The United States was directly involved in the Vietnam War from 1964 through 1974. A major event in this war was the Tet Offensive, which profoundly affected American history by impacting our politics, economy, military, and society. The Tet Offensive affected politics by influencing the presidential elections of 1968. It affected the American economy, boosting personal prosperity with new jobs but greatly increasing the national debt, due mainly to the vast amounts of money spent on the war effort after the Tet Offensive. The military was affected by the offensive because of America's increased involvement in South Vietnam, and the fact that many people in the military realized that this was a war we could not win. The Tet Offensive also had a large impact on the American society due to opposition to the war by civilians and the death of over 50,000 American soldiers.
In 1946, the U.S. began providing economic aid to the French in their war against the communist Vietminh. In 1950, the Military Assistance Advisory Group was sent to Vietnam to give military aid to the French. (Dougan 26) Eventually (1954) the French were forced to pull out and Vietnam was split into North and South. From 1955 to 1961, U.S. engineers, doctors, military advisors, and public administrators were sent to rebuild South Vietnams" armed forces and economy. (Dougan 33) In the early 1960s increased amounts of troops including Army Rangers and Special Forces were sent as advisors along with large amounts of money to South Vietnam. After a number of attacks on U.S. bases, nine battalions of Marines were deployed to Vietnam bringing American troop strength to 82,000 military personnel, showing our direct involvement in Vietnam. (Compton's) .
By the end of 1965, 40,000 troops a month were being drafted and sent to Vietnam to fight in the war. By 1966, over 250,000 military personnel were in Vietnam with many more on their way.
