The Vietnam War

With the election of John Fitzgerald Kennedy as the thirty-fifth president of the United States in 1960, the country felt the flush of youth. The younger generation couldn't escape the charismatic appeal of the youthful looking and youthful acting president. Kennedy's inaugural address started the new era. It showed awareness of the troubles abroad. It offered the Soviet Union the prospect of cooperation between equals. And the sentence he once pronounced became a motto of his short-term presidency: "ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country".

Kennedy proved to be a good leader. During the three years before his assassination he mobilized the strength of the federal government for the civil rights movement, and he faced down the Russians when they tried to set up a missile base in Communist Cuba. One more important event happened during Kennedy's presidency — America became involved in the Vietnam War. At that time America's intellectuals were eager to approve of all Kennedy's actions, both domestic and foreign. But after his death, however, when Lyndon Johnson walked into the oval office and American involvement in Vietnam deepened intellectuals changed their opinion from complete approval of the military actions in Vietnam to anxious questioning and finally to downright disapproval. By the mid-1960s the intellectuals as well as college students had come to a conclusion that Vietnam conflict was an imperialistic war and the United States should withdraw at once. The issue of American involvement in Vietnam War had become charged with emotion. Most people accused President Johnson of being a criminal and a mass murderer.

The reports of the media, the indignation of college students, and the severe criticism of the intellectuals all helped to form public opinion against the Vietnam War. It was for the first time in the American History that the War got a full media coverage. Most articles wrote about the atrocities and massacres that took place on the battlefield. Many TV channels were broadcasting what really was happening in Vietnam. The real war with its American side rarely grew clear to the American public. Only occasional article in a magazine or newspaper provided anything from the American point of view that Americans could sympathize with. And Americans didn't sympathize. They were shocked by what they saw. And they didn't support. And because they didn't support, because they didn't believe that it was a fair war the whole Vietnam campaign was doomed to failure.

`The war was lost on the battlefield because it was lost in the minds of people.

Answer the questions:

1) What was Kennedy's policy characterized by?

2) Did the society approve of American involvement in Vietnam?

3) Who didn't support the Vietnam campaign?

4) What were the topics covered by Mass Media?

5) What difficulties did Americans face during the warfare?

6) What was the world's attitude towards the war in Vietnam?

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