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• Students will be able to explain the origins of American involvement in Southeast Asia especially Vietnam• Students will be able to trace the growing US participation in the
Vietnam War• Students will be able to explain the rise of the US anti-war movement
and its impact on American society• Students will be able to explain how the US exited the war and the
impact the war had on US foreign and domestic policies
• Vietnamese Nationalism Vietnam under control / influence
of China Came under control of France in
1800s as part of French Indochina Ho Chi Minh founded Vietnamese
Communist Party – led resistance movement, Vietminh, against Japanese
Received US support After WWII he declared Vietnam
independentHo Chi Minh
• After WWII (1946) French troops returned to Indochina• 1949 French drove out Vietminh
and set up new colonial government• Vietminh began guerrilla war
against French – French appealed to US for help• US opposed colonialism but did
not want Vietnam to become Communist
Vietminh prisoners
• Two events caused President Truman to support French- the fall of China to the Communists and the Korean war• US believed USSR was trying to
expand Communism in Asia• President Eisenhower also
supported France – eventually US paying ¾ of French war costs• Domino Theory – belief that if one
country fell to Communism then it would cause others to fall as well
• France frustrated by Vietminh guerrilla war• Wanted to draw Vietminh out into
open battle• Battle of Dien Bien Phu• French defeat caused withdrawal
from Indochina• Geneva Accords
UN divided Vietnam at 17th parallel Elections to be held to unite Vietnam
into single country French troops at Dien Bien Phu
No elections held – North became Communist state under Ho Chi Minh / South led by Ngo Dinh Diem
Diem pro-West, anti-Communist, Catholic
South Vietnam supported by US War began between South
Vietnam and Communists
Ngo Dinh Diem
• Communists formed guerrilla army in the south called Viet Cong• Growing power of Viet Cong
caused US to increase support for South Vietnam• President Kennedy increased US
troop strength in Vietnam to ~15,000• Diem began Strategic Hamlet
program – fortified villages • Program unpopular with peasants Viet Cong in training
• Diem unpopular due to persecution of Buddhists• Buddhists protested• South Vietnamese generals with
CIA overthrew Diem – Diem assassinated• Coup made situation worse
Buddhist monk burns himself to death protesting Diem’s policies
• 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – authorized President Johnson to expand US military presence in Vietnam• Attacks by Viet Cong on US forces
resulted in the bombing of North Vietnam• Operation Rolling Thunder – extensive
bombing campaign against North Vietnam• Johnson sent US combat troops to
fight alongside South Vietnamese units
• Over 200,000 US troops in Vietnam by 1966• US frustrated by guerrilla tactics
and dense jungle terrain/foliage• Guerrillas blended in with
civilian population• Body counts• Search and Destroy missions• Use of Napalm and Agent
Orange (defoliant)Burned children flee accidental napalm strike by South Vietnamese Air Force
• Viet Cong suffered heavy losses but continued war against US and South Vietnam• Viet Cong supplied by North Vietnam
through network of jungle trails called Ho Chi Minh Trail• Trail bypassed much of South Vietnam
through Laos and Cambodia• North Vietnam supplied by USSR and
Communist China• Johnson refused to expand war and
allow US to use full powerHo Chi Minh Trail
• By late 1960s many in US turned against the Vietnam War• General Westmoreland,
commander of US forces in Vietnam, assured the American public that US was winning• Daily images of war on TV news
caused credibility gap – doubt that US government was telling truth
• Protests increased as casualties mounted• Teach-In – teachers and students
abandoned classes and protested war• Exemptions to the draft seen as
impacting the poor and minorities unfairly• Black casualties protested by MLK• Many young men resisted the draft or
fled to Canada or Sweden• Hawks: pro-war / Doves: anti-war
• 1968 – The Turning Point• Tet Offensive
Massive surprise attack on South Vietnam by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army units
All major cities attacked Communists executed thousands of South
Vietnamese leaders, teachers, and foreigners
Tet was military defeat for Communists but huge propaganda victory
Mainstream media in US turned against the war
President Johnson’s popularity plummeted
• Election of 1968 Senator Eugene McCarthy entered
Democratic primary – “peace” candidate
Robert Kennedy also entered race Johnson declined to run for another
term Robert Kennedy and MLK
assassinated Violent protests staged at the
Democratic Primary in Chicago Hubert Humphrey (VP) won
nomination
Richard Nixon won Republican nomination
Third Party nominee George Wallace (Segregationist)
Nixon pledged to restore law and order and end Vietnam War
Nixon won election
Richard Nixon
George Wallace
• President Nixon appointed Henry Kissinger as his special assistant• Linkage - Kissinger tried to improve
relations with USSR and China to get support to end war • Vietnamization – Nixon policy of
arming South Vietnam so they could fight the war and US could withdraw troops• Nixon increased bombing of North
Vietnam and Cambodia President Nixon and Henry Kissinger
• My Lai Massacre – US troops massacred ~200 South Vietnamese villagers• US invaded Cambodia to destroy
Communist Ho Chi Minh Trail• Many saw invasion as widening
of war – protests at Kent State University resulted in death of 4 students
Bodies of villagers at My Lai killed by US troops
• The Pentagon Papers Government documents leaked by
DOD worker Daniel Ellsberg Documents showed many in
Johnson administration questioned US involvement in Vietnam while publicly supporting it
Also showed government officials lied to the press and public
• Election of 1972 – Nixon won second term• Peace talks between US and North and
South Vietnam • Communists broke off talks – Nixon
conducted massive bombing of North Vietnam – Communists resumed talks
• US pulled combat troops out of Vietnam and promised continued military supply to South Vietnam
• North Vietnam invaded the South – US Congress refused to supply South Vietnam
• South Vietnam fell to Communists in April 1975
US helicopters evacuate US and select South Vietnamese personnel from Saigon as the city falls to the North Vietnamese Army
• Aftermath Vietnam War cost billions of dollars ~58,000 US deaths About one million Vietnamese deaths
(South and North) not including civilians Changed way US looked at war Congress passed War Powers Act –
President must inform Congress of troop commitment w/in 48 hours and withdraw troops w/in 60-90 days
US citizens more cynical about government ~250,000 South Vietnamese killed by
Communists after war About two million Vietnamese “boat
people” fled Vietnam