Why did US never declare war with Vietnam?

Answer 1

Because we had learned our lesson in the Korean War 1950-1953. We INVADED North Korea and Red China entered the war against us. If we invaded North Vietnam, Communist China may have entered the Vietnam War.

Answer 2

1. A declaration of war implies TOTAL WAR.

2. Total war means using every weapon at one's disposal; this means nuclear weapons. It also means invading North Vietnam.

3. Using nukes and invading North Vietnam would have definitely involved the Soviet Union and Communist China.

That involvement would've have been titled WWIII.

Answer 3

The Vietnam War was one of many minor engagements during the Cold War. The United States intervened to protect the capitalist government of South Vietnam against the communist North Vietnam. This had a lot to do with the supposed "domino effect," the idea that if one country in a region (in this case, Southeast Asia) "fell" to Communism, the rest would follow suit. While in Vietnam, the U.S. military also intervened in the Cambodian Civil War, fighting against the side which was allegedly aiding and harboring Vietcong soldiers.

The U.S. never attacked Russia because it was abundantly clear that, should conflict have broken out between the two, the result would have been total nuclear war. Both countries (as well as China, India, France, the U.K. and several others at various points) had large enough stockpiles of nuclear weapons to ensure virtual annihilation on both sides. Any reasonably sized city in the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. would likely have received multiple nuclear warheads, and the fallout would have had dire implications for the whole planet. For example, a Russian city the size of Hiroshima, Japan, would have received at least three American nuclear bombs, all with a larger payload than the one dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. To be blunt, no one wanted that.