THE VIETNAM CONFLICT

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THE VIETNAM CONFLICT

• CHAPTER 22
• p. 730--761

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How did we get there?

• Vietnam and Independence
• before WWII--French Indochina
• during WWII--Japanese rule
• Ho Chi Minh
• Indochinese Communist Party
• Vietminh
• after WWII--French Indochina War
• 1950--U.S. supported French

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Vietnam in the 1950s
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How did we get there?

• 1953 and Eisenhower
• continued to help French
• spent almost 1 billion
• domino theory
• 1954
• Dien Bien Phu
• 1954
• Geneva Accords
• 17th parallel
• 1956 elections

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How did we get there?

• A divided Vietnam

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How did we get there?

• South Vietnam
• Ngo Dinh Diem
• refusal to participate in elections
• corrupt government
• anti-Buddhist
• moving and closing down villages
• Vietcong
• Ho Chi Minh Trail
• Eisenhower and Kennedy continue to supply
  economic aid

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How did we get there?

• The Ho Chi Minh Trail

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How did we get there?

• November 1, 1963
• U.S. military coup against Diem
• Kennedy announces withdrawal
• Kennedy is assassinated
• Johnson fears fall of S. Vietnam
• Gulf of Tonkin Incident

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How did we get there?

• Gulf of Tonkin
• August 2, 1964
• NV fire at U.S.S. Maddox on patrol
• August 4, 1964
• a second exchange
• Johnson begins bombing strikes against NV
• Johnson asks Congress for broad power
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• August 7, 1964
• Operation Rolling Thunder

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How did we get there?
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How did we get there?
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American Involvement

• Election of 1964
• Democrats
• Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey
• Johnson promises not to send more troops
• by 1965--180,000 ground troops
• by 1967--500,000 ground troops
• Republicans
• Barry Goldwater and William E. Miller

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American Involvement
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American Involvement

• Vietcong/NV Communist battle tactics
• VC used hit and run and ambush
• VC were hard to identify
• VC used tunnels (p. 738)
• US battle tactics
• war of attrition
• win the hearts and minds
• napalm
• Agent Orange
• search and destroy missions

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American Involvement
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American Involvement
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American Involvement

• Troop morale
• draft
• government negotiating a withdrawal
• drugs, pot, murder, and suicide
• Corruption continues in SV government
• attacks on Buddhists continue
• struggle for power

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American Involvement
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American Involvement

• Vietnam vs. The Great Society
• Johnsons domestic programs suffered
• economy suffered
• tax increases vs. GS program cuts
• The Living Room War
• Johnsons credibility gap
• The Fulbright Hearings
• war protests begin

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The War at Home

• Avoiding the war
• draft dodging
• deferments
• conscientious objector status
• African-American anger

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The War at Home

• Protest movements begin
• The New Left philosophy
• Students for a Democratic Society
• Free Speech Movement, 1964
• College Campus activism
• restrictions
• teach-ins (1965)

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The War at Home
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The War at Home
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The War at Home

• College Campus activism
• March on Washington, 1965 and 1966
• upping the ante
• protest in New Yorks Central Park
• _at_250,000
• burned draft cards
• hawks vs. doves
• punishment of protestors
• Johnson and slow escalation

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The War at Home

• Central Park Lie-In

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1968--The Worst Year Ever

• The Tet Offensive
• surprise attack by VC and NV Communists
• Public opinion stalemates
• government officials skeptical
• media openly critical

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1968--The Worst Year Ever
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1968--The Worst Year Ever
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1968--The Worst Year Ever
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1968--The Worst Year Ever

• Election of 1968
• Democratic primaries
• Johnson decided not to run
• Eugene McCarthy steps in
• Robert Kennedy steps in
• March 31, 1968--Johnson announcement
• April 4, 1968--King assassination
• June 5, 1968--Kennedy assassination

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1968--The Worst Year Ever

• Election of 1968
• Democrats
• Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie
• protest rallies at Convention in Chicago
• Grant Park
• Republicans
• Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew
• American Independent
• George C. Wallace and Curtis LeMay

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1968--The Worst Year Ever
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1968--The Worst Year Ever
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1968--The Worst Year Ever
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1968--The Worst Year Ever
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Ending Vietnam

• Peace with honor--Nixon Vietnam
• Nixon and troop withdrawals
• Vietnamization
• My Lai Massacre
• escalates war in SE Asia
• Cambodia
• Laos
• Thailand

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Ending Vietnam

• Protests resume
• college campuses
• Kent State University
• The Pentagon Papers
• Nixon wins re-election in 1972
• negotiations stalemate
• The Christmas Bombings
• Hanoi and Haiphong

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Ending Vietnam

• January 23, 1973
• Agreement reached on ending the war
• Nixon promises full force if agreement is
  broken
• March 29, 1973
• The Fall of Saigon

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Ending Vietnam
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The Legacy of Vietnam

• 58,000 dead over 300,000 wounded
• instability in SE Asia
• anger at returning soldiers
• medical/psychological issues
• the blame game
• The War Powers Resolution of 1973

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The Legacy of Vietnam

• cautious foreign policy
• distrust of government
• one positive--

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The Legacy of Vietnam