Ever since the American defeat in Vietnam, the war has become increasingly unpopular among the American people. I was able to sit down and talk to two people who lived during the Vietnam generation, Mr. Johnson, a music teacher, and Mr. Grant, a Vietnam veteran. After the interviews, I came to the conclusion that the Vietnam War was indeed a very unpopular war in the history of America, if not the most unpopular war, even during its time.
During the late 19th to World War II, Vietnam was governed by France as part of French Indochina. In 1940, during World War II, the Japanese forces invaded and captured French Indochina. The Vietnamese saw World War II as an opportunity to gain independence and in 1941, the Vietnamese nationalists established Viet Minh, the League for the Independence of Vietnam. Based mainly on communist ideologies, the Viet Minh gained support for its independence movement as well social and political reforms. When Japan declared formal surrender on September 2nd, 1945, Ho Chi Minh, the leader of Viet Minh, used the opportunity to declare independence for Vietnam, calling the nation the democratic republic of Vietnam. France, however, refused to acknowledge the independence of Vietnam and drove the Viet Minh to the north of the country.
Ho Chi Minh immediately implored American President Harry Truman to recognize Vietnamese independence and assist the Vietnamese. However, the American foreign policy during the Cold War was the containment of communism, therefore making President Truman reluctant to help. Although Ho Chi Minh was not a puppet of communist Soviet Union, he was a communist nonetheless and as a result, the United States condemned Ho Chi Minh and provided assistance to France instead. Although with American help, the Viet Minh grew larger and larger everyday and soon, the French were fighting them to a draw. After the humiliating Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the French government wanted to settle for peace at the Geneva Conference. From the 8th of May to the 21st of July, 1954, diplomats form the World's major nations met at Geneva and made an agreement for the future of Vietnam. The agreement, known as the Geneva Accords, agrees to temporarily divide Vietnam at the 17th parallel.
France would occupy the South of Vietnam and the Viet Minh would occupy the North. In July 1956, both South and North Vietnam would hold elections and the form of government chosen by popular vote would reunify Vietnam. The United States, however, did not want the possibility of a communist takeover of Vietnam and had Diem appointed as the prime minister of South Vietnam because of Diem's anti-communist sentiment. Along with American support, Diem refused to sign the Geneva Accords. Immediately following that, the United States founded the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, a treaty that protected several Indochina nations from communism, a justification used to support South Vietnam.
At the same time, Diem announced that he would not take part in the elections in July 1956 because he was bound to lose and declared South Vietnam as an independent nation, the Republic of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh immediately saw this as an American attempt to interfere with Vietnamese reunification and began the long fight with America and South Vietnam. This was the background to the Vietnam War.
When the expected elections in July did not take place, the Viet Minh planned the overthrow of the government of Diem. Because of the strong anti-Diem sentiment present throughout Vietnam during the 1960s, the Viet Cong (as the Viet Minh later became known) established the National Liberation Front, a typical Communist-front organization and began training troops for guerilla warfare. The fighting began in 1957 and although US advisors were sent early on by President Eisenhower, American troops were not active until 1965. Unlike most other wars fought in American history, the American president at the time sent troops without an official declaration of war from Congress. I asked Mr. Grant on his opinion as to whether he approved this action, he said, “It is the order of the president. He must have a reason for doing so.”
However, not everyone felt that way. Protest against the Vietnam War stated as early as 1963 with the first protest taking place at the University of Wisconsin. However, at the time, protests were small, but it grew slowly. The Vietnam War was already becoming unpopular even at the time. Mr. Johnson is an example of the people who were against the war. When asked the same question, he stated, “He is after all the president, but that is an interesting question… I do not think, however, that the war should have been fought.” This is an early example of the unpopularity of the war.
Another example of the early unpopularity was because of the military draft at the time. Generally speaking, conscription remained at a very low level during the Cold war, but increased greatly during the Vietnam War to provide more troops for the conflict. Protests against the draft began as early as October 15, 1965, when the student ran National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam staged the first public burning of draft cards in the history of America. Soon, protest against the draft system was common and famous lines against the system became heard everywhere. These lines included, “Draft beer, not boys” and “Hell no, we won't go” as well as many others. When I asked Mr. Johnson whether he was opposed to the draft or not, he stated, “Well, I don't know too many people at the time who did support the draft mainly because it was such an unpopular war… I was hoping I wouldn't get picked for the draft.”
