goal 11part 6 vietnam and american involvement 1965-1973 (75)
TRANSCRIPT
Goal 11Part 6
Vietnam and American Involvement
1965-1973 (75)
Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam
-COMMUNIST / Revolutionary leader of VietnamDuring WWII – Ho Chi Minh revolutionizes Vietnam
and formed the VIETMINH = Main Goal – Win independence from foreign rule!Success – Japan lost in WWII – Vietnam is FREE (Ho Chi Minh takes over)
Vietnam
U.S. Involvementin Vietnam Vietnam foreign Policy / Cold War
CONTAINMENT (Control Communism)
Eisenhower (1952 -1960)issued his idea of the DOMINO THEORY (1953) – countries on the brink of communism were like a row of dominos waiting to fall!
Geneva Accords
1954 – Allies meet in Geneva, Switzerland to come Up with peace agreementGeneva Accords – a temporary division of Vietnam on the 17th parallel (containment)North – Ho Chi Minh (Com)South – Ngo Dinh Diem (Dem)
*Elections were supposed to be held in 1954*Diem called them off – he knew he would lose to the
communist
Vietcong
1957, a Communist group in South VietnamHo Chi Minh LOVES this!!!!
- Ho Chi Minh TrailHo Chi Minh starts to send resources to the Vietcong along pathways via Laos & Cambodia (neighboring countries)
Purpose: help spread Communism
Problems with Diem(South Vietnam Leader)
Persecuted Buddhist *(attack on Religion is Democracy) Repressive Tactics with his people 1961 – American Coup assassinated Diem(Purpose: creates stability for South Vietnam)Coup D’etat: a sudden overthrow of a government in order
to replace it
Lyndon B. Johnson Takes Over ****Tonkin Gulf Resolution**
1964 – Pres. Lyndon B. JohnsonStory: North Vietnamese boat torpedoes
American destroyer, U.S.S. Maddox(patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin in North Vietnam) –
Torpedo missed and America FIRES BACK causing a lot of damage
Days later, a “supposed” attack from North Vietnam on the Maddox again!
* President LBJ was prompted to launch an attack on North Vietnam / LBJ asked Congress and its on!
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS!!!!!!!!!Congress agrees to support Johnson and the Vietnam WarA declaration of war on North Vietnam /
*Gave LBJ “broad” military powers in Vietnam*(these are limited powers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
***********Operation Rolling Thunder******************
VERY FIRST operation “attack” on North VietnamAfter Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Fighting in the Jungle
2 New “CHEMICAL” weapons used in Vietnam / Search and Destroy MissionsNapalm – a gasoline-based bomb
(set fire to jungle)
Agent Orange – leaf-killing toxic chemical
(3rd generation children – still affected today)
*Search-And-Destroy Missions*
Uprooting civilians suspected with ties
to Vietcong
“destroying the town, to save it”
Most Famous: My Lai Massacre
Great Society Suffers
$ from programs were used to pay for Vietnam / high taxes / high inflation
Living Room War – nickname for Vietnam*******Credibility Gap – growing between LBJ
and American people(LBJ would say one thing, and the American
people would see another)
A Divided Nation
New Left - growing “YOUTH” movement in the 1960s that demanded “sweeping” changes in America (LIBERAL)
Students for a Democratic Society – most famous New Left organization / focused on “proper” democracy in America and greater individual freedom!
(1) HAWKS (predator / anger) – support War in Vietnam(2) DOVES (prey / peace) – supports “Withdrawal” from
VietnamVIETNAM CAUSED MORE “STUDENT PROTESTS” THAN ANY OTHER WAR IN U.S. HISTORY
Tet Offensive (Turning Point in Vietnam)***Tet Offensive - surprise attacks on American Embassy in S. Vietnam (right when we though it was over)Tet Offensive = changed American “public”
opinion more than anything else in the Vietnam War*****
American people are fed up with Lyndon B. Johnson
1968 Presidential Election and America Lyndon B. Johnson DOES NOT run (PRESSURE) Popularity plummeted “Vietnam killed the lady I really loved….the Great
Society”- LBJ
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray
Robert KennedyBrother of John F. KennedyA Senator from New YorkStrong hopeful candidate for the PresidencyAssassinated by a Jordanian Immigrant (Sirhan Sirhan)
1968 Assassinations
1968 Presidential Election
Richard M. Nixon (Rep.) WINS Remember: LBJ decides NOT to run!!!!!
Nixon and “VIETNAMIZATION” 1969 – Nixon announced “Vietnamization” – the
“gradual” withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam
WHY? In order to allow South Vietnamese to take amore active role in the war (rebuild their own country)
“Peace with Honor”- Nixon and Henry Kissinger (National Security Advisor)- So…just like any politician…he lied!
Silent Majority
American people who DO NOT
express their opinions publicly
America during Vietnam War– 3 Sections
(1) Hawks
(2) Doves
(3) Silent Majority
My Lai Massacre
– American troops massacred innocent/ UNARMED civilians in the village of My Lai
“Kill anything that breathed”
Victims: 504 deaths
MOST FAMOUS
*Search & Destroy
Mission
Invasion of Cambodia
Nixon announced another invasion Why Cambodia? (Supplied Vietcong) Invasion of CambodiaFirst bombing – Nixon DID NOT tell Congress
Major Domestic reaction:LARGEST STUDENT PROTEST IN AMERICAN HISTORY
- 1,200 closed universities
Violence at Kent State(Caused by the invasion of Cambodia) Kent State
Massive Student Protest /
burnt down the ROTC building National Guard step in National Guard fire live
ammunition into the student
protesters Killed 4, injured 9
Violence at Kent State
26th Amendment
“Voting age is 18” – lowered from 21 to 18 - passed in response to student activism against the Vietnam War
(dividing the country)
Pentagon Papers
Pentagon Papers =
7,000 page document,
By Robert McNamara,
revealed that the American
government NEVER
intended to withdraw troops from
Vietnam!
American Reaction: ANGER toward government (Credibility gap widened)
1972 Presidential Election
Nixon is REELECTED!!!!! March 29, 1973 *The Vietnam War is OVER (U.S. involvement)
Result: North Vietnamese troops STAYED in South Vietnam
North Vietnam was still fighting South Vietnam without American help!
The Fall of Saigon / end of Vietnam War (1975) North Vietnam attacks South Vietnam and S.
Vietnam begs America to send troops (we don’t) but we do send resources!
New President , Gerald Ford, (Took over after Nixon’s Watergate Scandal)
North Vietnamese tanks took Saigon (S. Vietnam) – South Surrenders…Vietnam War in
over Containment didn’t work!
Legacy of Vietnam War
War Powers Act (1973)
- made the president inform Congress within 48 hours of sending forces into hostile areas
****LIMITED “PRESIDENTIAL” POWERS
(Caused by the first bombings of Cambodia)
Vietnam Poster
Create a poster that visually communicates a theme or time period of the Vietnam War
Purpose: To better understand a particular aspect of the war on its impact