Steven Truong Period 4 The Price of the Vietnam War: American Arms and Legs

Throughout 1964-1975, the Vietnam War proved to be the primary international conflict as it represented the ongoing struggle between the forces of democracy and communism. The US was evidently affected as the domestic aspects of the nation changed with the progression of the war. Even though the war was across the Pacific Ocean, the US still experienced tensions from the war as there was domestic conflict in society, government, and economics. Due to the Vietnam War, gaps in society were formed, the government was split, and economic resources were strained. Pertaining to American society, the Vietnam War created inequities between the upper and lower classes. First of all, the majority of soldiers that fought in the war were from the young and underprivileged population of the nation- low class whites, blacks, and Hispanics (Doc C). Because of the discriminating enlistment from the war, tension became evident in society as the underprivileged lives were used for the war while the privileged enjoyed peace domestically. Furthermore, gaps within the American society were also shown in draft evasions as the upper class that was educated and affluent knew that they could evade fighting in the war while the unprivileged and uneducated were enlisted into war without knowing that they could have not joined the military (Doc F). Ultimately, many lives from the underprivileged population were sacrificed for the cause of the war. Besides the inequity between social classes in enlisting for the war, another tension spawned by the war was the questioning of the purpose of the war. The majority of Americans honestly did not know what they were fighting for and ultimately became infuriated when they learned the nations resources were wasted for the war and not domestic issues such as civil rights, economic progress, etc. Moreover, the American society polarized against the war due to its high cost yielding no benefits and began an antiwar movement and brought down the morale in fighting the war (Doc B). Thus, the Vietnam War increased tensions within American

society as it created gaps between classes of society and ignited society to rebel against the cause of the war. The Vietnam War disrupted American politics as it called for many decisions to be made by the different branches of the government. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 basically gave the president power to arbitrarily militarize in event of war (Doc A). However, by giving the president sole authority to act on war, the system of checks and balances was ultimately tipped in favor to the president as he now had power to send troops to Vietnam without Congresss consent. Not surprisingly, tension rose when the president sent troops to Vietnam as Congress disapproved with some aspects of the presidents perspective. Ultimately, this conflict of perspectives on the Vietnam War between the two branches within the American government symbolizes the tension sprung from the Vietnam War. Finally, to ease tensions within the government, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was repealed with the War Powers Act (Doc. I). Political friction was also created by the war as political antiwar and war advocates debated over the continuance of the war. However, the antiwar proved to be the public opinion and ultimately drained the morale of the war advocates and led to a US break/retreat from the war that symbolized the failure of the US involvement in Vietnam once Saigon fell in 1975. In effect, the Vietnam War created tensions in the US government that ultimately collapsed the cause of the war as the morale was drained by antiwar politics and made the war a US failure. The economic effect of the Vietnam War on the US was simply the straining of US resources for the war. Basically, the US expended too much on the military that was for the war. The large expenditures made for the war ultimately sapped the money required for domestic programs such as education, welfare, etc. Furthermore, President Lyndon Johnsons Great Society could not stand without funding as its policies and needs contradicted the Vietnam War (Doc. D). International conflict (Vietnam War) and domestic policies (Great Society) were on opposite ends of the spectrum during the war and funding could only be directed for one aspect. Ultimately, overspending towards the war increased debt of the US and decreased the amount of money left to benefit the domestic aspects of the US during 1964-1975.

Thus, the war created an inherent issue in the US economy as resources were being diverted to a war with an unknown cause, high cost, and impractical purpose. Instead, the US should have cut back on spending on the war and conserve their resources to help domestic policies as the war sapped too much money from the US (Doc H). Indeed the Vietnam War was fought to contain communism and for a moral cause against government oppression in Vietnam. However, the war was impractical as it resulted in a plethora of issues that the US had to deal with and ultimately wasted the time and resource of the US once Saigon fell in 1975. By the time the US withdrew from the war under Nixon, the war had caused gaps in society, turmoil in government, and shortages in funding for domestic policies. In essence, the Vietnam War sapped the US of its resources and created tensions within the nations that would result in future problems such as recession, civil rights, and heightened Cold War.