican citizens weren't really allowed into the decision making process in the Vietnam War. Or at least when it started. Sure, the average citizen supported it, but that was because they trusted the government. As the war continued to escalate, they became less enthusiastic about it. Because media coverage let them see what our troops were doing. Even as protests grew, citizens weren't
ReplyDeleteable to make govmnt decisions. Eventually US troops were withdrawn, while US bombing of Vietnam increased. This decision could be partly based on the citizens, but they didn't get much influence.
Many Americans had gone on strike, and disagreed with the Vietnam War after reading parts of the "Top Secret" Pentagon Papers. This had an influence on other Americans views because they were stating that the war was wrong, and we should instead be making peace. Despite the many that did not agree, there were also many that did. President Johnson was embarrassed by the media and stated that he would not accept to be re-elected. Nixon says that he will end the war, and wins the election. The many people that had disagreed had a big effect on the way the government could handle the situation. With the papers being leaked Americans knew that they had messed up, and they were no longer able to keep everything a secret, the public would know what was going on. The government had to be cautious and could no longer lie to the citizens, but they still needed to contain communism.
ReplyDeletethe extant of the vietnam was mostly effacted when the people of the United States realized that the goverment as been lying to them since nearly the beggening of the war. because the US goverment didn't try to under stand the vietnamse people place before because they where so blind to contain communism that they everything to the side. the war itself could have been avoided entirly and so many people wouldn't had to suffer on both sides if the US had stop and looked around them and not be in it own world and had been honest to its citiztions then people wouldn't be so doubtful to elect for president.
ReplyDeleteDuring the Vietnam War, Americans were kept in the dark from information concerning the war. In an American’s point of view, this was seen as a fight against communism. At the time Americans were paranoid of communism and ill informed of what was actually happening in Vietnam and this was evident with the Pentagon Papers. However with what the Americans saw, such as the My Lai Massacre, horrified them and created an opposing view against the war. The stated opinion of whether the Vietnam War was necessary or not was argued immensely, especially with politicians. However the government and politicians were more informed of the war events so the government decided the course of the Vietnam War. The public had little to none influence on the course of the Vietnam War due to the government keeping information from them.
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the Vietnam War most Americans did not disapprove or resist it in fact they believed that it was a war against communism. Americans were also not well informed on what was truly going on in Vietnam. They believed the government when they said that the US was winning the war and that it was about to end but shortly after Americans became aware that the US was losing the war when the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive. Soon after Americans realized that the government were misleading them they began to doubt and question why they were fighting in Vietnam especially when the Pentagon Papers were published. When the Vietnam War was broadcasted on tv Americans started to protest and destroy their draft cards.
ReplyDeleteThe views on the beginning of Vietnam war by the Americans were very diverse. Some supported and and some saw no point of the war entirely. It was when they (Americans) were able to be updated on the war by television and other means of information such as the pentagon papers that the Americans really saw that there was no point for the war and that the government wasn't telling what was really happening. This affected the course of the war by protests and an newborn untrust of the government. That's is why they elected a new president because they no longer trusted LBJ and instead sought new trust in a new president. When the war finally ended the untrust between the government and the people will remain. Although the war was fought Americans did have an influence on the course of the war by protest and their lack of trust between the president and the government entirely
ReplyDeleteThe war was very much influenced by American people. American's views on the Vietnam War varried. Some were very much in favor as they believed it would end communism and help the people. Others, however, protested it after the Pentagon Paper brought to light many aspects of the war being hid from the public. As media showed clips and presented facts about the number of deaths occurring, citizens began to realize the US was not winning the war after all. The government only fought for the Vietnam war because they wanted to shut down communism and make sure it couldn't spread further. Ultimately, the government had good intentions but lacked knowledge of how to win a war.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the people's influence led to the election of a new president.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the most controversial topic between the 1950's and 1970's both the American people and politicians (Because America!)supported the Vietnam war because of the fear of communism but, the people started to see the war as senseless and we were not getting anything out of it. The people soon started to riot for the government to pull out the troops in Vietnam but, the politicians having the power were to stubborn, prideful and arrogant keeping the troops there so, they could try to save the image of the United States after violating every code in the U.N. Even though, not every American was against the war, the majority of the people finally got their wish because of course this is peoples government and we took the humiliation of losing our first war. In the end the trust between the government and the people was destroyed.