Vietnam: America's Mistake
Created | Updated Mar 21, 2002
Blame for the conflicts in Vietnam can not easily be placed. Several factors from dozens of sources each changed the situation, wether it was a large, obvious change or a small and subtle one. One contributing factor that kept Americans from ever defeating the Vietnamese national revolution was a fundamental misunderstanding of the revolution's goals. What America failed to understand with regards to Vietnam was the distinct difference between Stalin's Communism and Ho Chi Minh's. The failure to recognize Ho Chi Minh's Nationalist tendencies caused America to react in such a way that they and their U.S.-backed South Vietnamese governments could never defeat the revolution.
There was a reason for the United States' blindness towards Vietnamese Nationalism. There was deep fear of Communism within the minds and hearts of US citizens, who had made it their mission to stop the spread of Communist evils. Because of this fear and hatred, America focused only upon the Communism prevalent in Vietnam, unwilling or unable to accept the Nationalism. President Truman's policy of Containment pledged the United States to the task of keeping Communism boxed in. Ho Chi Minh's bid for power in Vietnam was seen as Communism threatening to spread into a new part of the world.
In America in 1951 there was a clashing of opinion between two sides, who each had a different view of what should be done to stop the growing threat of Communism. Truman supported the policy of Containment while McArthur pushed for a full attack and total destruction. The struggle ended in a Presidential election between Truman and McArthur, which Truman won. This victory ensured that every President from then on would follow the Containment Policy and turn a blind eye towards Vietnamese Nationalism.
The next American President, Dwight Eisenhower, used the CIA and the technique of brinksmanship to contain Communism. He and his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, used the threat of America's nuclear arsenal to force political decisions. When the French where defeated at Dien Bien Phu and asked America for help, Eisenhower refused to send military aid or bomb Vietnam. He had no desire to get involved, but still could not ignore the threat of Communist spread. On April 7, 1954, in response to France's plea for support, Eisenhower gave his famous Domino Speech, in which he warned against the domino-like spread of Communism, with Vietnam as the first Domino. The Nationalism in Vietnam was still ignored in favor of the more obvious and frightening Communism.
Kennedy's Inaugural address stated, "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." Though his intentions were good, Kennedy, too, was only looking at the Communist threat of Vietnam. Due to Cold War pressures and the series of crises that America faced, including the Bay of Pigs, the Nuclear Arms Race, and the Berlin and the Cuban Missile Crises, Kennedy could not afford to lose in Vietnam. The North against South struggle in Vietnam, which was basically a civil war not unlike that of America in the 1860s, became a symbol for the Communist against Capitalist struggle taking place in the world in the 1960s.
Letters between Kennedy and Ngo Dinh Diem show how American resources were poured into Vietnam. In one letter from Kennedy to Diem, written on December 14, 1961, Kennedy writes, "The United States, like the Republic of Vietnam, remains devoted to the cause of peace and our primary purpose is to help your people maintain their independence. If the Communist authorities in North Vietnam will stop their campaign to destroy the Republic of Vietnam, the measures we are taking to assist your defense efforts will no longer be necessary. We shall seek to persuade the Communists to give up their attempts of force and subversion." Kennedy seems to understand the need for an independent Vietnam, yet still misunderstand that Ho Chi Minh's cause was not to destroy South Vietnam, but to unite it with North Vietnam. America's almost traditional, witch-hunt type hatred of Communism was again blinding it's leaders to Vietnamese Nationalism.
Though Kennedy was pressured by the issues of the Cold War, America should not have been so blind to such obvious Nationalism. The Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which quotes from the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America and the Declaration of the French Revolution, speaks of Vietnam's history of oppression from the Japanese and the French colonialists and the Vietnamese people's great wish for a free, independent Vietnam. "For these nations, we, members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country - and in fact it is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty." Somehow this glaringly blatant Nationalism was overlooked in America's great rush to contain, defeat, and overcome Communism.
This blindness towards Nationalism led America to several mistakes, the first of which was putting the French back in power in Vietnam. Even Winston Churchill was against the idea, as he showed in his 1945 letter to the French stating that a Free Republic should not be forced to accept "French Intrusion." Churchill publicly condemned French colonialism in Vietnam because he understood Vietnamese Nationalism. But the US did not listen, and the support gained when the US threw the Japanese out of Vietnam in WWII was lost.
Another mistake was the choice of Ngo Dinh Diem as a South Vietnamese leader in 1955 by allowing the cancelling of the elections that everyone knew Ho Chi Minh would easily have won in a fair contest. Diem was a member of an influential Roman Catholic Vietnamese family with close ties to the Emperor. His favoritism for his family and for Roman Catholics over Buddhists in general caused his government to become corrupt. Diem was hated by the people of Vietnam, who saw him as an American puppet, not a Vietnamese leader. With this mistake America lost the chance to successfully implement the concept of "Nation Building" in Vietnam.
