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Eisenhower: The “New Look” and Military-Industrial Complex
As the Cold War escalated and moved from one presidential administration to another, President Dwight Eisenhower, a famed World War II general, sought to maintain the policy of containment without bankrupting the federal government. His solution has been labeled New Look: rather than relying on ground troops to intimidate the Soviets, the United States would build a massive nuclear arsenal or utilize behind-the-scenes espionage through the newly-formed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to prevent communism from spreading. Nuclear weapons would create a scenario where neither side would be willing to engage in war to the “mutually assured destruction” that would surely follow. Covert actions could help local resistance fighters overthrow communist-leaning governments, as was the case in Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954. Yet, as Eisenhower was leaving office in 1961, he cautioned the nation in his farewell address of the dangers posed by a military-industrial complex—the combination of the military and large-scale industries devoted to supplying them with arms. These groups thrived on the military tensions of the Cold War, and, together, their wealth and power could potentially accelerate the arms race.
Cuba and the Cold War
In contrast to the pro-democracy revolts the United States supported, Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro successfully led a communist revolution, overthrowing the corrupt, pro-American dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Instead, Castro installed himself as the new Cuban dictator, a position he held (at least in part) until he died in 2016. The new Cuban government had aligned itself with the Soviet Union, prompting reaction from the United States in the form of a CIA-backed coup attempt. Fourteen hundred Cuban exiles were armed and trained to take part in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The invasion was a complete disaster, however, and it radicalized Cuban anti-American sentiment and set the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis. In October 1962, a standoff began between the United States and USSR over Soviet placement of nuclear weapons in Cuba. The Soviets felt placing nuclear weapons off the coast of the United States put them on equal footing with the Americans, but President John F. Kennedy demanded the missiles be removed. For 13 days the world held its breath as these two nuclear powers faced off to see which side would give in first. Finally, on October 29, 1962, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba. In return, Kennedy agreed to remove American missiles from Turkey and promised to respect Cuba’s sovereignty.
Non-Aligned Movement and Détente
During the decades of the Cold War, many nations, primarily from Africa and Asia, joined the Non-Aligned Movement as a way of keeping the developing world out of the United States vs. USSR Cold War clash. In time, the tensions between the two great powers would ease, creating a period of détente, or a relaxation of tensions. Eventually, talks regarding the reduction of nuclear weapons would follow, though the Cold War would continue through the end of the 1980s and spread to nations like Afghanistan, Chile, Angola, and Nicaragua before it was over.
Vietnam: Origins of American Involvement
After World War II, Vietnam was occupied by both pro-communist and anti-communist forces, just like Korea and Germany. A French colony before the war, France sought to regain its colonial control after the war ended. Vietnamese freedom fighters known as the Viet Minh fought a bloody war of independence against the French, defeating them at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. An agreement, the Geneva Accords, was called in 1954 to divide Vietnam into two regions, North and South. Additionally, the goal of elections occurring two years later to determine the final fate of Vietnam’s government was established. In the north, the communist-backed Ho Chi Minh became the leader. In the south, the corrupt and rabidly anti-communist Ngo Dinh Diem took power. Elections were never held. After years of Diem’s misrule and low-level fighting between North and South Vietnam, the United States began to escalate its involvement. Americans saw the goal of the conflict as stopping the spread of communism from North to South; however, most Vietnamese saw only a civil war to unify their country. In 1963 President Kennedy committed 16,000 troops as “advisors” to the South Vietnamese; a few years later, the number of American troops exceeded 500,000.
Vietnam: Fighting the War and Results
The event that led to the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam was the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964, a supposed attack on American destroyers in the waters near North Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution took place in Congress immediately after, providing the new Johnson administration with a “blank check,” the power to increase U.S. military involvement at the president’s discretion—without having to ask Congress to declare war. The American assumption was that the war would be won quickly, but advanced weapons were less effective in a limited war—one fought to maintain the status quo, not defeat the enemy outright. Fearing escalation with China or the Soviet Union, the United States was slow to increase direct involvement and relied on bombing campaigns and fighting a war of attrition—inflicting massive casualties to convince the enemy to surrender—to win. As the war dragged on, the selective service system drafted nearly two million young men into the war; a widespread anti-war movement evolved; and nightly television coverage of the war constantly reminded Americans of the price they were paying as the body count climbed. After 1968, many Americans did not believe the war was winnable and began to distrust federal government claims that victory was near.
Vietnam: Long-Term Impacts
In 1969, the third U.S. president to preside during the war in Vietnam came into office. Richard Nixon promised “peace with honor” and pushed the major responsibilities for fighting onto the South Vietnamese people, a policy called Vietnamization. However, the end of the war would not come for another four years, with the final U.S. withdrawal in March 1973. Two years later, in 1975, North Vietnam defeated the South, uniting both as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Images of helicopters rescuing Americans from the embassy in Saigon as the South Vietnamese government fell were broadcast on national television. It was a painful reminder of America’s first defeat in a major military effort. The effects on the morale of the U.S. military and people were immense: public trust in the government tumbled. Congress passed the War Powers Resolution, revoking the “blank check” from the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and limiting the president’s ability to wage war without congressional approval. Nearly 60,000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese civilians and military personnel died in one of America’s longest wars and first major defeat.
