The Vietnam War: A Different Perspective

This is the second unit of the final junior humanities course "Policy." In this unit "Executive", we learned all about the Executive branch of the U.S. government. We looked at how the president manages the armed forces, and how different areas of the government help the president with his duties. We also took a deep look at different Cabinet positions and when and why they were formed. We made a class timeline with every Cabinet position in chronological order, and why they were created. We also look at a few different wars. We mainly focused on the Vietnam War and some policies surrounding it like The War Powers Act. As a class, we looked at how different war policies affect the public and the people who are fighting the wars. We also studied how past wars have shaped our present day. For our FE this term, we actually jumped ahead to next unit, which focuses on the judicial branch. We visited the Cook County Criminal Courthouse and witnesses a live murder trial. This was definitely one of the coolest FE's I have ever gone on. We saw the witness statements, and we got to ask questions to our tour guide. This was definitely one of the coolest and most real-world FE's we have ever gotten to go on. For our action project, we had to write an essay. I chose the Vietnam War. The assignment was to write a bit about the history of the war and analyze the policies that came out of this war. We also had to state our opinion on whether this war was just or unjust.

Claire Moody
5-15-19
Vietnam War

      Was the Vietnam War justified or not? A legislative act issued in 1973 called the War Powers Act, checks the abilities of the president to declare war without congressional approval. The Vietnam war was not officially declared, so it really is not an actual war. President Lyndon B. Johnson did not get congressional approval before sending armed troops to Vietnam. However, laws change over time. Before 1973, the war may have been more justified. The United States was extremely concerned about the spread of communism throughout Asia and wanted to stop Communist North Vietnam from overtaking the U.S ally, South Vietnam. After 1973, the war seems more unjustified. Clearly, this was an illegal war because president Johnson did not have congressional approval according to the War Powers Act. In my opinion, the war was a reasonable reaction to a perceived growing threat, but knowing how the war worked out with the U.S. surrendering, and hundreds of civilians being killed, it was not justified in hindsight.

      The main cause of the war was the Soviet Union spreading communism to China, which eventually spread to other parts of Asia. Japan was also involved. Japan invaded Vietnam in WWII to fight off communist political leader Ho Chi Minh. The Japanese defeated Mihn, but eventually, Mihn regained power and turned to the north of Vietnam. The Japanese involvement was one of the underlying causes of the war as well. At the Geneva Conference in 1954, Vietnam was split along the 17th parallel. To the north was communist Vietnam, and to the south was South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was the leader in the north and Emperor Bao controlled the south. The U.S. had been involved in Vietnam ever since WWII. The U.S. became directly involved in 1954 after the Geneva Conference. President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared strong support for Ngo Dinh Diem, the new anti-communist leader of South Vietnam. Under the agreement of the Geneva Accords, the U.S. was only supposed to have 685 military advisors in Vietnam. Eisenhower secretly sent thousands of troops to Vietnam, and the number rose to 16,000 under the Kennedy administration. Some of these military officers were already beginning combat operations. The Viet Cong and the south of Vietnam were starting to fight as America trained troops to be prepared to go into combat. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy sent a team to report on conditions along the 17th parallel. This is when the “Domino Theory” started. It was believed that if one southeast fell into communism, the rest of the Southeast Asian countries would follow. Although Kennedy increased U.S. presence in Vietnam, he did not launch a full military intervention. In November of 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem was killed, just 3 weeks before Kennedy was assassinated. With the deaths of both leaders, military presence along the 17th parallel was increased. Although not fully involved in the conflict yet, the threat of communism taking hold in Southeast Asia caused enough concern to the U.S. government that the beginning of military involvement seemed justified.

