Vietnam and 20th Century History

Vietnam and 20th Century History

Turning Point in the History of the Vietnam War

American indirect involvement in the Vietnam affairs began under the Administration of Harry Truman. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy took a more direct role, politically and economically supporting the provisional South Vietnamese regime and sending American Special Forces as well as CIA agents to Vietnam. It was Lyndon Johnson who turned American involvement into a full-scale war. To understand the decision of President Johnson, one needs to look at the preceding events. Of those events, the North Vietnamese attack on the U.S.S. Maddox was crucial, as it made American full-scale involvement inevitable. One may justifiably argue therefore that the attack on the U.S.S. Maddox was the turning point in the history of Vietnam War.

Before the U.S.S. Maddox attack, the United States government was committed to preserving a non-Communist South Vietnam and the American public supported government attempts to curb the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. At the same time, neither Congress nor the nation wanted a full-scale war unless there was a deliberate provocation justifying it. For these reasons, Eisenhower and Kennedy only deployed spies and Special Forces to Vietnam. Johnson's initial plan was to continue those limited war efforts. The Congress and the American public did not want to see a weak President, but they did not want a full-scale war without a provocation either. The U.S.S. Maddox attack changed all of it. It was the kind of provocation that not only justified American retaliatory attack against North Vietnam but an event that pressured President Johnson to act decisively.

The attacks on USS Maddox took place in the Gulf of Tonkin. At the time, American military and civilian leadership were confused over the events at the Gulf of Tonkin. There were several incidents involving North Vietnamese boats, and many believed that the U.S.S. Maddox attack was not the only one. Reports at the time suggested that two days after American battleships came under attack again. Now we know that those reports were not accurate but the first attack on USS Maddox was crucial. The confusion over the subsequent suspected attacks was the direct result of the U.S.S. Maddox incident. Soon after the President ordered retaliatory attacks codenamed PIERCE ARROW against North Vietnamese patrol bases. The Gulf of Tonkin resolution also passed through Congress, authorizing President Johnson to use full force in the war against Communism in Vietnam.