Vietnam_War

Many people held congressmen in very high regard. But during the 1960’s those views all changed. There were two viewpoints that began to evolve during that time. Demonstrations for the war were held at multiple college campuses. The draft was put back in to effect during the Vietnam, and that has not happened since the 1942. There were some draft exemptions and deferments were available for college students. That means that there were many young working class men would be drafted. Many students went to school to avoid going through the draft, those students protested as a way of communicating the wrong that was being done. Once the graduation of men from college they would be sent off to war. With that they gave the students another incentive to protest to stop the war before they were drafted. There were over two million American soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War and over fifty thousand that died. The president poured money into the conflict without the means to cover it. Also Johnson initiated many domestic programs which are known as the Great Society. The result of this was the inflation of the federal deficit. Many people became very disenchanted with the government, and they were aware of the dishonesty that was on and the distrust began, they also viewed everything that the government did was suspicious. There was no loyalty to the government because of all the mistrust that was going on. With all that in mind the Watergate scandal that led to resignation of Nixon only made the public’s distrust for the government more fortified. Congress passed War Power Act that Nixon vetoed to prevent conflicts as similar to Vietnam. So congress had to take an official action in regards to the troop with in sixty days. President Ford was in a very awkward situation when he was faced with President Nixon and dealing with the men that sneaked around the drafted. When the soldiers that came home from Vietnam were faced with a society that did not accept what they were doing in South East Asia. Many women and men wondered when the U.S. went into conflict with Iraq if it was going to be another Vietnam. Agent Orange was discovered after the Vietnam vets began to get sick and dying after coming home from the war. So the people became more leery of the government because of this, many people did not know whether or not to trust them or not. What happened in Vietnam still haunts the Americans still today, but some people might consider that a good thing because it has taught the Americans a very big lesson to think about the actions of the leaders and to step up and speak up for the people that need the help. References: ATime for War: The United States and Vietnam, 1941-1975 Robert D. Schulzinger (1999) http://scholar.library.miami.edu/sixties/studentUnrest.php http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/vietnam/postwar.htm Pike, John (2009) Vietnam War. www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/vietnam.htm