Vietnam War Aftermath

By BLASE BIELLO
Published: December 22, 2010

The Vietnam War was, and still is, considered a very controversial war. Spanning officially from November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975, this 19 year “conflict” had a huge amount of both supporters and opposers. Which side is truly correct is a never-ending argument. Regardless, the war still happened and it effected the United States as well as the world both positively and negatively.

Starting off, socially. The Vietnam War had many social impacts during the span of its happening as well as to this day. After the Vietnam War, many people had a huge loss of confidence in the U.S., which they thought was “invincible.” During the Vietnam War, one of the biggest social impacts was the use of protesting. Protesters believed that mass gatherings and constant protesting would actually influence government decisions. Whether it did or not, is something to debate. But, from the outside looking in, the protests did nothing to stop the U.S. from getting involved, the war continuing, or ending. To this day, the mass gatherings and protests are still being applied. Socially, our race diversity began to change as well with the addition of many Vietnamese refugees looking to escape the civil war occurring in their home country. After the war, there were over 1 million refugees from Vietnam. However not all were Vietnamese, some were Cambodian as well. This mass emigration from Vietnam effected America socially in many ways. Some thought the refugees were smarter for coming here and some just wanted them gone because they looked at them as the ‘enemy’. When the troops returned they faced many problems socially as well. Since the Vietnam War was one of the most controversial wars, as if the US should get involved or not, many of the people in the US who did not participate in the war looked at the troops as wrongdoers. However, overtime, people have began to respect the troops for their efforts.

Second, economically. The Vietnam War definitely contained some economic impacts. What war wouldn’t, right? Although there were some advantages to the Vietnam War in the economic standpoint, but for the most part the war effected the US economy more than negatively. According to an outside source, HistoryCentral, “The Vietnam War was an important factor in bringing down the American Economy from the growth and affluence of the 1960s to the economic crises of the 1970s.” The Vietnam War hurt the economy for a number of reasons. One of the major reasons was that factories in the US, which were usually used to make consumer goods, were converted to make supplies, weapons, equipment for the war in Vietnam. This meant that shopping rates decreased, thus hurting the economy. Also, the Vietnam War was a very expensive war for the US. Much of the US’s money went to the war, causing a weak American dollar. Also, inflation increased and interest rates rose as results to the massive spending.

Third, politically. The US will always be scrutinized in their decision to get involved in a war that wasn’t theirs. The fact that the US gave up and had to pull out after over a decade of fighting, was also very painful and embarrassing for such a strong country. Many things were learned during the Vietnam War to prevent mistakes from happening again. For example, in 1973 the Passage of the War Powers Resolution made it impossible for presidents to “single-handedly dictate military policy as commander in chief of the armed forces.” This meant that the president could no longer ignore Congress’s word, much like Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon did. Now, politically decisions to engage in war are done more consciously and smartly. After the decision to enter the Vietnam War and then give up, showed that it should’ve never happened in the first place. President Reagan also said that there would be “no more Vietnams”. The Vietnam War resulted in a more controlled political structure for going about wars and conflicts.

Last, militarily. The Vietnam War had many effects and impacts on the current military structure. Most of the impacts, however, were more abstract and not so much physical. For example, after and during the Vietnam War many new guns and technologies were developed but also many ideas were developed to. The US developed a better understanding of guerrilla warfare. The US also developed a new look on how to approach decisions by forming new laws that made sure that things were thought out and passed through Congress before immediate action was taken, which could result in a larger problem. But, for the most part, military was impacted by the Vietnam War in its structure and how the US should go about solving problems and sticking their nose into others’ business.

The Vietnam War left many lasting impacts on the US today. These impacts shaped the US into a better place and ensured that something like this would more than likely never happen again. The Vietnam War had many negative factors but also positive factors. Especially, in the belief of “what doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger.” So, in my opinion, America got stronger from the Vietnam War and wised up, figured out what they shouldn’t do and realized how the US has to go about carefully in deciding how to resolve problems. The Vietnam War, along with all of the other wars and conflicts, have shaped the US’s systems into the powerful ones that they are today.