During the late 60s and early/mid 70s, why would the US gov't spend over half its budget on foreign affairs?

Question

*gov't= government

Answer 1

This is a guess, but because the active interventions in Southeast Asia were being politically termed "police actions"(like enemy non-combatant!), the budget, though spent largely in the realm of defense, was essentially a Clauswitzian "extension of politics by another means".

If this is true, such expenditures would be, in an Orwellian euphemism, foreign affairs spending.

Kindly correct me if I'm wrong.

Answer 2

Hitting close to the mark up there!  Vietnam was only a part of the much larger Cold War, in which we invested a lot of money and resources aiding other countries in resisting Communism, in both military and humanitarian aid.  Mostly in western Europe, of course, but most everywhere else around the world, at one point otr another.

Although usually not considered a Cold War arena, yes, we did also [and still do] pour huge amounts of money into the beleaugered nation of Israel, our only reliable Middle Eastern ally, and ironically jst about the only one that doesn't have oil.