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam War was the first war that was brought into American homes through television. Contrary to popular belief most Americans did not protest the war at first. The protests were limited to the college students and college campuses.As the war continued and more and more American lives were lost the American public became disenchanted with the government leaders. As more "secrets" about the war came to light the sentiments about the war changed and the outcry came for the political leaders to end the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the Vietnam conflict most Americans were behind their government in the idea of containing communism. As the war raged on more and more people changed their views against the war because of the loss of american lives and the atrocities committed in Vietnam. The politicians were always for the war but with pressure from the public they pulled troops out of Vietnam, which caused the US to lose a lot of face and become humiliated.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Vietnam war began the American citizens didn't exactly realize why and what was happening over seas. They belived that they were fighting against spread of communism. Politicians were the ones in control for most of the war until the media began to leak out images and televized proof of what the war really looked like. The government lied to the people telling them that they were winning the war but the Pentagon Papers showed otherwise. American citizens , mainly college students, began to protest the war. Although there were many who still had a strong belief that we were there to defeat communism.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Vietnam War had begun, Americans did not oppose to the war, yet they did not have a complete understanding of why the war was happening. This lack of an understanding aided in the course of the war. As well as the course of the Vietnam War was opposed to and by politicians because of how the nation was divided. Half believing the war was unnecessary, the other half fully supporting the war.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the American people were larger contributors to the events surrounding the Vietnam war as opposed to actual polititions to a certain extent. Since the people are the ones behind who is elected for office, I'd have to say most of the blame was on us. We choose a president who showed obvious plans of intervention in those affairs. Also, the Americans at home were, as John Green said, "tired of fighting a war they weren't winning, so it helped us swing the election of 1952 for Dwight Eisenhower." We wanted America do do something about Communism, and we were so blinded by our actual fear of Communism that we made rash decisions about the subject. And to make matters worse, the government didn't expressly tell Americans everything about the war, so our ideas were based off of limited information!
ReplyDeleteThe American people can be at fault for the Vietnam War, but not as much as the politicians were. The Americans made a mistake trusting and leaving the government to handle the conflict on their own. Americans ignored the issue and left it to the “experts” because they had hope that the country's government would put a final stop communism as they did before. To add, the government had media tell the people that everything was controlled and we were succeeding. However, once the Pentagon papers were out to the public, the people saw that the government had no control over what was happening in Vietnam. That was the proof they needed to see that the government was lying to them all along and Americans were losing greatly. Thus causing some Americans to protest and wanting the government to pull the soldiers away before more were lost. Now, Politicians were so afraid of the fact that communism was winning that they kept the troops and not only that they sent more Americans to the war. The government had hope, just as citizens did, and knew that if they did not win that the domino effect will come into play and democracy will be overcome.
ReplyDeleteWhile at the start of the Vietnam war the American people supported the war effort, it quickly changed because of both Tv’s and the Pentagon papers, these two things changed the war, from being decided by politicians to a fight that was then being decided by the American people. Because of the Tv in every American home, American people for the first time ever where able to see what was really happing in Vietnam and how the public was in just as much trouble and danger as the Communist soldiers they were trying to stop. Along with this, the released of the pentagon paper also cause problems because it showed that the government was lieing to the American people about what was really happing in Vietnam and how the Us was not “winning” on the same scale as the government was saying they were, because of this larger and larger amounts of people began to protesting against the war in Vietnam, so much so that it forced the politicians to act on the will of the people instead of what they wanted, turning this war into a war that was decided by the people instead of politicians.
ReplyDeleteThe Cold War brought many tensions in which Communism was the big conflict in the US, which brought the Red Scare. Many American citizens were scared about the idea that it was changing the world. Every country was falling into Communism which was known as the Domino Theory. In order to stop this we had to imply military force. Many American citizens believed it was a war of communism and that was the only reason why we were in war. Some were against this war, but most Americans put there faith on the US government to bring an end to this conflict because they didn't know what was actually happening. As the war was going on in vietnam, the government was telling the American public that everything was under control and that the end was near. Many believed this, but as the media showed footage of the war, the public became aware of this horrific seen. This brought many personal opinions, these opinions later on turned into protest when the public found out they were being lied to which was stated on the Pentagon Papers. As a result, it brought a different view on politicians from a American citizen perspective. Little did the American public know about the war, but at the end it affected us as a nation.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Vietnam war began, Americans were unsure of their feelings towards it. The lack of involvement and understanding towards it fueled the war. The wars outturn was completely decided by the people rather than the government because some turned out to be for the war and some the complete opposite.
