American Involvement In The Vietnam War

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“A man is not finished when he’s defeated. He’s finished when he quits (Nixon).” President Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, faced different problems and difficulties during his presidency. The US involvement in the Vietnam war, such as bombing and invasions of countries and cities, led to different events, causing anger, defeat and death. The early 1970’s in US history reflected the culmination of domestic frustration towards American involvement in the affairs of Southeast Asia. President Nixon’s plan “Vietnamization” was a vast failure done by the US, leading to frustration. Vietnamization was a policy to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War for 21 years. His plan was “designed to strengthen the South Vietnamese government and expand its political base in rural …show more content…
The Pentagon Papers, containing 47 volumes and 7,000 pages, were revealed by Daniel Ellsberg, an US Marine Corps officer and an analyst. Ellsberg believed that “the war in Vietnam was unwinnable” and believed that the information contained in the Pentagon Papers about U.S. decision-making regarding Vietnam should be more widely available to the American public (Pentagon Papers, 1).” Ellsberg wanted to reveal the study in the public for he was frustrated with the escalation of the war by Nixon. Revealing the Pentagon Papers in the public exposed secrets the government tried to hide. One of the secrets was the “the administration of John F. Kennedy had actively helped overthrow and assassinate South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963 (Pentagon Papers, 1).” This evidence showed the former presidents secrets and their wrongdoings such as Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and Eisenhower during their presidency. The Pentagon Papers not only affected former presidents, it affected Nixon’s presidency as