The Vietnam War
• Please turn in your completed PSI to the box on the cart
and pick up Focus 32: The Vietnam War (2 handouts)
• Take out your SOL review packet – we will spend 10
minutes reviewing before SOL Review Quiz #3
• When you finish the quiz, quietly read the sample
response from our last unit test (Roaring 20’s essay) –
the graded test will be returned to you today
We will:
*take SOL Review Quiz #3
*distribute/discuss the last unit test
*analyze the causes and impact of the
Vietnam War
Reminders for Next Two Weeks
• Last SOL review quiz will be at the start of our next class
(Thursday for 3rd and 2nd, Friday for 4th) – different times!
• SOL Test in lab 231 on Monday, May 19. Report directly
to the lab and bring a book to read. You can’t use
electronic devices during testing even if you finish early.
• Last unit test and binder check on Friday, May 23.
• Capstone exhibits due in hard copy by Friday, May 30.
Bring a draft for me to review by May 23 if you wish.
• Boom, Bust, & Global unit test retake for eligible
students will be in class on Friday, May 30. You will
need to sign up for it by May 23.
Containment Failures: Cuba & Vietnam
• John F. Kennedy elected president in 1960; promised a more “hawkish”
approach to defense spending and dealing with the USSR
• Bay of Pigs operation (1961) failed to overthrow Castro and set the stage for
the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), in which the U.S. secured removal of Soviet
missiles from Cuba in exchange for a pledge to never again intervene in
Cuba against Castro; U.S. also removed missiles from Turkey
• U.S involvement in Vietnam and Laos escalated through the 1960s; JFK
ordered overthrow of President Diem in 1963; Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
gave President Johnson authority to send in U.S. combat troops to support
the South Vietnamese against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese
• By 1968, the U.S. had committed more than 500,000 troops to Southeast
Asia with no clear results; Tet Offensive proved that the U.S. was neither
winning nor losing in the Vietnam War (1965-73)
Focus 32: The Vietnam War
• After each video clip, be prepared to discuss and
complete the terms on the focus guide:
http://10.120.2.41/SAFARI/montage/dashboard/dashboard.php
Modern America, Nixon to 9/11
• Please take out your SOL review guide – we will take 10
minutes to review for our last SOL review quiz.
• When you finish the review quiz, turn it in to the box on
the cart and pick up the handouts. You can begin
working on the Modern America “quiz” using the notes
provided.
• Don’t forget to turn in your PSI on Civil Rights if you have
not already done so - May 21 is the last day for full credit
We will:
*take the last SOL review quiz
*explain how and why the Cold War ended
*identify and describe key events in U.S.
history from 1974 to 2009
SOL Test Reminders
• Report to lab 231 at the start of Monday’s
class – 3rd period goes to A lunch that day
• Bring a book to read or something to work
on quietly if you finish early
• No electronic devices
• Review your “quick guide” and the review
packet over the weekend – there are also
two released tests available on the
website (with answers)
Nixon, Kissinger, & Détente
The Nixon Administration (1969-74) took a
new approach to containment, sought
“peace with honor” in SE Asia:
1. Nixon Doctrine – increased reliance on
regional allies, such as South Vietnam
and Iran, designed to avoid committing
U.S. troops overseas
2. Détente – opening to China in 1972 led
to “triangular diplomacy” with the two
major communist powers
3. Escalation of the Vietnam War,
including the invasion of Cambodia
(1970) and increased bombing
campaigns designed to force the North
Vietnamese to negotiate a ceasefire;
achieved by January 1973
Triangular Diplomacy
President
Richard
Nixon
NSC
Advisor
Henry
United States Kissinger
U.S.-Soviet relations thawed
after China move;
led to major arms control
agreements, including SALT I
and the ABM Treaty (1972)
Détente
Soviet Union
U.S.-China opening in 1972
led to normalization of
relations with Beijing; played
the “China card”;
U.S. sacrificed formal
relations with Taiwan
China
Soviet-Chinese relations
Leonid
temporarily thawed after
Mao
Brezhnev ideological differences and
two brief border conflicts
Détente’s Shortcomings
• Withdrawal from Southeast Asia paved the
way for the collapse of South Vietnam and
Cambodia (1975) – Cambodians suffered
terribly under Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge
• The Soviets took advantage of détente to
broaden their influence in Afghanistan,
Africa (Ethiopia, Angola, & Mozambique)
and Central America (Nicaragua)
• While the U.S. and other Western powers
pressed for human rights (examples: 1975
Helsinki Accords and President Carter’s
policies, 1977-81), not much real progress
was made in the Eastern bloc
• The Iranian Revolution and the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan (1979) forced
Carter to adopt a more “hawkish” policy
and effectively scrapped SALT II
Reagan & the “Evil Empire”
• Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980
signaled a shift in American attitudes
towards the USSR – greater distrust and
a desire to rebuild the American military
• Military build-up aimed at achieving
conventional and nuclear parity and
forcing the Soviets into a costly arms
race; Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
led to astronomical cost projections
• Reagan Doctrine (1983) – expanded on
the Truman version by offering support
to rebel movements trying to overthrow
Marxist governments (ex: Contras in
Nicaragua, Mujahideen in Afghanistan)
• Invasion of Grenada (1983) was the first
successful use of American forces in
combat overseas since 1973
The Reagan View of the Cold War:
Good Guys vs. Bad Guys
The End of the Cold War
• Mikhail Gorbachev became Soviet
Secretary-General in 1985 after a
succession of old-line leaders died
• Gorbachev introduced glasnost (political
openness) and perestroika (economic
restructuring) to reform Soviet society
• Gorbachev-Reagan summits produced a
thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations and a series
of significant arms control agreements,
including the INF Treaty (1987) and the
START process
• Increasing pressures on the Eastern bloc
led to Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
(1988), collapse of East European
communist governments (1989), and
collapse of the USSR itself (1991)
Focus #33: Modern America “Quiz”
• Working with your table partner(s), answer
the assigned questions for the quiz and be
prepared to share them with the class.
