Policies of past administrations - Essay Example

1 Policies of Past Administrations and their long term affect on politics The United s became physically involved in Vietnam in the late forties in the capacity of military advisers. The US was initially allied with the French, and when the French departed in 1954, the United States became the primary military foreign government presence in the country. The United States military was slowly drawn, (by in country conflict) and tugged (by Viet Cong Allies namely the Soviet Union) into the armed conflict.

Albeit, a civil war and the US government should not have been involved in the sovereign conflict which persisted between the internal factions, these were very uncertain times during the Cold War with Russia, and it was viewed as ill advisable to permit the Russians to have unfettered access. That being said, the United States did not have a short or long range war plan for Viet Nam. No one in the Department of Defense, or the White House, had any idea of how much it was going to cost, or how long it was going to take.

In this regard, when the US military was deployed into harms way in Iraq, the circumstances were similar to the debacle of Vietnam; yet different. Americans and American soil had been violated by individuals who were domiciled in Iraq There was a need to seek out and avenge these acts. However, The President himself thought it was over before it was over. Which only goes to show that they did not adhere to the six P's (Proper Planning Precludes a Pitifully Poor Performance) after what they characterized as the fall of Baghdad.

Again, no short or long range planning. In this regard, it can be compared. But the thrust of each is decidedly different. In Vietnam, we were preserving freedom, but in Iraq, we are preserving our "souls".. President Johnson agonized over the war in Vietnam. He aspired to be the greatest 2 president ever produced by the American political system.

He aspired to eradicate poverty and educate the under-class. However, he inherited the conflict in Southeast Asia, where he was compelled to bomb farm to market roads, and create an even greater gap between the have and have nots. These actions were based on the premise of an ideology, which most Vietnamese could barely fathom, more less understand This was not his choice, but as ruler of the free world, he was mandated to preserve that freedom. The creation of the Great Society Programs was a well conceived and except for the conservatives who believed that trickle down economics, was better suited for America, than was bottom up, coupled with the enormous financial and brain drain, created by the Vietnam war, the Great Society probably could have worked.

It was not at all about welfare, but more about presenting an opportunity to most of Americas poor, who were compelled to initiate their beginnings on an unlevel playing field. Watergate exposed to the American public the level and length of dirty tricks which the politicians would engage to either maintain or acquire a political office. It was unfortunate that the entire expose made a turn for the dismantling and dishonoring the Nixon white house. It did not begin to address the real issues, or the focus of the real problem; The entire scandal concluded with Nixon and all of his men being dishonored and banned from the halls of power in Washington.

It did not address the macro issue, that politicians within their political parties operate, just a little bit above the law. The happenings surrounding Watergate, did not change politics. Afterall, the scandal approached the issues from an organizational (President Committe to Re-elect the President), not from the Republican and Democratic party positions..