Question

Explain the evolution of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia after WW2. Why was Vietnam important to the U.S. policy of containment? How did the U.S. get involved militarily and why did LBJ and Nixon continue to escalate U.S. military action? Was the U.S. ultimately successful in achieving its goals in Vietnam, and if so, why or why not?

Answer 1

The background of the Cold War

Step-by-step explanation:

Vietnam was important for the US policy of containment because their main goal (or rather irrational fear) was to stop communism from spreading.

The US got involved military because they couldn´t imagine that a small peasant country in Asia could stand up to the world´s greatest power.

LBJ, Nixon and everybody else in the White House underestimated the determination of the Vietnamese people.

They were not, it was actually contraproductive because it turned apolitical rural people into convinced communist fighters.