The U.S. War in Vietnam - Statistics & Facts

As tensions rose between the North and South in the late 1950s, the U.S. increased its financial and material support for South Vietnam, before entering the conflict in a full military capacity in 1964. The conflict was the U.S. military’s most significant engagement of the Cold War and the fourth most deadly conflict in its history. U.S. involvement was controversial both at home and abroad, with public opinion turning decisively against the war in the late 1960s. The United States officially ended its involvement in the war with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords by President Nixon in 1973, with the last American personnel leaving Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon in April 1975.

U.S. anti-communist foreign policy and the ‘Domino Theory’

The United States’ foreign policy in the aftermath of World War II was motivated by its desire to prevent the spread of communism to newly independent, post-colonial nations. The antagonism with the Soviet Union, known as the Cold War (1947-1991), manifested itself in a series of proxy conflicts in countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Cuba, as well as in two major wars involving the United States, in Korea (1950-53) and Vietnam (1964-75). The U.S. policy toward Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries can trace its roots to the Truman Doctrine, which stated that the U.S. should provide support to any regime threatened by communist forces backed by the Soviet Union.

An idea known as ‘domino theory’ became popular in foreign policy circles in Washington. This theory propagated the idea that if one country in a certain region would become a communist regime, then surrounding countries would quickly follow (as when one domino starts a chain reaction). The U.S. government viewed defending its ally in South Vietnam as essential in preventing communism from spreading to other countries in Southeast Asia, containing Soviet influence, and preventing Vietnam from inspiring other communist movements across the world.

Origins of the conflict

‘Indochina’ (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) had been a colony of France since the late 19^th century, with Vietnam being fully conquered by the French in 1887. In 1945, Vietnamese nationalists under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh declared the country independent of France. This declaration was not recognized by the French, leading to an eight year war of independence referred to as the First Indochina War (1946-54). The war ended with the Geneva Conference of 1954, giving independence to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, although Vietnam was split into the North controlled by the Viet Minh communists, and the South under the rule of U.S.-backed Ngô Đình Diệm.

From its inception, the South Vietnamese state struggled against a communist insurgency called the Viet Cong, which aimed to overthrow the regime and unite with Ho Chi Minh’s North. This conflict escalated from 1959 onwards, as North Vietnam endorsed the overthrow of Diệm’s regime and the Viet Cong’s campaign intensified. With U.S. military aid, South Vietnam was able to organize a crackdown on dissent, but by 1963 it was clear the communists had the upper hand, and Diệm was overthrown in a coup d'état organized by his own military.

The United States enters the war

Prior to 1964, the United States was largely involved in the conflict in Vietnam through the aid it provided to South Vietnam, as well as military advisors it had stationed in the country. The Gulf of Tonkin incident, an alleged attack by North Vietnamese forces on two U.S. navy warships off the coast of North Vietnam on August 4 1964, led the U.S. congress to give President Lyndon B. Johnson the power to employ conventional military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war.

The end of 1964 was marked by intense fighting in South Vietnam, with the Viet Cong beginning to target U.S. personnel and bases. In February of 1965, the U.S. Air Force began Operation Rolling Thunder, its largest bombing campaign of the war, targeting North Vietnamese military positions, as well as civilian targets. It became clear to the U.S. military command during 1965 that if American boots were not put on the ground, South Vietnam would fall to the Viet Cong. This led President Johnson to announce the first large scale deployment of troops to Vietnam in July 1965, with 100,000 personnel being deployed immediately. Until 1968, more and more U.S. soldiers would be deployed to fight the Viet Cong in what developed into a war of attrition.

Public opinion turns against the war

Public opinion in the United States began to turn against involvement in the war as there was a lack of clear progress in the military’s campaigns and casualties began to mount. Opposition also grew against the government, as most civilian men between the ages of 18 and 26 were automatically registered for the draft - if selected they were legally obligated to report for military service. The anti-war movement began to develop on college campuses, as well as through sources such as the civil rights movement and churches, reaching its peak in the late 1960s.

The idea that the United States and its allies were close to victory, which was the official line of the U.S. government at the time, was dispelled by the events of the Tet Offensive. The surprise attack on South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong took place during the Lunar New Year festival (known as the Tet) of 1968, with most major towns and cities being overrun by the communist forces. While the offensive was eventually pushed back by the end of February, the damage to the public image of the war had been done and President Johnson announced on March 31 1968 that he was taking steps to de-escalate the conflict. By the time Johnson left the White House in 1969, the United States had begun scaling down its bombing campaigns in Vietnam.

U.S. withdrawal and the end of the war

President Richard M. Nixon, who succeeded Johnson in 1969, wished to reach a negotiated settlement with North Vietnam that would allow the U.S. to withdraw, while retaining the independence of South Vietnam. A policy of ‘vietnamization’ of the conflict was begun, in an attempt to bolster the capacity of South Vietnam’s military to defend the country without U.S. assistance. From 1969 onward, the U.S. began withdrawing troops from Vietnam at an increasing pace. The North Vietnamese leadership executed a large scale offensive beginning in March 1972 in an attempt to win the war outright, but the attack was deemed a failure by the summer of 1972, and they then resort to the negotiating table.

On January 27, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed by the leadership of the Viet Cong, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the United States. By April of that year, the last U.S. combat forces had left Vietnam. While fighting in South Vietnam resumed shortly after the withdrawal, the attention of government and the public in the U.S. was consumed by the Watergate Scandal which would lead to President Nixon’s resignation in 1974. With diminished support from the U.S., South Vietnam was unable to repel the communist’s final offensive of the war in March 1975, with the capital of Saigon being taken by communist forces on April 30.

The Vietnam War’s legacy

The war in Vietnam ended in a decisive victory for the communist forces, with the country being unified under the rule of the Communist Party. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City shortly after, in honor of the North's leader who had died in 1969. While the country remains a one-party state to this day, it has substantially opened its economy to private enterprise and foreign investment, being one of the world's fastest growing economies in the 21st century. Among the lasting legacies of the war is the ecological and physical damage caused by the use of chemical agents such as Agent Orange.

In spite of the United States’ role in the conflict, Vietnamese people have recently shown remarkably favorable attitudes towards the U.S., with over three quarters responding positively in a 2014 survey. This is likely due to the United States’ role as Vietnam’s key export partner since diplomatic relations were re-established in 1995, as well as the impact of American tourism and popular culture in the country.

On the U.S. side, the war is remembered for its negative impact on Americans’ trust in government, as well as for the physical and mental issues which military veterans suffered from following their service in Southeast Asia. This is also reflected in the dark portrayal of its events in popular culture since the conflict (in films such as Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, or The Deer Hunter), which is in stark contrast to the generally positive or heroic depictions of WWII. The war was the United States’ last major military conflict in the Cold War, and since then, policymakers have become more reluctant to allow the military to become directly involved in foreign conflicts, while advancements in technology have greatly reduced the need for such large numbers of ground forces.