ReplyDeleteThe Cold War brought many tensions in which Communism was the big conflict in the US, which brought the Red Scare. Many American citizens were scared about the idea that it was changing the world. Every country was falling into Communism which was known as the Domino Theory. In order to stop this we had to imply military force. Many American citizens believed it was a war of communism and that was the only reason why we were in war. Some were against this war, but most Americans put there faith on the US government to bring an end to this conflict because they didn't know what was actually happening. As the war was going on in vietnam, the government was telling the American public that everything was under control and that the end was near. Many believed this, but as the media showed footage of the war, the public became aware of this horrific seen. This brought many personal opinions, these opinions later on turned into protest when the public found out they were being lied to which was stated on the Pentagon Papers. As a result, it brought a different view on politicians from a American citizen perspective. Little did the American public know about the war, but at the end it affected us as a nation.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam War became a war of secrets and lies involving the American people and the government officials they trusted. When the U.S. became involved in the Vietnam War it was clear that the lower and middle class citizens were to be the primary fighters. The upper class hid behind college attendance and hosted many protests against the war. In the beginning, the general American public was for the war because they were against the idea of Communism. As the war progressed the use of television brought the war into the living rooms of the U.S. citizens. They were appalled at the loss of life. The government officials kept insisting that we were "winning" the war. As discontent grew even within the armed forces it was apparent the the public was being lied to. With the release of the "Pentagon Papers", the American public realized the extent of the lies told by the government and called for the removal of troops. It took another five years before the U.S. was able to fully leave the Vietnam War. The Paris Peace Treaty made it possible for American troops to withdraw completely.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam War, in its beginnings, was not heavily influenced by the American public. Politicians decided to engage in the war, and as it progressed everyday citizens were not informed of many details. Generally citizens agreed with the war because they saw it as necessary to stop the advance of communism - an idea they could support. However, public disapproval of the war grew (especially after the Tet Offensive) and in 1968 Americans elected Nixon in hopes that he could end the war quickly. The publishing of the Pentagon Papers in 1971 revealed that the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations had all misled the public about the US's involvement in the war. After this, public outrage was a major factor in deciding the pathway forward, and leaders simply could not continue fighting with so much opposition at home.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, the american people had an impact in the course of the Vietnam war, but not completely. For a major part of the war, the american people were in the dark about almost everything that involved the war. But They still did have an effect.The american people an a sort of ignorance when it came to the early points of the war, sure a lot was concealed from them, but not all of it. If people were slightly more aware, the american public could have had a larger say on what happened during the war. All people really knew was that they were spreading communism and they didn't want a single domino to fall. Once the american people became more aware, it became public and was hated among many Americans. the distrust and hate that Americans felt for their government, led to the government wanting to end the war. If you want to talk about a domino affect, talk about the american one. As soon as the government decided to conceal the truth about the war, the first domino fell. Eventually leading to america loosing face within the world and the home.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam War in the beginning was something that American citizens agreed with, and said action needed to be taken to prevent the spread of communism. As the war went on and the people started to realize how many American lives were lost, the American public became discontent with the government and the war in general. As more political secrets were reveled, Americans became furious and supplicate for the war to end.
ReplyDeleteAs the Vietnam War was beginning the common America was not opposed to the war nor did they ever say that they were for it. Americans were somewhat blind in what was really going on in Vietnam and saw it as a battle against communism. As media and news began to expose videos and pictures of what was really going on we realized that the government wasn't really telling us the truth. The politician side of this began to look very bad as we saw what was really going on as appose to why they had said we were there. The Pentagon Papers had made it no better for the government as it just showed more evidence as to how the Americans were misled to believe we were in Vietnam for a greater cause. This had caused a lot of conflict in the Homefront side of things, and the people became a great factor in deciding how to deal with this issue.
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ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam war, at the beginning, was greatly supported by Americans because they believed that it was just about stopping/containing communism. As the war progressed, more and more information was being "leaked" to the public which caused public outrage. In 1971 when copies of the Pentagon Papers were published, revealing the true intentions for America's involvement in the war, Americans became furious for having been lied to for years by their government and they began protesting and rioting. From this point on, decisions made about the war were controlled largely by the people rather than politicians.
