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The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War. Overview. A Tragedy in Five Acts. John G. Stoessinger, Why Nations Go to War “The awesome truth about Vietnam is clear: it was in vain that combatants and civilians had suffered, the land had been devastated, and the dead had died.”. Act I: Truman.

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The Vietnam War

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  1. The Vietnam War Overview

  2. A Tragedy in Five Acts • John G. Stoessinger, Why Nations Go to War “The awesome truth about Vietnam is clear: it was in vain that combatants and civilians had suffered, the land had been devastated, and the dead had died.”

  3. Act I: Truman • Truman at first wanted French to leave Indo-China • 1948 – Containment • 1949 – Communist China • 1950 – Korean War • All conflict became identified with and defined as part of the same struggle against the same enemy

  4. Act I: Truman • US begins to support France in their war with Ho after start of Korean War • French and Vietminh fighting since 1945 • 1953 1/3 cost paid by US

  5. Act II: Eisenhower • Eisenhower and Dulles were convinced that China would intervene in Vietnam if US troops intervened • 1954 – 50-80% cost paid by US • Fall of Dien Bien Phu ends French involvement in Vietnam

  6. Geneva Peace Accord • Vietnam was guaranteed its independence • National elections, under international supervision, would be held in two years (July 1956) • Until elections, Vietnam would be divided at the 17thparallel (just to the north of Hue on the map). Control of the north would  be held by the Viet Minh forces led by Ho Chi Minh while control in the South would be held by forces who had fought with the French.  • Laos and Cambodia created • US never signed Geneva Accords

  7. 1954 Eisenhower Cites "Domino Theory" Regarding Southeast Asia French Defeated at Dien Bien Phu Geneva Convention Agreements Announced 1955 Diem Rejects Conditions of Geneva Accords, Refuses to Participate in Nationwide Elections China and Soviet Union Pledge Additional Financial Support to Hanoi Diem Becomes President of Republic of Vietnam 1956 French Leave Vietnam US Training South Vietnamese 1957 Communist Insurgency into South Vietnam Terrorist Bombings Rock Saigon

  8. Act II: Eisenhower • Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). • Creation of SEATO seen by Vietminh as violation of spirit of Geneva • US supported Diem in not holding elections • Diem lost support of people and became increasingly autocratic • 1960 – 1000 military advisers

  9. Act III: Kennedy “In the last analysis, it is their war; it is they who must win or lose it.” • Kennedy was surrounded by advisors who saw Vietnam as a military matter rather than a political one. 1961 Kennedy dispatches 400 Special Forces

  10. The White Paper • Rostow-Taylor Report (“White Paper”) • October 1961 Kennedy sends Walt Rostow and Maxwell Taylor on fact finding mission to Vietnam • Report recommend 8,000 combat troops necessary to save South Vietnam • Air power could easily overwhelm N. Vietnamese forces

  11. Act III: Kennedy • George Ball, Undersecretary of State – game warnings to the president: “George, you are crazier than hell.” - Kennedy “Within five years we’ll have three hundred thousand men in the paddies and jungles [of Vietnam] and never find them again,” [W]e must not commit forces to South Vietnam or we would find ourselves in a protracted conflict far more serious than Korea. The Viet Cong were mean and tough, as the French had learned to their sorrow, and there was always danger of provoking Chinese intervention as we had in Korea….The Vietnam problem was not one of repelling overt invasion but of mixing ourselves up in a revolutionary situation with strong anticolonialist overtones.

  12. Act III: Kennedy • Kennedy compromised • 15,000 advisors and support personnel. • Counter insurgency: search and destroy, strategic hamlets, new “Green Berets”, Agent Orange • Pressure on Diem to make democratic reforms • VP Johnson visits Vietnam in April 1961 Diem is “the Winston Churchill of Southeast Asia” Then to reporter, “S___, man, he’s the only boy we have out there.”

