November 1, 1955, to April 30, 1975, South Vietnam was under attack by the North Vietnamese (Document 3). The principle of the war was for Vietnam to decide between two types governments; Democracy or Communism. In the duration of the war, seventeen of the twenty years was fought by averse Americans. Yet, due to the insistence of the Executive Branch and the policy of Containment, the United States was conscripted into the war. This greatly impacted American foreign policy, and furthermore, the American society.United States involvement in the Vietnam War was based mostly on government insistence. United States President, Harry Truman, in his address to Congress about his Doctrine, claimed that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed …show more content…
Johnson. According to President Johnson, the United States was involved in Vietnam "because we have a promise to keep (Document 3)". He also said that due to the help we have given to South Vietnam, the United States is obligated to give more help to South Vietnam.The Vietnam war affected American society, from the education of students to the rights of African Americans. President Lyndon B. Johnson made it clear that "Vietnam is America's top priority (Document 4a)". No amount of backlash from the citizens of America could convince Johnson that the war isn't worth the resources (Document 4a/4b). Johnson also seemed to ignore the problems of African Americans, putting more urgency into Vietnam than into their rights. The war also caused student backlash from colleges; over 300 campuses and 80 colleges were closed due to the nationwide protested. The war had, thus, divided Americans more than any event since the American Civil War (Document 9).The Vietnam war had "left America's foreign policy in temporary disarray(Document 9)." It also caused the discretion of the policy of containment.