ReplyDeleteFor the first few years of the war American citizens were supportive because they thought they were winning. The Politicians controlled the major how the war was seen until the Pentagon papers were published. Once the public realized they had been lied to they quickly lost support for the long ongoing war. The country was torn between outrage and support for the war. At this point it was impossible for the leaders to continue fighting when the people were so unhappy and starting conflicts at home. Eventually the people did get what they wanted and the troops were pulled out of Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteUnited States citizens crafted the course of the Vietnam war by those who supported the war, and later of those who didn't support the war. As the Vietnam War went on, there was more and more citizens who felt it was an unnecessary war, and that we were losing the war as well. With the Pentagon Papers revealed, the outrage grew on our home turf to end the war, and all of these citizens and their reactions/actions about the war had a toll on the government ordering the war, and the war itself. With this war being the first on television, it additionally led to the lack of support in the war effort from seeing the terrors of the battlefield and seeing our troops losing in battle. Politicians were in full support of the war, "to stop communism", an idea also felt by American Citizens. Just like the public, politicians, later years into the war were outraged as well from the Pentagon Papers and the war. When the politicians felt how the public did, the course of the war was almost set in stone.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the Vietnam war, we can really see how the average American citizen's view of it had changed. In the beginning of the war, Americans had actually been okay with the war due to the belief that its purpose was to stop the spread of communism. However, as time went on, many Americans began to see the true controversies of war, whether it be through media coverage, or even the Pentagon Papers, which showed how we, as the common citizens, were not being told the whole truth. Eventually, protests from American citizens had arose to stop the war completely, and for the action of President Nixon's plan to stop the war had ultimately come down to his Vietnamization policy, in which he gradually moved out American troops while building up South Vietnam's troops so they could leave the war, and still stop communism.
ReplyDeletePolititians gave a positive view on the war to Americans. They were told only of the benefits and not of the secrets behind the road to "victory." As people continued to watch their TV's and hear more and more about the inside scoop of the war, they egan to lose trust in their government. It was not extremely severe until the Pentagon Papers were leaked and proved to the people that the government had been hiding so many things. Most Americans of all classes were for the war before these things happened but that suddenly changed and violent protests began. The government had no choice but to consider the American people's opinion and do something about it. Not much was done about how the people felt and American lives continued to be taken in battle just like trust in the United States government was taken from the people.
ReplyDelete"The every day American" was a person who was a big role play during the Cold War. Americans were really mad that they did not know what was going on during the Vietnam war. This happened because the government lied to them. When New York Times got a hold of the pentagon papers they began to pick out prices from them. Many Americans lost trust in there government because now they knew that we were in matter of fact not winning the war but actually loosing. They know felt ashamed because at first they thought it was about containing communism. But the truth came out when the pentagon papers got leaked
ReplyDeleteThe average american was largely responsible for the Vietnam war by voting on presidents who wanted to continue the war. Nixon based part of his campaign on the idea that he had a secret plan to win the war, and people loved it. The war only began to wane after the silent majority became a minority, and as the public outcry grew.
ReplyDeleteNot going to lie, this was a very good point.. I thought
DeleteMost Americans were for the war during the beginning because of the whole "we must communism or it will spread to every country" idea, but that was all they got to know, which was told to them by the government. American citizens didn't find out about all the casualties and what vietnam were fighting for until the pentagon papers were released, then thats when Americans were against the war like the college students and also even questioned their own government.
ReplyDeleteThe everyday United States Citizen supported the Vietnam war at first because the Nation was big headed coming out of World War 2. Nothing could stop the biggest super power in the world. The people began being put in the dark after Oberation Rolling Thunder. LBJ is not telling the public what is happening over seas. I feel the people really messed up by believing Nixon's "Top Secret Plan" and electing him as president. After the Pentagon Papers were realized American citizens were raged and angered that they have been mislead by their very own government for years. Protesting increased back home and the lower class is fighting in Vietnam, I feel like this almost united the people and social classes. As the higher support the lower. I also think this is a huge movement to prove true democracy. "Government by the people for the people." Not only were there 58,000 Americans dead but Americans lost all trust in their government and leaders, which is the biggest lost for a "United" Nation.
ReplyDeleteAt the start, many Americans had mixed expressions on the war. Some saw no point in it while others were supportive of it, they believed we were fighting against the spread of communism. Also, many Americans were also being lied to by the government. They were told that they were winning and that all the war would end soon, but once Americans actually saw what was going on on their TV's and through the publication of the Pentagon Papers, they realized that the government was not truthful, resulting in Americans losing their trust for their government. Nixon said that he would win the war and Americans immediately encouraged and supported him to be the president.
