What was the importance, for both countries, of US involment in Vietnam

Intro: vietnamese attempt to gain independence from the french after ww2, and the french fight back. due to the truman doctrine, the Americans pay for 80% of the frenchs materials. Leads to the divide which separates Vietnam sand sows the seeds for the war. Specify word importance

Diem: very corrupt government, seen as a puppet for the Americans. Bad to Buddhists, monk burns himself in the street. Americans helped put him in power and they back the coup against him, although they totally misjudge the Vietnamese’s hatred for the American imperialists. Americans run Vietnam

Road to war: diem refuses to hold elections, leading to the northern invasion of the south. US pours money into Vietnam to support and make communism less attractive. Military advisors. Growing American involvement only furthers Vietcong support. Gulf of Tonkin, US involvement furthers

Escalation: Johnson gets in on promise to go hard on the communists. Very likely attack wasn’t real, but the stage is set. Camp Holloway. Operation Rolling Thunder. Johnson won’t be the first American president to lose a war. 400,000 troops in Vietnam by 1966

Agent orange and napalm: americans use agent orange and napalm which has devastating effects on the vietnamese population. Search and destroy missions. Civilian deaths in vietnam on both sides staggering.

My Lai and Tet - American moral at an all time low, drug and alcohol rampant, soldiers attack My Lai village killing and raping many, then the Tet offensive is a shitshow for public moral. Beginning of the end. 700,000 anti war protests

US moral at home - Vietnam is the first televised war, and so the general public sees the horrors. Where once the public was in total support, they were now totally against it. TV only uncensored media. Student protests and killings. Hippie culture being mainly antiwar. Martin Luther king and Muhammad Ali against the war

Political impact - LBJ announces he wont be running for the presidency against, poltics in uproar. Nixon getting in on promise to end the war, contrast to a mere 4 years ago. Nixon introduces ‘Vietnamisation’, gradual pullout from the war starting in 68. Democrats release ‘pentagon papers in 71, showing years of us involvement since 1950s, public is turned against the government.

Overall impact - After Operation Linebacker, Vietnam war ends in 1973. Massive death toll on each side, 58k American troops and 2.5 million vietnamese killed. Vietnam virtually flattened from all the bombing. Huge psychological impact on the american troops, and huge embarrassment for the americans on the global stage. Vietcong defeats ARVN in 1975, and in 1976 Vietnam unites as communist.

Outro - huge impact on both countries futures. American hesitation to get involved in wars up until the 90s with the Gulf War. Unexploded bombs still killing vietnamese people to this day.