The 1970s was a challenging time for the people of the nation and the faith the country had in the government diminished. By the end of the Vietnam War the social outcome of the nation was beaten and battered. The baby boomers of the 1950s were confronted with the draft when they came of age and were forced to fight in the war. Many Americans believed that the U. S. should not be in Vietnam and protested to bring the military home. College campuses were a popular place for protesters and in 1970, four students of Kent State were shot and killed by the Ohio National Guardsman in the attempt to break up a protest.
The news traveled fast of the killings and the people of the nation were in shock, including the government. The killings triggered even more protest as the people of the nation rose up against the government and their tactics in the Vietnam War. Draft dodgers were another social outcome of the Vietnam War. More people were fleeing the draft to Canada in attempt to escape the war. An estimated 70,000 draft evaders and “dodgers” were living in Canada by 1972 (N. A. , 2002).
Human rights were in full swing after the war along with environmental awareness.
The political outcome at the end of the Vietnam War was one president electing not to run for a second term and the Republican Party rising. The Vietnam War took a toll on President Johnson’s administration and even had Johnson withdraw from serving a second term. The people of the United States were disgusted with the Democratic Party with the way they handled the war and helped open the door for the Republican Party. President Nixon was nominated and he vowed to end the war in Vietnam.
The Term Paper on The Lost War Vietnam War
... our trenches. The year was 1972 and our great nation of Vietnam was at war with the Yankees, the United States. In the ... in the end. Each president promised victory with a new commitment of soldiers, weapons, and money which caused peoples expectations to be ... enlisted because of the draft fled to Canada.With our people, the Vietnamese, it was totally vice versa. Our people were strong from start ...
The war in Vietnam showed the devotion of the government in attempting to end the war but also damaged the image of political involvement. Many believed, including several departments of the government, the military should have been pulled out of Vietnam sooner (Davidson, 2006).
President Nixon’s policies of engagement were quite different from the strategies used in the cold war. While the Cold War strategies used threats of force with weapons of mass destruction, Nixon’s used “peace and honor” as a tool to resolve the crisis in Vietnam.
Nixon used strategies like “Vietnamization” to slowly withdraw troops from Vietnam, so the Vietnamese would fight among themselves to invoke peace talks in Paris. The “Detente” strategy was also used in Nixon’s administration attempting to ease the tension between North and South Vietnam. Nixon’s version of “Detente” was different in many ways, but similar as the strategy used in the Cold War. The Cold War strategy used force to negotiate and keep the peace between the U. S. and the Soviet Union while Nixon’s “Detente” used the “peace and honor” strategy to negotiate peace talks with Vietnam.
The similarity between the two strategies was when the “peace and honor” strategy did not work; Nixon demonstrated force as an attempt to end the war in Vietnam. When Nixon’s force did not work he fi nally went to the Soviets and China with “Detente” to end the war (Davidson, 2006).
The public perception of the government was gloomy after the Watergate Scandal and the result was the lack of trust from the people. The people saw how dirty the politicians can be and lost a great deal of respect for the government.
The Watergate Scandal displayed criminal acts which involved the President and high ranking officials. The after effects showed the balance shift from the Republican to the Democratic Party with the voters. Most of the voters were disgusted with Nixon’s actions and leaned to the Democratic Party for restructuring. The Watergate Scandal also led to the people blaming the government of other issues like inflation, recession and energy cost. “The story of Watergate is a complex and deep one full of intrigue and back room deals, public politics and personal motivations” (Evans, 2002).
The Term Paper on Peloponnesian War – A Strategy Comparison
“Just before the Peloponnesian War began, Pericles of Athens and King Archidamus of Sparta provided net assessments of the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the two sides. Evaluate their projections.” A study of the strategies and projections of King Archidamus of Sparta as compared to those of Pericles of Athens reveal Archidamus’ understanding of the “superiority of land power as a basis ...
The people of the nation witnessed President Nixon abuse the power of presidency and his actions plague the political practices to this day. In conclusion, the 1970s were a time in history that will be remembered for many years to come. The Vietnam War was full of controversy and frustrated the American pride the country obtained after World War II. The colleges in the U. S. were a popular location for anti-war protestors and even resulted in the death of several students. The draft was in full effect and created “draft-dodgers” which mostly fled to Canada to escape the war.
Many Americans felt our military should not have even been in Vietnam, but the government feared the communist domino effect in South East Asia. President Nixon’s war strategies differed than Cold War strategies and were also somewhat similar. Nixon’s “peace and honor” technique used non-forceful tactics to negotiate peace unlike the Cold War tactical threats of mass destruction. Nixon felt by him slowly pulling troops out of Vietnam, the Vietnamese would fight their own war and stimulate peace talks.
The similarity of the two types of strategies was when Nixon’s “Detente” policy did not work he resorted to force to negotiate peace. The Watergate Scandal saw many government officials serve prison terms and resulted in the first resignation of a U. S. president in American history. The people of the nation lost much needed faith in the government after the scandal and left the political climate in turmoil. The 1970s will go down in history as being a time of war, scandal and economic dismay.