ReplyDeleteThough many average Americans could see the war in their living rooms, and became very opinionated about the war, the many protests ultimately failed. The peoples protests, which largely started when public opinion began to shift in the late 60s, it didn't stop L.B.J from gaining total power of Vietnam thought the Tonkin resolution. They manipulated the people into believing whatever would further their agendas. However, the people's opinion did pressure LBJ into a corner causing him not to run for re-election. Also, L.B.J. Knew that this was a losing battle. The public's moral was dangerously low. The soldiers themeselves did not want to fight and proved less effective weapons. The war was not backed by the economy at large, so all supplies had to be produced by the government without the "Liberty bonds" and other sorts of loans it had relied on during the world wars. It was a losing battle.
ReplyDeleteThe anti-war sentiment was still strong within the country especially by Nixon's election as he campaigned with ending the war. However, once elected Nixon did not end the war but rather escalated it. This created a huge public backlash that again did not force the end of the war.
Although the public ultimately could not control those in charge they did elect them. And were receptive to fighting to the best of their ability.
I'm sorry I wrote a book. L.J -3rd
DeleteThe politicians and the media gave the public a positive outlook on the Vietnam War by telling them that it was to prevent the spread of communism. The public was ignorant at the beginning of the war until it kept on, thus making the public a very small influence at first. Once the public started to realize the real truth about the war because of the "leaked" Pentagon papers revealing that our troops fighting the war were actually getting beat started anti-war protests showing that the public was furious. Americans started to question their trust in the war and the Government. The American people then decided it was time for the war to end so they put their trust into Nixon since he claimed he had a plan to end the war if he was elected as President. He didn't completely fulfill his promises since the war didn't end right when he took office but the war did eventually end. The war was over but the trust put in by the people towards the American Government was not fully regained. So technically the end of the war was heavily decided by the public voting on Nixon and trusting that he could end the war.
ReplyDeleteTowards the beginning of the Vietnam war, Americans were on board with the war because it was seen as a way of containment against communism. But over time as the war went on, the media took control and showed images of what was really going on in the war to the American people. Americans began to lose faith in the government because they would tell the people they are doing one thing, and go do another. This caused a major anti war effort, where protestors attempted to bring an end to the war by mass protests. The government was trying to do anything in their power to win this war because of their fear of the domino effect.
ReplyDeleteThe average American single handedly had a huge roll in deciding the Vietnam War, at first people were for containment and military intervention in Vietnam and south east Asia after time passed by Americans became aware of of the casualties and gruesomeness of war and were very against it, even LBJ knew how much people had power that he didn't even bother running for his second term because his foreign policy was very unpopular. Americans elected Nixon because he said he'd get us out of there and he did
ReplyDeleteDuring the cold war tensions were high between the U.S and Russia, and the government was made a goal to keep communism contained inside Russia. That was until China became communist leading to north korea following in pursuit, thus making the governments fear of communism spreading come tru and leading to the American governments involvement in the vietnam war. At first the people were for the war with troops and fighing for a good cause, however as time progressed with the involvement of China in the war it was starting to become clear that we weren't winning the war as we hoped. But determined to win the government would feed false information to the public until the pentagon papers were released where the people found out the truth of how they were losing. With this, it lead to protests over ending the war and bringing our troops back bringing a close to the vietnam war. While the peoole had faith in their government at first, the lies they were told would completely change the peoples trust in our leaders.
ReplyDeleteThe average American played a major role in creating the course of the Vietnam War. Beggining in the Cold War, the Vietnam War had little to almost no opposition from the public. Their fear of communism and belief in containment did not prompt any in depth questions of their objective in Southeast Asia. As the war dragged on, the public became more and more divided on war matters. This large division lead to complacency and not one standout plan. As a population , we were confused on our stance. This was reflected by our military in Vietnam who felt they had no real objective, and soon after erupted with the Pentagon Papers. These opera showed that not only was the American public running on a lack of information, but that they had been deceived by their very own government. After that, the only joint decision the American people wanted to make was that the war would end soon. Running on this promise, president Nixon was soon elected by the people. Finally, he faced the job of leaving Vietnam without losing American face. Although he wouldn't please everyone, the American people achieved the Wars end.