      The U.S. involvement officially started in 1964 in retaliation for a torpedo attack, which is a justifiable reason for fighting back. This incident is known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident. President Johnson was now president. Vietnam launched torpedos at U.S destroyer boats causing president Johnson to order bombing in North Vietnamese harbors. This was the unofficial declaration of war. President Johnson did this without congressional approval. This is what started the active fight against North Vietnam. In this case, Congress was not involved with the declaration of war; President Johnson did it himself. The war itself lasted 20 years, while the U.S. was involved 11 of those 20 years. The complete conflict dragged on from 1955 to 1973 with heavy casualties of both civilians and soldier. The Vietnam War took place in Vietnam with some trails and camps crossing the border into Cambodia and Laos, two of the neighboring countries. This war directly involved the U.S. and Vietnam, but other countries were indirectly involved like the Soviet Union at the time. The war was begun for what seemed to be a perceived and then an actual threat to the U.S.

      After the war, the War Powers Act was put into place. This was a legislative order that was put into place after the U.S. surrendered to Vietnam. This act was put into place to check presidential power to declare war and was a reaction to the American public’s disapproval of the conflict. The act states that the president has 48 hours to notify Congress of a declaration and military action and a further 60 days to end military activities in that area. President Nixon vetoed the act, but Congress overruled. The Legislative branch proposed the bill initially, with the followed support of the executive branch. According to the U.S constitution, the power to declare war is the role of the executive branch, specifically the military commander in chief. The president as well as the Congress. This act does abide by the laws of the constitution. This is because the president who is the command in chief of the military directs the armed forces, but the Congress has the power to declare war and check the president’s power. The War Powers Act just supports the relationship between Congress and the president on whether to declare war or not.

       There were some consequences to enacting this law. The War Powers Act meant a delay in military action unless Congress and the president could agree on sending troops into conflict. This would mean that tensions could rise without U.S. presence. Another consequence is that many U.S. presidents have generally ignored this rule, some considering it “unconstitutional.” According to Nixon, the act: “would attempt to take away, by a mere legislative act, authorities which the President has properly exercised under the constitution for almost 200 years.” Presidents such as Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama have all sent troops into conflict without congressional approval. Many critics have stated that the War Powers Act has not done its job because it does not create a smooth communication between the legislative and executive branches. There have been calls for the act to be repealed. In 1995, a proposal to repeal the key components of the War Powers Act was denied with a vote of 217-204.

       The Vietnam war was legal before 1973, but after the act was passed it was not justified. Before the War Powers Act, the president’s act of sending troops without congressional approval was a problem, with cases like President Polk and the Mexican American War. However, after Vietnam, the act was put in place to prevent “future” Vietnams. When Johnson sent troops to fight back against Vietnam, he was reacting out of fear and immediate concern. The U.S. was concerned with the spread of communism and wanted to fight back immediately. It was justified at the time, and at the time that Johnson declared war in 1964, it was not yet illegal. Looking back at Vietnam, however, it result does not justify the loss of life. The U.S. ended up surrendering after killing thousands of unarmed civilians and Vietnamese troops. The war never ended up solving what it was concerned with. Vietnam fell under the northern communist rule. If we look back at what the war accomplished, it was not worth it. This war was fought to stop the spread of communism, but instead, blood was shed to delay the spread of communism, with some thinking the war just delayed the inevitable.

Works Cited.

Goldberg, Maren. War Powers Act. Britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. April 16, 2009. Web.  May 18, 2019.

Vietnam War. History.com. A&E Television Networks. October 29, 2009. Web, May 15, 2019.

War Powers Act. History.com. A&E Television Networks. November 30, 2017. Web. May 16, 2019.

Zinn, Howard, and Anthony Arnove. A People's History of the United States. New York. Harper, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2017. Print.

U.S. Marines. "U.S. Marines In Operation Allen Brook." 8, May 1968. Wikimedia Commons,

In conclusion, I think this was a pretty average project. It was just a pretty standard essay. I think I articulated my thoughts nicely and I was able to clearly explain what I thought of the Vietnam War. I also explained the history as well as a war policy. I really wouldn't do much different for next time. I . am proud of the end result, and can't wait to end my Junior year with all A's