Yet another mistake was a tactical misunderstanding of the Viet Cong, or VC. The VC, which were North Vietnamese soldiers and sympathizers, were mostly made up of peasants who knew the land and could move effectively at night. During the day a VC soldier was 'just another farmer' to any American soldier. The VC had the support of the countryside, whereas the American soldiers had the support of the cities. Where the ARVN, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, were supported by US forces who used conventional military strategies and tactics, the VC used primarily guerilla tactics, a system by which a smaller number of soldiers can easily harass larger forces at their leisure. This difference in strategies often gave the VC the upper hand. The US also underestimated the willingness of the VC to die in scores for their cause and were thrown by the use of women and children, as well as men, as soldiers. The US and the ARVN, two conventional armies, could never win a war against the dedicated guerilla troops of the VC.
The US missed the point of the Vietnam war entirely. By refusing to acknowledge Ho Chi Minh's Nationalism, and instead fearing his Communism, the US set itself up for failure. Under Truman, the Containment Policy was firmly established, setting up a precedent for focusing solely on the spread of Communism, blinding the American citizens' and leaders' eyes to Vietnamese Nationalism. Under Eisenhower, America was reluctantly sucked into war in Vietnam through the necessity of helping the French and containing Communism. Under Kennedy, America was committed to war because of the pressures of the Cold War and fear of Russian and Chinese Communism. These misunderstandings, underestimations, and mistakes combined with disastrous results for America, and there was ultimately no hope for the US to win the war in Vietnam.
Sources [in alphabetical order]:
"A Letter from President Kennedy to President Diem, December 14, 1961." [Online.] http://greene.xtn.net/~wingman/docs/letdiem2.htm . Site last updated 11/16/96.
"A Letter From South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem to American President John F. Kennedy, December 7, 1961." [Online.] http://greene.xtn.net/~wingman/docs/lettdiem.htm . Site last updated 11/14/96.
"Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam." [Online.] http://greene.xtn.net/~wingman/docs/declarat.htm . Site last updated 10/6/96.
"Diem, Ngo Dinh." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. [Online.] http://www.bartleby.com/65/di/Diem-Ngo.html . Site last updated July 2001.
"Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy Washington, D.C. January 20, 1961." [Online.] http://history1900s.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cs.umb.edu%2Fjfklibrary%2Fspeeches.htm . Site last updated July 1, 2001.
Moss, George Donelson. VIETNAM: An American Ordeal, Third Edition. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 1998.
There was a reason for the United States' blindness towards Vietnamese Nationalism. There was deep fear of Communism within the minds and hearts of US citizens, who had made it their mission to stop the spread of Communist evils. Because of this fear and hatred, America focused only upon the Communism prevalent in Vietnam, unwilling or unable to accept the Nationalism. President Truman's policy of Containment pledged the United States to the task of keeping Communism boxed in. Ho Chi Minh's bid for power in Vietnam was seen as Communism threatening to spread into a new part of the world.
In America in 1951 there was a clashing of opinion between two sides, who each had a different view of what should be done to stop the growing threat of Communism. Truman supported the policy of Containment while McArthur pushed for a full attack and total destruction. The struggle ended in a Presidential election between Truman and McArthur, which Truman won. This victory ensured that every President from then on would follow the Containment Policy and turn a blind eye towards Vietnamese Nationalism.
The next American President, Dwight Eisenhower, used the CIA and the technique of brinksmanship to contain Communism. He and his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, used the threat of America's nuclear arsenal to force political decisions. When the French where defeated at Dien Bien Phu and asked America for help, Eisenhower refused to send military aid or bomb Vietnam. He had no desire to get involved, but still could not ignore the threat of Communist spread. On April 7, 1954, in response to France's plea for support, Eisenhower gave his famous Domino Speech, in which he warned against the domino-like spread of Communism, with Vietnam as the first Domino. The Nationalism in Vietnam was still ignored in favor of the more obvious and frightening Communism.
Kennedy's Inaugural address stated, "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." Though his intentions were good, Kennedy, too, was only looking at the Communist threat of Vietnam. Due to Cold War pressures and the series of crises that America faced, including the Bay of Pigs, the Nuclear Arms Race, and the Berlin and the Cuban Missile Crises, Kennedy could not afford to lose in Vietnam. The North against South struggle in Vietnam, which was basically a civil war not unlike that of America in the 1860s, became a symbol for the Communist against Capitalist struggle taking place in the world in the 1960s.