ReplyDeleteDuring the course of the Vietnam Americans approved of the war on Vietnam because it was an enforcement of the policy of containment on communism. They were for the war and the promises presidents and the government were making about the war. As time continued on the people began to really see what was going on due to media output and started losing faith and protesting to stop the war. With no support from Americans and all the political errors the government had to pull back troops.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the Vietnam war most Americans supported their government in the idea of containing communism. As the war continued more people changed their views to being against the war because of the many losses of american lives and innocent life's in Vietnam. The politicians always supported the war but with high pressures from the people, they pulled troops out of Vietnam, which caused the US to lose a lot of faith in our judgment and we were humiliated.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam War was highly influenced by politicians. Many Americans were for war but many did not understand why it was occurring. The government would tell the people what they want to here. How everything is fine and under controlled. Yet what they didn't know was that politicians were afraid of the communism spreading due to the domino effect happening in Asia. The government would try everything to make sure it did not spread. As years passed on, things in the war started to find out things and looking more into the war and protesting about it. The government started to panic. They started to make fast decisions, and the people would go along with it, but only would they know that the government was hiding stuff from the people and this war could of been avoided. We were just to late to figure out.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of the Vietnam war had the support of many Americans.LBJ described the involvement as a form of containment.with the leak of the Pentagon papers and the media revealing the reality of the war, the citizens began to express their distate in the war. This citizens began to form protests applied pressure to end the war.This led to the rise of Nixon because of his plan to recall the troops.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam war was the first war to be brought into American homes with the use of television. Today Vietnam is remembered by the hundreds of people protesting for it to end , however the majority of the US population actually supported the war effort, those who were against it mainly consisted of college aged students. Towards the end of the war more and more people started to protest why we were fighting a losing war until eventually we pulled our troops out.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam war changed the way Americans saw war. The start of the war was just as many war before with the Americans winning ambition driving the country. With the increased media coverage on Vietnam the people saw the true horrors of war. This exposed people to civilian deaths, bombing runs and the disgusting corpses that remained. The people of America began to move away from the idea of just let the experts run the government, instead to an outcry for more involvement of the people. As the citizens began to discover a new distrust in the government their view grew until the government began to listen. The war brought new fears to the American citizens of more than communism but the government lies that mislead the public.
ReplyDeleteAmericans were not fully educated of the war, yes they knew the Vietnam war was taking place but only that it was to stop communism. After the war progressed all the American citizens were cool defends about the lost lives of the American soldiers. So this is when everyone started rebelling against the war and protest started to break out. Many Americans opposed the war. The government was more in control of the war than everyday Americans, if the citizens did have their way then the war would have been stopped long before all of the protest. That is why many did protest against the war because their voice wasn't being heard. Seen by the whole account of the war, it was mostly decided by the government.
ReplyDeleteWell if you think about it Americans did had a strong influence of the Vietnam war. With this war everyone had strong opions either for or against it. Then this also was the case with politicians which lead then nation to be kind of an war with in the nation on weather who was right and who is wrong. I guess people had to much pride toadmit their true feelings of their fear of communism spreading throughout the world. This fear lead them to cost the lives of American which could of had been less if they realized their fear of communism.
ReplyDeleteThe people of America had much more power in deciding what would happen in the Vietnam war opposed to the politicians. This occurs due to the fact of how bad of a position most politicians where in, mostly because of how they had lied to the public on certain instances. An example would be the pentagon papers, where the Government was shown misleading the public. The sense of outrage caused many of the Americans to protest the Vietnam war. This coupled with the overall distaste of continuing the war from those within the armed forces gave the Americans much more power opposed to politicians to decide the war.
ReplyDeleteAmericans did not initially understand the war, so they went along with it because the government said it would stop the spread of communism. Once the people saw through the lies of the government with the release of the classified Pentagon Papers and the war being broadcasted in the homes of the average American. The death toll of the Americans gave mamy americans a bad image of the war. Once they saw than the war was bad many spoke up and protested it. The politicians saw the public response and decided to draw back after they saw how much power the American had on the Vietnam War. Politicians were lying everyday to the public and trying to save their own skin by covering up the truth. Therefor the Americans had a strong hold on the Vietnam War. They saw it was bad and they decided to speak up and stop it.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Crash Course, most Americans supported the Vietnam War right up through 1968 and maybe even 1970. However, due to the large amount of media coverage conveyed to the American public, the average citizen became much more aware of the drastic situation in Vietnam and expressed their opinions accordingly. These matters of opinion shook the nation as large-scale riots and protests developed in public eye while disagreements over the topic split some families apart. In contrast to when the war first began where people mainly supported it, in 1970 discontent escalated so that when the Pentagon Papers were leaked it gradually pushed Nixon to end the war five years later. In conclusion, I would say that the people had a large influence on the course of the Vietnam War because while politicians were all for the war, the decisions they made were gradually chaffed away by the American public.
