The American government suffered greatly because of the Vietnam War, which tarnished President Lyndon B. Johnson’s image and caused Americans to lose faith in the cause. Although a military success for U.S. forces, the psychological loss was a major problem for President Johnson after the American public witnessed firsthand footage of the daily fighting in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive as news crews brought the fighting into the living rooms of American families. Forever changing the romantic views of warfare, the realities of war disillusioned the American public. Atrocities such as My Lai also became public, furthering the American views that the U.S. soldiers were unnecessarily murdering innocent civilians on a daily basis. It was less important to the public that the My Lai Massacre was the exception rather than the norm, it was proof positive that Americans were "baby killers." Firsthand footage and the news stories of these atrocities furthered the American public's loss of faith in the U.S. government's stance in Vietnam and helped to turn the tide from support to protest.
President Nixon only furthered the Americans distrust of the U.S. government when he promised to bring peace, but instead expanded the War into Cambodia and further pressured North Vietnam by intensifying the bombing in that region as well. In addition, Nixon caused further distrust when he involved his staff in the Watergate scandal, believing he was above the law because he was President, but only hurting his public image and forcing him to come to a conclusion in the Vietnam peace talks by conceding points he would not have budged on before.
Vietnam left in its wake unanswered questions, especially that of the U.S. as a worldwide leader and self-dubbed world policeman. When should the U.S. intervene in a foreign dispute? If we look to the history of the Vietnam War, this becomes even more complicated, but had U.S. leaders understood the goals of the Viet Minh, they may have made better decisions regarding U.S. involvement. As a far as the American legacy in Vietnam itself, one cannot help but look at the damage the United States unleashed at the expense of the Vietnamese: Agent Orange, the Strategic Hamlet Program, the loss of lives of civilians and military alike. Does the United States really have the right to force capitalism and democratic ideals on other countries? And at what cost? It is questionable if the United States leadership has really haven’t learned anything from the mistakes made in Vietnam, especially if we look at the situation that the U.S. has currently found itself in within the scope of the Middle East. If anything, the U.S. needs to look at the parallels of the Vietnam War and the War on Terror and see that they are making some of the same mistakes, sacrificing American lives in a situation that may not be theirs to fight.