Letters between Kennedy and Ngo Dinh Diem show how American resources were poured into Vietnam. In one letter from Kennedy to Diem, written on December 14, 1961, Kennedy writes, "The United States, like the Republic of Vietnam, remains devoted to the cause of peace and our primary purpose is to help your people maintain their independence. If the Communist authorities in North Vietnam will stop their campaign to destroy the Republic of Vietnam, the measures we are taking to assist your defense efforts will no longer be necessary. We shall seek to persuade the Communists to give up their attempts of force and subversion." Kennedy seems to understand the need for an independent Vietnam, yet still misunderstand that Ho Chi Minh's cause was not to destroy South Vietnam, but to unite it with North Vietnam. America's almost traditional, witch-hunt type hatred of Communism was again blinding it's leaders to Vietnamese Nationalism.
Though Kennedy was pressured by the issues of the Cold War, America should not have been so blind to such obvious Nationalism. The Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which quotes from the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America and the Declaration of the French Revolution, speaks of Vietnam's history of oppression from the Japanese and the French colonialists and the Vietnamese people's great wish for a free, independent Vietnam. "For these nations, we, members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country - and in fact it is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty." Somehow this glaringly blatant Nationalism was overlooked in America's great rush to contain, defeat, and overcome Communism.
This blindness towards Nationalism led America to several mistakes, the first of which was putting the French back in power in Vietnam. Even Winston Churchill was against the idea, as he showed in his 1945 letter to the French stating that a Free Republic should not be forced to accept "French Intrusion." Churchill publicly condemned French colonialism in Vietnam because he understood Vietnamese Nationalism. But the US did not listen, and the support gained when the US threw the Japanese out of Vietnam in WWII was lost.
Another mistake was the choice of Ngo Dinh Diem as a South Vietnamese leader in 1955 by allowing the cancelling of the elections that everyone knew Ho Chi Minh would easily have won in a fair contest. Diem was a member of an influential Roman Catholic Vietnamese family with close ties to the Emperor. His favoritism for his family and for Roman Catholics over Buddhists in general caused his government to become corrupt. Diem was hated by the people of Vietnam, who saw him as an American puppet, not a Vietnamese leader. With this mistake America lost the chance to successfully implement the concept of "Nation Building" in Vietnam.
Yet another mistake was a tactical misunderstanding of the Viet Cong, or VC. The VC, which were North Vietnamese soldiers and sympathizers, were mostly made up of peasants who knew the land and could move effectively at night. During the day a VC soldier was 'just another farmer' to any American soldier. The VC had the support of the countryside, whereas the American soldiers had the support of the cities. Where the ARVN, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, were supported by US forces who used conventional military strategies and tactics, the VC used primarily guerilla tactics, a system by which a smaller number of soldiers can easily harass larger forces at their leisure. This difference in strategies often gave the VC the upper hand. The US also underestimated the willingness of the VC to die in scores for their cause and were thrown by the use of women and children, as well as men, as soldiers. The US and the ARVN, two conventional armies, could never win a war against the dedicated guerilla troops of the VC.
The US missed the point of the Vietnam war entirely. By refusing to acknowledge Ho Chi Minh's Nationalism, and instead fearing his Communism, the US set itself up for failure. Under Truman, the Containment Policy was firmly established, setting up a precedent for focusing solely on the spread of Communism, blinding the American citizens' and leaders' eyes to Vietnamese Nationalism. Under Eisenhower, America was reluctantly sucked into war in Vietnam through the necessity of helping the French and containing Communism. Under Kennedy, America was committed to war because of the pressures of the Cold War and fear of Russian and Chinese Communism. These misunderstandings, underestimations, and mistakes combined with disastrous results for America, and there was ultimately no hope for the US to win the war in Vietnam.
Sources [in alphabetical order]:
"A Letter from President Kennedy to President Diem, December 14, 1961." [Online.] http://greene.xtn.net/~wingman/docs/letdiem2.htm . Site last updated 11/16/96.
"A Letter From South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem to American President John F. Kennedy, December 7, 1961." [Online.] http://greene.xtn.net/~wingman/docs/lettdiem.htm . Site last updated 11/14/96.
"Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam." [Online.] http://greene.xtn.net/~wingman/docs/declarat.htm . Site last updated 10/6/96.
"Diem, Ngo Dinh." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. [Online.] http://www.bartleby.com/65/di/Diem-Ngo.html . Site last updated July 2001.
"Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy Washington, D.C. January 20, 1961." [Online.] http://history1900s.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cs.umb.edu%2Fjfklibrary%2Fspeeches.htm . Site last updated July 1, 2001.
Moss, George Donelson. VIETNAM: An American Ordeal, Third Edition. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 1998.
