The Vietnam War began in 1954, after the rise to power of Ho Chi Minh, who was a communist leader in North Vietnam. The leader was spreading communism, and because the United States wanted to stop its spread, it sent military troops to help South Vietnam stop this vice. The war saw approximately 3 million people die, including 58,000 American soldiers. About 150,000 people were injured during the war. In 1975, the South Vietnamese government surrendered to the war after communist forces forced it to surrender. Vietnam unified communism and became a socialist republic. Although decades have passed since the outbreak of the Vietnam War, American culture, born in part as a result of this war, is celebrated today. President Johnson faced much hostility from the public and the military for wanting to escalate the war. war. Subsequently, he decided that the time had come to end the war, and in 1969 Richard Nixon became the new president of the United States. President Nixon planned how to end the war because he saw what it had done to the American people. The plan to end the war would see the end of US involvement. The plan outlined by President Nixon was called Vietnamization. This was the process of removing U.S. troops from Vietnam and returning the fight to the South Vietnamese. The withdrawal of US troops began in 1969. To more quickly end the era of hostilities, President Nixon decided to expand the war to other countries such as Cambodia and Laos. This decision led to an increase in protests, especially in American colleges and universities. Peace talks began in 1969 to end the brutality and war and in 1973 the United St...... middle of paper ...... of the head of state during times of fighting was formed. Negative effects include the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, which veterans have suffered from. The death of people and soldiers during the war was also a negative effect. Since the end of the war, every American has begun to understand their rights as enshrined in the Constitution. Works Cited Beattie, K. (1998). The scar that binds: American culture and the Vietnam War. New York: New York University Press. Daum, A. W., Gardner, L. C., & Mausbach, W. (2003). America, the Vietnam War, and the World: Comparative and International Perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Hagopian, P. (2009). The Vietnam War in American memory: Veterans, memorials, and the politics of healing. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.Hall, M. K. (2009). Vietnam War Era: People and Perspectives. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.