There were several results of the Vietnam War. Some were military in nature while others were political in nature.

When the Vietnam War ended, North Vietnam won the war. Vietnam was united as one country under Communist rule. Ho Chi Minh was the leader, and Hanoi was the capital. The United States had no relations with the new country when the war ended.

Another result of the Vietnam War was the government lost credibility in the eyes of the American people. Americans had generally believed what the government was telling them was true. During the Vietnam War, it was clear to many Americans that the government was not telling them the truth about events in Vietnam and how the war was going. To this day, people don’t believe the government is being honest with the public. This feeling started during the Vietnam War.

A third result of the war was Congress tried to get back some of its powers it gave to the president during the war with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Congress passed the War Powers Act to limit for how long the president could commit our troops to other countries without the approval of Congress. It also established a time line for informing Congress when such actions would occur. While this law had good intentions, it hasn’t been very effective.  Many presidents have ignored this law since there are no penalties mentioned for not following it.

What were the consequences of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War?

The United States involvement in Vietnam affected both countries, but since the war was fought on Vietnamese soil, its greatest and most traumatic effects were on the Vietnamese people.

While 58,000 American soldiers died and 304,000 were wounded, the statistics on the Vietnamese side include a whopping four million people dead or wounded. Of these, 1.3 million were civilians, including women and children. The United States dropped over 18 million gallons of herbicides containing dioxins and 14 million tons of explosives on Vietnam. The Vietnamese economy was crippled, children were orphaned, and families and communities were destroyed.

Within the United States, the Vietnam War was polarizing, leading to massive protests and political upheavals. Many of the same people advocating increased civil rights and other forms of social change also opposed the war and this led to the growth of youth culture. The practical results of these protests included an end to the draft and resulted in lowering the voting age to 18.