Vietnam way worse than this. The stalemate of Korea was a defeat for many. Way worse. But the biggest strategic defeat the US ever suffered was the overturning, by legislative decision, of Reconstruction. Handing the South, and the opening West, to the former Confederates to start Jim Crow.

April 08, 2026 - 01:58 UTC

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Vietnam was a far more *costly* tactical defeat but in strategic terms it meant almost nothing? Domino theory never panned out, the rest of southeast Asia didn't collapse, there was no major fallout for the global economy, and Vietnam was back on friendly terms with the US within a few decades.
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But yeah abandoning Reconstruction/not properly punishing the South is almost certainly the biggest self-own in American history.
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