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Kennedy and Foreign Policy

The Big Idea

The United States confronted Communist nations in Cold War conflicts around the world.

Main Ideas

• President Kennedy confronted Communist threats around the world.

• The United States and the Soviet Union raced to send a person to the moon.

• The Cold War conflict in Vietnam led the United States into war.

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Main Idea 1: President Kennedy confronted Communist

threats around the world.

• President Kennedy was committed to stopping the spread of communism worldwide.

– Maintained strong military forces

– Expanded nation’s supply of nuclear weapons

– Through Alliance for Progress program, pledged $20 billion in aid to Latin American countries

– Developed the Peace Corps, which in 1961 started sending volunteers to developing countries to help with projects such as digging wells and building schools

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Bay of PigsBay of Pigs

• Cuban rebel Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government and established a Communist state.

• Proximity of Cuba worried Americans.

• Kennedy approved CIA operation to remove Castro from power.

• April 17, 1961– About 1,500 Cuban exiles landed by boat at Cuba’s Bay of Pigs but the invasion failed.

• Kennedy faced criticism for the disastrous invasion.

Military Confrontations

The Berlin WallThe Berlin Wall

• Many East Germans fled to democratic West Germany.

• Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev demanded that the border be closed and threatened war.

• August 13, 1961– East German government began building the Berlin Wall, a barrier of concrete and barbed wire between East and West Berlin.

• Wall became symbol of the Cold War.

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The Cuban Missile Crisis• In October 1962, American spy planes discovered Soviets

installing nuclear missiles in Cuba.– If launched, missiles could reach American cities in minutes.

• Kennedy demanded removal of the missiles.

• U.S. Navy formed a blockade around Cuba to prevent Soviet ships from bringing more weapons.

• Soviet ships turned back, ending the Cuban missile crisis.

• Effects– Soviets later agreed to remove missiles from Cuba.

– Kennedy promised not to invade Cuba and to remove some missiles in Turkey and Italy.

– United States and Soviet Union set up a telephone “hotline” so leaders could talk directly to each other at a moment’s notice.

– United States and Soviet Union signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which banned the testing of new nuclear weapons aboveground.

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Main Idea 2: The United States and the Soviet Union raced

to send a person to the moon.

• The space race, competition between the United States and Soviet Union to explore space, heated up in the 1960s.

– April 1961– Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin became first person in space.

– May 1961– Alan Shepard Jr. became first U.S. astronaut in space.

– 1962– John Glenn became first American to orbit Earth.

• 1961– Kennedy outlined bold plan to Congress to land first man on the moon.

– Congress provided NASA with billions of dollars of funding.

– Began work on Project Apollo

• July 20, 1969– American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became first people to walk on moon.

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Main Idea 3: The Cold War conflict in Vietnam led the

United States into war.

• Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh fought the French for control of Vietnam.

• Presidents Truman and Eisenhower supported France with military aid – Concerned that Vietminh victory would lead to spread of communism in

Asia

– Feared domino theory– that if one country became Communist, nearby countries would follow

• In July 1954, French and Vietnamese leaders agreed to Geneva Accords.– Temporary division of Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam

– Called for democratic elections in July 1956 to unite the two countries under one government

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North VietnamNorth Vietnam

• Communist state led by Ho Chi Minh

• Introduced land redistribution plan and thousands killed and imprisoned during process

• Funded and supplied Communist guerilla forces, called the Vietcong, for South Vietnam’s NLF

North and South Vietnam

South VietnamSouth Vietnam

• Western-style government led by Ngo Dinh Diem, supported by United States

• Poor leadership resulted in many problems.

• Growing numbers of South Vietnamese began to support Ho Chi Minh and Vietminh.

• Diem refused to allow South Vietnam to participate in elections.

• Diem‘s opponents form National Liberation Front (NLF) and began fighting against Diem’s government in late 1950s.

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American Involvement in Vietnam

• Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy sent military advisers and special forces to South Vietnam.– U.S. military accompanied South Vietnamese army on combat

missions.

– By 1963 about 16,000 U.S. military personnel were serving in Vietnam.

• Diem became more and more unpopular– Would not hold elections

– Ordered troops to fire on Buddhist demonstrators

– Opponents began to consider violence as only option.

• In November 1963 a group of South Vietnamese army offices seized power and killed Diem.

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Escalation in Vietnam

The Big Idea

Johnson quickly expanded U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but American soldiers faced a determined enemy.

Main Ideas

• President Johnson committed the United States to victory in Vietnam by expanding U.S. involvement.

• American soldiers faced new challenges fighting the Vietnam War.

• The Tet Offensive was an important turning point in the war.

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Main Idea 1:President Johnson committed the United

States to victory in Vietnam by expanding U.S. involvement.

• August 1964– North Vietnamese torpedo boats are reported to have attacked U.S. ships.

• President Johnson saw actions as act of war.• Congress passed Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving president authority “to take

all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States.”

• First U.S. combat troops sent to South Vietnam in March 1965

• Operation Rolling Thunder, a series of air strikes, targets North Vietnam war industries and attempts to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a North Vietnamese supply route.

• By late 1968 more than a million tons of explosives had been dropped on North and South Vietnam.

Johnson Takes Action

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

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Main Idea 2: American soldiers faced new challenges

fighting the Vietnam War.

• President Johnson pursued policy of escalation, or increased involvement, in the war.

– By 1968 more than 500,000 American troops were serving in Vietnam.

• General William Westmoreland commanded U.S. ground forces.

