Chapter 29 America During Its Longest War, 1963-1974 © 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved

Chapter 29

America During Its Longest War, 1963-1974

© 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved.

Election of 1964

• “We don’t want our American boys to do the fighting for Asian boys. We don’t want to get involved in a nation with 700 million people and get tied down in a land war in Asia.” – LBJ (peace candidate)

Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society

• Civil Rights Act of 1964

- fight discrimination

• Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare

• LBJ viewed Nam as a threat to his Great Society

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The Tonkin Gulf Resolution• Gulf of Tonkin (Aug 1964)

– Maddox – Turner Joy

• Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964)

- LBJ viewed resolution as dec of war

• Johnson’s decision: "Rolling Thunder“ (1965)

- 643k tons of bombs


The War Widens, 1965-68

• General Westmoreland

• "Search and destroy“ missions

• US forces reach 535k by 1968

• Operation RANCHHAND (1968)

• My Lai Massacre (1968)

- William Calley


The Media and the War• “living room war”

- images eroded support for the war

• protests & opposition

• Vietnam Veterans Against the War– "how do you ask a man to be the last man

to die for a mistake” John Kerry April 1971


Turning point of Vietnam War:Tet Offensive

• General Westmoreland

• Tet Offensive (Jan 1968)

- protests

- failure of operation R.Thunder

LBJ’s press conference (1968)

“With America’s sons in fields far away, with America’s future under challenge right here at home…I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes…Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”


Presidential Election, 1968

Nixon’s War

Nixon & Vietnam

- Vietnamization

- Hamburger Hill (1969)

- Cambodia invasion (1970)

- Jackson State / Kent State protest

- Linebacker (1972)

End of Vietnam War

• 1973- peace agreement signed

- Withdrawal of U.S. troops / ARVN

- April 30, 1975- fall of South Vietnam

- Re-education camps

The Aftermath of War

• 1960-1973: 3.5 million served in Vietnam– 58,000 died– 150,000 wounded

• North Vietnam & Viet Cong

- 1.1 million dead / 600k wounded


Vietnamese View of the war

Huynh Tuyet, 71, a North Vietnamese veteran who had his hand blown off

fighting the Americans, recalled his own lesson.

"Even though the Americans were more powerful with all their massive weapons, the main factor in war is the people," he said. "The Vietnamese people were very

determined. We would not give up. That's why we won."

US-Vietnam Relations today

• Bush visits Hanoi, Vietnam November 16, 2006

• Clinton lifted the embargo and restored diplomatic relations and the two countries signed a bilateral trade agreement in 1995


Nixon wins reelection, 1972

Nixon Pursued

• burglars arrested (6-1972)

• Cover-up money

• Watergate silence unveiled

• “Executive privilege” / U.S. v. Nixon

• Impeachment / resignation (8/8/1974)


• Former FBI agent Mark Felt claims to be Deep Throat, the legendary source who leaked secrets about President Nixon's Watergate cover-up to The Washington Post and helped bring down the Nixon presidency in 1974. The Washington Post confirmed Felt's story, bringing to a close the long-running mystery about Deep Throat's identity.

• ( May 31, 2005)

Conclusion

• Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society”

• Escalation in Vietnam– Consumed the nation and hurt the

economy

• Richard Nixon– Abuse of power and Impeachment


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Chapter 29 America During Its Longest War, 1963-1974 © 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved