The Haunting Legacy of the Vietnam War
The Haunting Legacy of the Vietnam War
Reflecting on one of the first forever wars, 50 years on.
Viet Cong soldiers go into battle near Hue, in central Vietnam, during the Vietnam War, circa 1968. Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Fifty years ago on Wednesday, North Vietnamese forces took Saigon’s presidential palace, marking the end of the Vietnam War—a two-decade-long conflict that shaped the second half of the 20th century. The American War, as it’s called in Vietnam, led to the deaths of millions of Vietnamese people and more than 50,000 U.S. troops. Arguably the first forever war, it is widely remembered as one of Washington’s greatest foreign-policy disasters.
Today, the war continues to haunt global affairs. To mark the anniversary, which the Trump administration has explicitly directed U.S. diplomats in Vietnam not to commemorate, we’re sharing essays on the legacies of the war and how it continues to shape foreign policy.
Fifty years ago on Wednesday, North Vietnamese forces took Saigon’s presidential palace, marking the end of the Vietnam War—a two-decade-long conflict that shaped the second half of the 20th century. The American War, as it’s called in Vietnam, led to the deaths of millions of Vietnamese people and more than 50,000 U.S. troops. Arguably the first forever war, it is widely remembered as one of Washington’s greatest foreign-policy disasters.
Today, the war continues to haunt global affairs. To mark the anniversary, which the Trump administration has explicitly directed U.S. diplomats in Vietnam not to commemorate, we’re sharing essays on the legacies of the war and how it continues to shape foreign policy.
Leaflets stream from the cockpit of a plane, flown by psychological warfare pilots of the 9th Air Commando Squadron at Da Nang Air Base in Vietnam on July 11, 1967.Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
The Ghostly Legacies of America’s War in Vietnam
The United States tried to use Vietnamese beliefs to terrify enemy soldiers, Chris Humphrey writes.
Then-U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes the hands of soldiers as he visits troops in Vietnam in 1966.Interim Archives/Getty Images
Why U.S. Presidents Really Go to War
As a new book shows, it’s not always about strategy, FP’s Julian E. Zelizer writes.
From left: Robert Downey Jr.—who plays several roles—Duy Nguyen as Man, Hoa Xuande as the Captain, Fred Nguyen Khan as Bon, and Sandra Oh as Sofia Mori in The Sympathizer. HBO
HBO’s ‘The Sympathizer’ Leans Into the Tragic Absurdity of the Vietnam War
The series lampoons the military, academia, and Hollywood portrayals of the era, Jordan Hoffman writes.
South Korean soldiers advance during an assault on an enemy position near Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 1972. David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images
It’s Time for South Korea to Acknowledge Its Atrocities in Vietnam
Seoul and Hanoi can no longer ignore a fraught part of their history, Dien Luong writes.
Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda perform for American airmen during a F.T.A. Vietnam protest tour near Manila, Philippines, in 1971. AP
Donald Sutherland and the Soldiers Who Resisted Vietnam
The chameleonic actor was also an activist ahead of his time, Lindsay Goss writes.
Chloe Hadavas is a senior editor at Foreign Policy. Bluesky: @hadavas.bsky.social X: @Hadavas
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