Why did America enter war with Vietnam?

Answer 1

The Vietnam conflict, prior to the arrival of American forces, was essentially a national civil war between communist and republican factions within the country.

The American government developed an East Asian foreign policy based the containment of Communism. The viewed the spread of Communism through the vision of a "Domino Theory"; that is, if Communism were allowed to spread to one country, it would then spread to the next and the next and the next, like a toppling row of upright dominoes.

Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy had refused to become militarily involved in the Vietnamese civil war, although each did supply South Vietnam with a small number of military advisors to assist them in improving their forces and tactics.

But President Lyndon Johnson had no qualms about sending a large number of US troops to South Vietnam to prevent Communist forces from taking over the country. In 1964 Johnson convinced Congress that Communists forces had attacked US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin and got Congress to give him the authority to conduct military operations in Vietnam. By 1968, over 1/2 million US troops were stationed in Vietnam.

The Communist North Vietnamese government repeatedly declared that it had no goal other than the reunification of Vietnam, which is all that happened when US President Ford declared them victorious in 1975. They repeatedly stated that they had no aims to spread Communism beyond Vietnam, and they remained true to that statement following the 1975 reunification under Communist rule.

US Military strategies in Vietnam turned out to be unsuccessful, and its foreign policy assumptions turned out to be totally mistaken.

Answer 2

America had several reasons for involvement in the Vietnam War.

1) The climate after WWII was crucial to the start of the war because America assumed a responsibility to the world. This was the reason that America used for intervening in the governments of foreign nations. They believed they had to prevent the "domino theory" from becoming a reality and stop communism in its tracks before it disrupted the peace of democracy. Though Ho Chi Minh was fighting the French for Vietnamese independence, he was still a communist and needed to be defeated.

2)French Colonialism was another reason for American intervention in Vietnam. France, America's WWII Allie had Vietnam in its possession since 1857, except for the time period in which Japan dominated it. After WWII, America restored France its Vietnam colony and from then on, funded French military occupation under the as an effort against communism. What was a colonial war became a communist war and America's involvement set up a stage from America's occupation of Vietnam after France's defeat.

3) Economic reasons also played a part in America's involvement. The loss of Indochina would be a loss of valuable tungsten and tin. US was motivated by the riches in Indochina that America really could not afford to lose.

Answer 3

It was a war against the spread of communism.

Answer 4

The cold war. The war against communism.