ReplyDeleteMost Americans first thought the Vietnam War was a war to end Communism. But with the help of the media like broadcasts, television and the Pentagon Papers they realized that the war was not what they thought it was and that the government had been giving them false information. So with the Americans protesting to end the war the government followed there wishes and pulled out the soldiers even though they didn't want to because of there fear that the domino effect would occur and communism would spread.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam war's issues began a couple years after it's start in 1965 with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the support of the country to prevent the spread of communism. There were a few issues involving protests back home and lack of trust in the governments word. After the My Lai Massacre and the pentagon papers citizens and even soldiers began to pull for the war to end in one way or another. The citizens would hold massive protests in hope to bring the soldiers home safely but as discovered at Kent State the war may have found its way home as the Ohio National Guard fired 67 rounds killing 4 students and wounding 9 others. This ultimately forced the removal of american troops from Vietnam which would take 3 years before all combat troops were removed and another year to remove all U.S. personnel.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam War was a controversy in itself. First off, many civilians were upset about the draft earning more and more teenage soldiers. As the war progressed, more lives were lost and people saw it as a waste to just send more soldiers into battle to die. It was because of this reason for controversy that the people formed protest groups against the government. This outcry surely affected politicians views on subjects based on how many members in a group. The voice of the people would outmatch the voice of the decision makers.
ReplyDeleteVietnam War was significantly influenced by the “Everyday American” because it was the part of Cold War, an ideological struggle between Democracy and Communism. The entire American struggle had its foundations on public opinion and support. The fact that US could go wage a war with a country like Vietnam, which would not necessarily threaten American interests, cannot be made possible in a democratic country without everyday Americans being in tune with its purpose and intentions. In the beginning of the war, the citizens of America were convinced by the Domino Theory, which gave US Presidents the authority to make an offensive so aggressive, that more bombing was done in Vietnam than the entire bombing by US on Axis Powers during World War II. But as increasing number of American Citizens began to oppose the idea of thousands of US soldiers going to war-inflicted Vietnam, and losing their lives for just a silly government agenda, the US involvement in Vietnam began to cut down. This can be proved by the fact that the US involvement in Vietnam began to go down after the declassification of Pentagon Papers to the public in 1971. Moreover,the power of public opinion was also shown through the War Powers Act passed by US Congress which limited President’s power to send troops overseas, and the Paris Peace Treaty in 1973, after which US troops were lifted from Vietnam. All these changes in Government policies were the results of public protests and public’s distrust in government policies. Thus Vietnam War was significantly influenced by everyday Americans.
ReplyDeletemost people where confused about why we were in war in the place, but people where afraid of communism so they wanted to contain it form going to other countries
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnam war was put simplistically: A kerfuffle. While in the beginning many people supported the war and saw it as a way to fight communism directly, distinct (and vocal) opposers quickly arose. America was quickly split and the country was once again divided. Public protests quickly gave way to media coverage which spread the opposition's power. Eventually it was strong enough to get to the politicians' attention, where actual decisions were able to be made.
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the Vietnam war, American citizens did not oppose it because they saw it as a fight against communism. However, after watching the war on television, and the secrets that the government kept from the public came to light, people changed their tone. This caused a lot of protest, and because many people disliked the war, it helped Nixon gain support after he announced he had a top secret plan to end the war if he was elected. However, his plan didn't work, and the war went on. This shows that politicians had more power in deciding the course of the war, as opposed to average Americans.
ReplyDeleteReal Maggie not Kevyn!
ReplyDeletePoliticians and American citizens in the beginning both (almost) agreed to the war (you can’t please everyone..). The citizens were only told the benefits, and who wouldn’t want to stop the spread of communism? As the war went on citizens started to find out more and more as images began to leak from the media and the politicians lost control of their secrets, such as the Pentagon Papers. While the American people still didn’t quite understand what was happening overseas they now wanted nothing more to do with it. It was a waste of resources, money and lives for a “war” that would not affect American lives as a whole. Soon the trust in the government began to dwindle even though some still held on faith that we could tear down communism.
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