America In Vietnam, 1953-73

The first 200 words of this essay...

AMERICA IN VIETNAM, 1953-73

By 1973, the American President, Richard Nixon, had withdrawn all ground troops from South Vietnam under his programme of 'Vietnamisation' and during the summer, the American Congress passed an act over Nixon's veto, the War Powers Act, which removed Nixon's power to order the American Airforce to bomb NVA positions in Vietnam. THIS WAS THE END OF AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM!!

Since that time, people have asked why was one of the World's Superpowers effectively defeated(The US military deny defeat) by a pre-industrial peasant country.

AMERICA WAS FORCED TO WITHDRAW BY 1973 BECAUSE:

A. 1961-1968 The US government and military were losing the

war before the 1968 TET OFFENSIVE in South Vietnam

because of:

1. LACK OF PRESIDENTIAL COMMITMENT

Johnson, 1965-68

President Johnson's Secretary of Defence, Robert McNamara, said in 1967 that American

aims in South Vietnam were,

"70% to avoid a humiliating US defeat. 20% to keep South Vietnamese territory from Chinese hands. 10% to permit the people of South Vietnam to enjoy a better, freer way of life.

Johnson did not want to lose Vietnam but also did not