The Vietnam War was one of the most controversial events in American history. Long after American involvement ended in 1973, the debate continued: Was it

In 1955, President Eisenhower and his policy makers, following the Domino Theory, sent U.S. troops to Vietnam to act as advisors to the South Vietnamese

Like Eisenhower, Kennedy was a firm believer in the monolithic communism concept and its corollary, the Domino Theory. Kennedy’s acceptance of monolithic communism led him

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, did not think that South Vietnam was worth fighting for. He campaigned for the presidency in 1964 by promising that

The institution of the draft for the Vietnam War affected the general public directly. To meet the quotas, draft boards did away with student deferments,

The Vietnam conflict was not the conventional type of war for which the U.S. forces were trained and equipped. Using guerilla war tactics (i.e. hit-and-run

Not only were the American forces frustrated by the Viet Cong’s guerrilla tactics, they were frustrated by their own country’s policies and tactics. “Washington had

In September 1966, the United States introduced “Agent Orange”, a very strong chemical defoliant (dioxin) that was supposed to destroy the jungle cover used by

The first large-scale protest demonstrations against the Vietnam War occurred in 1965. These demonstrations had been preceded by a series of smaller protests organized by

The Communist Tet Offensive on January 31, 1968 (the Vietnamese lunar new year) was a turning point in America’s involvement in Vietnam. American military leaders