Vietnam War

1. Vietnam War 1954-1975

2. 1) Vietnamese Nationalism - ruled by China from 1800’s-WWII - ruled by Japan during WWII - ruled by France after WWII-1954 a. Ho Chi Minh - founded Indochinese Communist Party in 1930 b. Vietminh - Nationalist group that united communists & non-communists during WWII to expel the Japanese - Aided by U.S. during WWII 2) U.S. Supports France - Aug. 1945 Ho Chi Minh announces Vietnam’s Indpendence - 1949 France appeals to U.S. for aid a. U.S. Dilema 1. Opposed colonialism 2. Stop Communism b. Truman’s Decision 1. Fall of China to communism 2. Korean War 3. Domino Theory – belief that if Vietnam fell to communism so would other SE Asian nations Early American Involvement

3. Vietminh Drive Out the French • Guerrillas – irregular troops who blend into civilian population and use hit and run tactics • Defeat at Dien Biem Phu – May 7, 1954 - mountain village held by the French 2) Geneva Accords – April 1954 a. divided Vietnam at 17th parallel b. free elections to unite Vietnam by 1956 c. Ho Chi Minh – North Vietnam d. Ngo Dinh Diem – South Vietnam * result: Civil War

4. American Involvement Deepens • Vietcong – communist guerrillas who fought in S. Vietnam 1) Kennedy Takes Office – 1961 - defeated Richard Nixon - increases military advisers between 1961-1963 strategic hamlets – special fortified villages 2) Diem Overthrown – Nov. 1, 1963 - discriminated against Buddhists - Henry Cabot Lodge persuades U.S. to support S. Vietnamese generals in overthrowing Diem - President Kennedy assassinated

5. Johnson and Vietnam 1) Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (Aug. 7, 1964) – authorized President to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression. - handed over war powers to the President - Campaigning for Presidency 2) U.S. Sends Troops - Feb. 1965 – attack at Pleiku kills 7 Americans - Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965) – sustained bombing campaign of N. Vietnam - first combat troops sent to Vietnam

6. A Bloody Stalemate Emerges • End of 1965 – 180,000 troops in Vietnam • 1966 number of troops doubles (6,700 troops killed - ? of war) 1) Frustrating War -guerrilla warfare – hit and run tactics of Vietcong - inability to recognize and track enemy - Napalm – jellied gasoline - Agent Orange – chemical used to strip jungles of Vietnam 2) A Determined Enemy - supported by China and Soviet Union - Ho Chi Minh Trail – Supply of the Vietcong that wound through Cambodia and Laos - U.S. fights a war of attrition – defeat the enemy by wearing them down

7. The Nation Divides • William Westmoreland – US Commander in South Vietnam - 1967 tells American people that the enemy’s hopes are “bankrupt” • Credibility Gap – Americans found it hard to believe what the Johnson administration said about the war - television • Feb. 1966 – Senate Foreign Relations Committee held “educational” hearings to explain administrations war program

8. Antiwar Movement • Teach-Ins –an extended meeting held to discuss the Vietnam War - May 1965 – “National Teach-In • The Draft – an unfair system - members of low income families - 1967 20% of American combat deaths were African Americans - Martin Luther King Jr. – advocate against Vietnam War - 500,000 draftees refused to go to Vietnam • 26th Amendment – 1971 – gave all citizens age 18 and older the right to vote in all state and federal elections • Hawks- those who wanted to stay and fight in Vietnam • Doves – those who wanted to withdraw from Vietnam

9. 1968: The Pivotal Year • Tet Offensive (Jan. 30, 1968) – Attacks by Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces on virtually all American airbases and South Vietnamese cities in South Vietnam - Westmoreland calls for another 209,000 troops (admission US could not win the war) - President Johnson’s approval rating drops to 35% (26% for handling of war) - March 31, 1968 Johnson drops out of Presidential Race - Robert Kennedy- Democratic dove candidate assassinated June 5, 1968 in California - Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in April 1968 • Richard Nixon – defeats Hubert Humphrey (D) and George Wallace (I) to become President

10. The War Winds Down • Henry Kissinger – appointed by Nixon as special assistant for national security affairs to use diplomacy to end the conflict Linkage – improve relations with Soviet Union and China • Vietnamization – process of gradually withdrawing U.S. troops from Vietnam while South Vietnam assumed the fighting - June 8, 1969 25,000 troops withdraw from Vietnam - Increased air strikes on North Vietnam and Cambodia

11. Turmoil at Home • My Lai Massacre – Spring of 1968 American platoon under the command of Lieutenant William Calley killed more than 200 unarmed South Vietnamese - November 1969 report goes public • April 1970 Nixon orders invasion of Cambodia - Kent State Incident (May 4, 1970) – Ohio National Guard fire on demonstrators killing 4 students and wounding 9 - two days later 2 African American students killed at Jackson State College • Pentagon Papers (1971) – documents from Daniel Ellsberg that revealed many government officials during the Johnson administration privately questioned the war while publicly defending it, and how decisions were made without Congressional consent

12. U.S. Pulls Out of Vietnam • Nguyen Van Thieu – (1972) South Vietnam’s president refuses to allow North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam • Christmas Bombings (Dec. 17, 1972) – dropping of bombs by US B-52’s on North Vietnamese targets for 11 straight days to get North Vietnam to resume negotiations • Peace Agreement – January 27, 1973 • Fall of Saigon – April 30, 1975 – renamed Ho Chi Minh City

13. Legacy of Vietnam • Costs of War - $170 Billion - 58, 000 American deaths - 300,000 injured - more than 1 million North and South Vietnamese deaths - POW’s and MIA’s • War Powers Act 1973 – Required the President to inform Congress of any commitment of troops abroad within 48 hours and to withdraw them in 60-90 days unless Congress approved the troop commitment