Why Did the Us Enter War

The US has entered numerous wars over foreign policy issues. The

20th century was definitely the time for many of these conflicts. After

WWII with the formation of the UN and especially the UN Security

Council there was hope for world peace. The US had become one of two great

super powers in the world. This title came with great responsibility. From

1945 till 1991 we were engaged in a cold war with communism. This war

was in part fought through proxy wars like Vietnam. After the fall of the

USSR there were other tyrants to deal with. Sadaam Hussein of Iraq

had invaded Kuwait and threatened American interests in the Persian

Gulf. These wars are often considered to be very different from each other

when time, money, and casualties are considered. Despite this both wars

show that as a superpower, sometimes we’ve had to get our hands dirty

and intervene in situations that threatened our national interests.

Although the French wanted Vietnam back after WWII, they were

not able to compete with Ho Chi Minh so they were unsuccessful. He

defeated the French and a convention was held at Geneva to decide

Vietnam’s fate. Ho Chi Minh’s popularity meant that any free election

to unite a divided Vietnam would not work out well for our

containment policy, as Vietnam would be united under a communist

government. We feared if Vietnam fell to communism, neighboring

countries would too. The date of US entry into the conflict in Vietnam

is often disputed. Some say we entered the conflict in 1955 when we

sent “advisors” to train South Vietnamese troops. Others say it was in

1964 with passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (Doc 4). The

Tonkin Gulf attack moved Congress, like Pearl Harbor did, to give the

president more authority to respond to the situation in Vietnam, but

without a declaration of war as in 1941. Since war was never

U.S. Hist. & Gov. Rating Guide – Aug. ’14 [21] Vol. 2

Anchor Paper – Document-Based Essay—Level 5 – Aofficially declared,...