The Vietnam War

1. The Vietnam War

2. Why did the U.S. fight the Vietnam War? • Find your seat • Staple +place JFK Assignment in HW/LW bin • 1960s Quiz– use pen; hand in when finished • Take out notebook/ notes (unpinned video Qs) • Handouts: • Johnson/Vietnam Policy Document • Vietnam Quiz (practice) • Test Review (HW33)

3. Background • Vietnamese always struggled for independence • 939 A.D. & 1428 won independence from China • 1883 France took over the region • Combined with Laos and Cambodia to make “French Indochina”

4. Ho Chi Minh • Led the fight for independence • Communist • 1941 organized resistance movement called Vietminh • Declared independence after WWII • U.S. supported France • France was an ally against communism • Ho was Communist

6. Spread of Communism in Asia • 1949 Mao Zedong’s Communists took China • 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea • Vietminh—guerilla tactics: attack without warning and retreat • “domino theory” • Eisenhower was willing to commit money, but did not want another war

7. DIEN BIEN PHUDomino Theory • 1954 Defeat of French • The fall of one Southeast Asian nation to Communism would prompt neighbors to fall “like dominoes in a row”

8. Geneva Accords • International agreement on Indochina • Supervised cease fire • Vietnam divided along 17th parallel • North Vietnam—Communist • South Vietnam—anti-Communist, French-sponsored • Neither South Vietnam nor United States signed the agreement

9. South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) • Defensive military alliance • U.S., Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Pakistan, and the Philippines • Member nations offered to aid, upon request, Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam

10. Gulf of Tonkin • Suspected North Vietnam attacks on U.S. spy ships • Neither ship was actually fired upon • U.S. used the incident to escalate the conflict

11. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • 1964 • Congress gave President Johnson authority “to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression” • Increase presidential war powers

12. Ngo Dinh Diem • president of South Vietnam • controversial 1956 election put him in power • Anti-Communist • Initially supported by U.S. • Overthrown in a coup by his own generals and U.S. • Killed in 1963, three weeks before JFK

13. National Liberation Front (NLF) • Also known as Viet Cong • Led by Communists in South Vietnam • Opposed Diem • Successful tactics

14. Escalation • Increasing attacks and troop levels without drawing in China or U.S.S.R. • 1965--75,000 troops • 1966--375,000 troops • 1968--500,000 troops

15. Tet Offensive 1968 • North Vietnamese and Vietcong launched a major series of attacks on American military bases and South Vietnam cities • Turned many Americans against the war • Johnson decided not to seek reelection

16. Violence at Home 1968 • Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, which set off riots throughout the U.S. • Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated while running for president • Clash between protestors and police at 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago • Richard M. Nixon won the election of 1968

17. Quick Quiz • What did the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution say? • What event occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin? • What was the most widely used chemical to clear the forests and expose the land

18. Nixon • Vietnamization--