– Used strategy based on search-and-destroy missions, where U.S. patrols searched for enemy camps, then destroyed them with massive firepower and air raids

• War was fought in jungles and villages of South Vietnam.

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Challenges of War

• Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army were challenging opponents.

– Used their knowledge of region and guerilla warfare tactics

– Continual supply of troops at the ready

– Received weapons and supplies from Soviet Union and Communist China

• Civilians of South Vietnam were often caught in the middle of fighting.

– Vietcong killed people they believed were cooperating with the South Vietnamese government.

– U.S. and South Vietnamese forces attacked villages they suspected of assisting the Vietcong, undermining the U.S. goal of winning support and loyalty from the South Vietnamese.

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Soldiers in Vietnam

• American troops faced harsh conditions.– Carried 70-90 pounds of equipment in 100-degree heat

and rainstorms– Never knew when they might encounter enemy fire– Danger of land mines and booby traps– Rarely able to control captured territories for very long

• More than 2 million American soldiers served in Vietnam.– Average age was 18-21– One-quarter of them were drafted, many from minority

groups and poor families.

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Main Idea 3:The Tet Offensive was an important turning

point in the war.• January 30, 1968 was Vietnamese New Year, called Tet.

– In previous years, a cease-fire halted fighting on this holiday.

• Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces launched the Tet Offensive.

– Surprise attacks all over South Vietnam

– Attacked U.S. Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam’s capital

– Showed that they were still strong and determined

• Attack was successfully fought off by American and South Vietnamese forces but they were shocked by the size and force of the offensive.

• February 1968– President Johnson denied the military’s request for more troops.

– American support for the war was dropping.

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On the Homefront

• Television reports had important impact on public opinion.

– Americans could see the action.

– People were shocked by the brutality of war.

• Public opinion on the war was split.

– Supporters of the war, hawks, called for increased military spending.

– Opponents of the war, doves, believed that the war was draining money that should be spent at home.

• On March 16, 1968, a company of U.S. soldiers massacred hundreds of unarmed people in the village of My Lai.

• The My Lai massacre caused many more Americans to question U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

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The End of the War

The Big Idea

Growing antiwar feelings in the United States helped convince the government to end U.S. involvement in the

Vietnam War.

Main Ideas

• Opinions about the Vietnam War divided American society in the 1960s.

• The war under Nixon expanded from Vietnam to Laos and Cambodia.

• The Vietnam War ended in 1973, but it had lasting effects on Vietnam and the United States.

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Main Idea 1: Opinions about the Vietnam War divided

American society in the 1960s.• Growing numbers of Americans began to criticize the war.

• College students often took the lead in organizing antiwar protests.

– One active group was Students for a Democratic Society.

– By end of 1968, 75 percent of college campuses had been sites for antiwar demonstrations.

• Some Americans held demonstrations in support of the war.

• Some young Americans developed a counterculture– a culture with its own values and ways of behaving.

– Members of this counterculture were called hippies.

– Emphasized individual freedom, nonviolence, and communal sharing

– Expressed rejection of traditional society by growing long hair and wearing unusual clothes

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Election of 1968

• President Johnson decided not to run for another term of office.

• Several others campaigned for Democratic nomination.

– Vice President Hubert Humphrey

– Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York

• Violence broke out at Democratic convention after police tried to stop antiwar demonstrations.

– Damaged chances of Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic nominee, of winning the election

• Republican nominee was Richard M. Nixon.

– Promised to restore order to society and bring “peace with honor” to Vietnam

• Richard Nixon won the 1968 presidential election.

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Main Idea 2:The war under Nixon expanded from Vietnam

to Laos and Cambodia.

• With his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, Nixon created a plan to pull U.S. troops form Vietnam and have the South Vietnamese Army take over all the fighting.

• Strategy called Vietnamization• Withdrawal of American troops began

• Nixon, without knowledge of Congress or American public, approved bombing raids on Cambodia and Laos to disrupt Vietcong supply lines.

• On April 30, 1970, Nixon announced that U.S. troops were sent into Cambodia to attack Communist bases.

• Nixon seemed to be expanding the war.

Cambodia and Laos

Nixon’s Plan

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1972 Election

• Student protests erupted all over the nation.

• In June 1971 the Pentagon Papers were published.

– Revealed that for years, U.S. officials had been lying to the American public about war’s progress

– Intensified antiwar feelings

• Twenty-sixth Amendment ratified in 1971

– Lowered voting age from 21 to 18

• Democratic candidate George McGovern tried to appeal to young voters.

• Majority of voters over 21 supported Nixon.

• Richard Nixon won presidential election by a landslide.

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Main Idea 3:The Vietnam War ended in 1973, but it had lasting effects on Vietnam and the United

States.

• On January 27, 1973, the United States signed a cease-fire called the Paris Peace Accords.

– Agreement between United States, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the Vietcong

– United States agreed to withdrawal of all troops.

– North Vietnam agreed to return all American prisoners of war.

• Despite the peace agreement, fighting broke out between North and South Vietnam in 1974.

– United States refused to send troops back to South Vietnam.

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Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia

• 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war.

• 1 million North Vietnamese and Vietcong solders were killed.

• An estimated 2 million civilians killed

• North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon in April 1975, and Communist leaders created the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

• Communist dictators took over Laos and Cambodia.

Impact of Vietnam War

United StatesUnited States

• Some 58,000 Americans were killed in the war.

• More than 300,000 Americans were wounded.

• Returning American soldiers were not always welcomed home and many suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

• War Powers Act passed in 1973, requiring president to get Congressional approval before committing U.S. troops to armed struggle

• Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated in 1982