• This activity will highlight key content
related to the SOL test for the era from the
1970s to the first decade of the 21st
century
#1: Women’s Liberation
• Inspired by the civil rights
movement, American women
became increasingly active in
campaigning for equal rights
• National Organization for
Women (NOW)
• Roe v. Wade (1973)
legalized abortion
• Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA) failed to get enough
support for ratification and
sparked
#’s 2 & 19: Watergate
• In 1972, five burglars broke into
Democratic Party HQ at DC’s
Watergate complex
• Nixon ordered a cover-up of the
burglars’ White House connections
• Nixon refused to cooperate with
court orders and Congress; the
Supreme Court finally ordered him to
turn over audio tapes
• He resigned in August 1974 rather
than face certain impeachment
• President Ford later pardoned Nixon
for any and all crimes
#3: Camp David Accords
• President Carter
negotiated the first
major Middle East
peace agreement
between Israel and
Egypt in 1978
• The agreement paved
the way for other
agreements between
Israel and Arab states
but did not resolve the
Palestinian issue
#4: Three Mile Island
• In 1978, the Three Mile
Island nuclear reactor
near Harrisburg, PA
almost experienced a
meltdown
• The incident raised
concerns about future use
of nuclear power and
fueled the environmental
movement, which
demanded cleaner and
safer energy
# 5: Iran Hostage Crisis
• Islamic fundamentalists
overthrew the Shah of
Iran (a U.S. ally) in
early 1979
• Iranian students took
over the U.S. embassy
in Tehran and took over
50 Americans hostage
• The crisis lasted 444
days and hurt Carter’s
chances of re-election
in 1980
#6: Reagan Revolution
• President Reagan (19811989) pledged to reduce
taxes and limit regulation
• His policies promoted free
enterprise and an economic
boom but were controversial
because of the negative
impact on poorer citizens
• This was the first serious
effort to change course from
New Deal and Great Society
policies that expanded govt.
#7: Female Firsts
• More women entered the
workplace by the 1980s but
still receive lower wages
than men on average
• Women had to break
through the “glass ceiling”
in business and govt.
• Sandra Day O’Connor –
first female SC justice
• Sally Ride – first American
woman in space
#8, 9, & 10: Reagan and the
Cold War
Reagan took a hard line
on relations with the
USSR:
• Reagan Doctrine
• SDI (“Star Wars”)
By the late 1980s,
relations improved, led to
arms control (INF Treaty)
and the collapse of
communism in Eastern
Europe & the USSR
#11: Panama and Desert Storm
• President George H.W.
Bush (1989-93) asserted
American power by
invading Panama (1989)
and liberating Kuwait in
Operation Desert Storm
(1991)
• Despite managing the end
of the Cold War, he lost reelection to Clinton in 1992
because of a recession
#’s 12 & 15: President Clinton
• President Clinton
focused on domestic
and economic issues in
the 1990s
• Negotiated NAFTA with
Canada and Mexico in
1994
• He was impeached for
“unbecoming conduct”
in 1998 but survived the
Senate trial
#13: New Immigration
• The Immigration Act of
1965 opened the way
for more immigration
from a broader area of
the world
• More immigrants
arrived from Asia and
Latin America leading
to greater diversity
• By 2050, the U.S. will
not have a “majority”
population
#14: Information Revolution
• By the 1990s, new
technologies emerged
that revolutionized
daily life and work:
-- Personal computers
-- Cell phones
-- Internet
#’s 16 & 17: 9-11 and After
• President George W. Bush
launched the “War on
Terrorism” after the attacks
on September 11, 2001
• The U.S. intervened in
Afghanistan and Iraq
(longer than Vietnam War)
• Patriot Act of 2001 sought
to expand security but at
the cost of raising civil
liberties concerns (TSA,
interrogations, surveillance)