A Split Country
Antiwar Movement-Americans doubted the gov’t
-William Westmoreland- US commander
in S. Vietnam-enemy is on the brink of
defeat
Antiwar Movement-TV showed otherwise
-credibility gap- hard to believe what the Johnson administration was saying about the war
-argued Vietnam was not strategically important
Teach-ins-students abandon their classes to discuss issues surrounding the Vietnam War
-May 1965- 100,000 antiwar demonstrations
Anger Over the Draft-not fair bc of college deferment-civil rights-many fled-500,000 refused to go = burn draft cards-18 could not vote-tons of protests
Hawks & Doves-by 1968- nation divided
Hawks- escalate the war in Vietnam
Doves- withdraw from Vietnam
1968: Pivotal Year-Tet Offensive- turning point of the war
-Vietcong attack all major US air bases
and major cities in S. Vietnam-strategic disaster for Vietcong -
almost destroyed
1968: Pivotal Year-Americans doubted what Westmoreland was saying
-Americans no longer support
Johnson Leaves the Race-Democrats nominate Eugene McCArthy for the 1968 election
-RFK joins the race too
-Democrats divided = Johnson leaves the race
A Season of Violence-MLK was assassinated
-James Earl Ray-RFK was assassinated
-Sirhan SirhanGeorge Wallace
-assassination attempt
Nixon Wins the Election-Nixon promised to end the war & restore order at home
-Nixon wins the 1968 election (finally)
The War Comes to an End
Nixon Ends the War (Kinda)Vietnamization- slowly reduce the
troops in Vietnam while training S.Vietnam army to continue the fighting
-secretly Nixon bombs Cambodia
-Henry Kissenger- Peace negotations with N. & S. Vietnam
Turmoil at Home -My Lai Massacre- spring 1968, under command of Lieutenant William Calley- massacred a village on unarmed S. Vietnamese civilians
-Calley goes to jail
-made Americans think the war was brutal and senseless
Cambodia Sparks Protest-US invaded Cambodia to destroy Vietcong bases there-US thinks gov’t expanding war-Congress gets mad bc they did not know of invasion = repeal Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
-sparks protest - Kent State - soldiers killed 4 students
Pentagon Papers-defense dept. worker leaked top secret info about the Vietnam War and the Johnson administration
-showed the gov’t was not being honest
The US Pulls Out-peace negotiations failed between N. Vietnam and N. Vietnam
-Christmas Bombing- US dropped thousands of tons of bombs on N. Vietnam for 11 days
The US Pulls Out-negotiations start again -S. Vietnam agree to leave N. Vietnam troops in S. - independent-January 27, 1973 - peace agreement signed ending the war
South Vietnam Falls-March 1975 N. Vietnam launched a full scale invasion of S. Vietnam
-US does not respond
-April 30, 1975- Saigon was taken over and Vietnam - communist
The Legacy of Vietnam-War Powers Act- inform Congress on any commitment of troops abroad within 48hrs and withdraw 60-90 days
-Cold War shift - Containment -> Negotiation
The Legacy of Vietnam-58,000 Americans K.I.A-cost US $170 billion -300,000 were injured