American history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

American history - Essay Example On the other hand, withdrawing the army from was essentially an act of moral defeat for the United States in the war against the soviet communist totalitarianism. Such withdrawal could have allured the procommunist blocs around the world. As a result, the most difficult task for Nixon Presidency was to find out a decent exit route from the war. Overview of the American Dilemma in the War In fact, President Johnson’s failure to find out a decent exit from the Battle of Vietnam played a crucial role in the presidential election in 1969. As a result, Nixon was elected. But several issues that were crucial to the interest of America at home and abroad and also of Nixon himself were, in some way or other, entwined with his success to end the war. In the first place Nixon was confronted with the massive casualties that occurred on either sides of the war. Furthermore, he has to confront with the mass protest at home and abroad against the moral decay of the US Army in the events lik e â€Å"My Lai Massacre†, â€Å"Green Beret Affair† and the operation â€Å"Speedy Express†, etc. ... Such public insolence could have turned against the ruling party in the next election, if he had have failed to find out a decent exit from Vietnam. In national politics, Nixon’s dilemma was -as it is said in an article, â€Å"Richard M. Nixon - The Vietnam war†: â€Å"If [Nixon’s] plan involved escalation, Democrats could charge that he was abandoning attempts to reach a peaceful solution and could point to mounting American casualties and prisoners of war. If he negotiated a solution that led to the fall of the government in Saigon, Democrats could charge that he had abandoned an ally†.3 Indeed, this dilemma of Nixon played crucial role in shaping his policy for the Americans’ role in the Vietnam War. Now, even though Nixon successfully retained his position in the Oval Office in 1973, he failed to find out a safe and decent exit from Vietnam. There is no doubt that by perpetuating the US presence in Vietnam, he had been able to retain the big-bro ther image for his country in international power politics. But obviously, he had paid a high price for it.4 Sacrificing the United States’ image as the savior, Nixon’s offensive stance as well as his â€Å"Madman† earned him a bad reputation. Scholars often claim that his defensive stance would have helped more the causes of South Vietnam to survive as a democratic state than the â€Å"Madman Doctrine† could do. What Started the War? The Vietnam War started, in 1955, as a conflict between the communists-backed North Vietnam and the US-ally-backed South Vietnam. But in the 1960s, the United States began to involve in the war increasingly. As a result, the war, which was initially a colonial struggle between the French and the pro-communist northern