How Far Can Anti Communism Justify the Us Involvement in the Vietnam War ? (1954-64)

Luke Stagg History Essay

How far can anti communism Justify the US involvement in the Vietnam war ? (1954-64)

Since the "red scare" incident in the early 20th century after the Bolshevik revolution the us has been scared that communism would supposedly ruin the US way of life, since then they have always been against communist states like USSR.

The president at the time (1954) president Dwight Eisenhower believed on the “domino theory,”, it said that even a place like South Vietnam that had little strategic or economic significance, its fall to communism would eventually pose a threat to U.S. national security. Throughout the war it was nearly axiomatic among U.S. policymakers that a communist victory in South Vietnam would inevitably be led by the progressive and irreversible fall of other neighbouring countries in the rest of Asia, all of the Pacific nations, and then , Latin America, and then western Europe.

Vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1961 report to President John F. Kennedy asserted this accepted wisdom: “The battle against Communism must be joined in Southeast Asia ... or the United States, inevitably, must surrender the Pacific and take up our defences on our own shores .... We must decide whether to help these countries to the best of our ability or throw in the towel in the area and pull back our defences to San Francisco and a Fortress American concept.”

Overall in terms of Americas so called "safety", I feel that it is a bit far fetched to say that the "domino effect" would actually happen but I now in the future knowing that after North Vietnams victory in defeating the south government did not lead into the conversion of the rest of Asia into one mega Communist continent (with the exception of China), in conclusion I feel that Americas involvement in Vietnam can only be slightly justified to their domino effect fear but overall I think the US should have approached the situation in a more peaceful manor rather than doing what they did because what they did in Vietnam can not be justified by a fear of spread in communism.