  13. 1959 Weapons Moving Along Ho Chi Minh Trail US Servicemen Killed in Guerilla Attack Diem Orders Crackdown on Communists, Dissidents 1960 North Vietnam Imposes Universal Military Conscription Kennedy Elected President Vietcong Formed 1961 Vice President Johnson Tours Saigon

  14. Act III: Kennedy Situation deteriorated through 1962 • : Kennedy aware that Diem regime unpopular (Buddhist monks practice self- immolation) – recognized need to disassociate US from Diem November 1963 Diem assassinated with US approval Kennedy killed 3 weeks later

  15. ThíchQuảngĐức burning himself to death in Saigon, 1963 Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali visits Mohamed Bouazizi, who set fire to himself, December 28, 2010.

  16. 1963 17,000 US troops in Vietnam 70 had been killed

  17. Act IV: Johnson • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • Alleged attacks on US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964 • Gave President Johnson power to use military force in Vietnam as he saw necessary

  18. That the Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression. Section 2. The United States regards as vital to its national interest and to world peace the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. Consonant with the Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United Nations and in accordance with its obligations under the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, the United States is, therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom. Section 3. This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of the area is reasonably assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress.

  19. Act IV: Johnson • February 1965 – NLF (Vietcong) attack on American barracks • “Operation ROLLING THUNDER” Sustained bombing campaign began that would last for three years • December 1967:DoD stated 864,000 tons of bombs had been dropped on North Vietnam • 653,000 tons dropped during entire Korean War • 503,000 tons dropped in Pacific theater during WWII • Combat troops introduced, quickly expanding to over 500,000 by 1968

  20. Limited War • Objective was to keep war limited in geography and purpose • Large scale “search and destroy” mission intended to break the will of Viet Minh • Incremental escalation of military “pain” until enemy is ready to negotiate * What if the enemy is willing to endure any pain because their only objective is victory?

  21. TET Offensive 1968 • North Vietnamese and NLF launch major offensive against cities in South Vietnam • Offensive ultimately a failure for North; a moral defeat for US • Johnson rejected proposal to expand troop numbers • Reduced scope of bombing • Withdrew from Presidential race • Negotiators begin meetings in Paris

  22. 1968 January Sihanouk Allows Pursuit of Vietcong into Cambodia North Vietnamese Launch TetOffensive February Battle for Hue Westmoreland Requests 206,000 More Troops (Denied by LBJ) My Lai Massacre March LBJ Announces He Won't Run April MLK Slain in Memphis May Paris Peace Talks Begin August Upheaval at Democratic Convention in Chicago November Richard Nixon Elected President

  23. 1969 Nixon Begins Secret Bombing of Cambodia Policy of "Vietnamization" Announced Ho Chi Minh Dies at Age 79 News of My Lai Massacre Reaches US Massive Antiwar Demonstration in DC 1970 Sihanouk Ousted in Cambodia    Kent State Incident    Kissinger and Le Duc Begin Secret Talks Number of US Troops Falls to 280K

  24. Act V: Nixon • Vietnamization • Ground troops would be withdrawn and combat given over to South • Threatened North (Eisenhower in Korea) • Escalation of bombing, moving into Cambodia and Laos • December 1973 – Massive Bombings of Hanoi and Haiphong

  25. Paris Accords • January 23, 1973 • Withdraw of all US troops • Exchange of prisoners • Consultations between North and South on general elections “decide themselves the political future of South Viet-Nam through genuinely free and democratic general elections under international supervision." • Essentially a return to the Geneva Accords of 1954 “There was an Orwellian irony to the situations. Progress was regress: 1954 by 1973.”

  26. 1972 Nixon Cuts Troop Levels by 70K Secret Peace Talks Revealed B-52s Bomb Hanoi and Haiphong Break-In at Watergate Hotel Kissinger Says "Peace Is At Hand"   Nixon Wins Reelection 1973 Cease-fire Signed in Paris End of Draft Announced Last American Troops Leave Vietnam Hearings on Secret Bombings Begin Kissinger and Le DucTho Win Peace Prize

  27. 1974 Nixon Resigns Communists Plan Major Offensive 1975 Ford Calls Vietnam War "Finished“ Last Americans Evacuate as Saigon Falls to Communists  

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