The Vietnam War as Neurotic Failure

I recently finished reading Max Hastings’ book about the Vietnam War, Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945–1975. Highly recommended as a single-volume summary of the war, militarily and politically, from both the American and Vietnamese perspectives.

Last week I described the relationship between neurosis and nationalism. That is to say, how nationalism and patriotism serve our needs for self-esteem. The perceived greatness of our nation reflects our own greatness as its citizens. And that felt sense of greatness meets our needs for significance and worth.

On the negative side, and this is where the Vietnam War comes in, the shame, failure, and defeat of a nation bring shame upon its citizens.

There are many tragedies associated with the Vietnam War. But here is one of the biggest. After the Tet Offensive in 1968, it was clear to the White House and Department of Defense that the war could not be won. And yet, the war continued for another seven years. During that time, another 21,000 US soldiers would lose their lives. Another 500,000 to 900,000 Vietnamese would lose theirs. Billions of dollars were also spent. All for a war we knew we could not win.

Which raises a question: Why did the war continue for another seven years?

One of the main reasons was neurotic. No administration—Johnson’s or Nixon’s—wanted to be the one that lost the war. Pressuring this concern was every midterm and general election. Every two-year interval, the country would be heading to the polls, and the optics of the war needed to look good prior to each election. And so the war rolled on. The ego of the nation was too fragile to take the loss, and the shame of defeat would rebound to the administration that failed. A neurotic pressure to “win,” or at least to avoid the appearance of losing, kept the killing going. Militarily, the US knew it could not win, but it fought on for neurotic reasons, to avoid shame and global embarrassment.

To be sure, this is not the whole story. There were serious concerns about supporting our allies in South Vietnam. But you will not understand the full tragedy of the seven years between Tet and the Fall of Saigon if you ignore the neurotic aspects of the conflict.