Explain why the United States
sent troops to fight in Vietnam
American Involvement Deepens
 Vietcong – formed by Ho Chi Minh to help reunify
Vietnam using armed struggle
 President Eisenhower increased American aid and
sent military advisors to South Vietnam (Ngo Dinh
Diem)
 Despite American assistance, Vietcong grew more
powerful
 Diem looked more increasingly for American support
Kennedy Takes Over
 Kennedy’s administration increased military aid and
sent more advisors to Vietnam.
 1961-1963: military personnel increased from 2,000 to
15,000
 American officials believed Vietcong continued to
grow because Diem’s government was unpopular and
corrupt.
 Diem introduced limited reforms that caused
resentment from many peasants
The Overthrow of Diem
 Diem, a Catholic, banned traditional Buddhist
practices
 In protest, a Buddhist monk set himself on fire
 Diem’s unpopularity led to several Vietnamese
generals to overthrow him
 With American sympathies, they launched a coup and
executed Diem in November 1963
 South Vietnamese government grew weak and unstable
Johnson and Vietnam
 “The battle against communism must be joined with
strength and determination.” – President Lyndon
Johnson
 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: August 7, 1964 – Johnson
claimed that the North Vietnamese led 2 unprovoked
attacks against American naval vessels
 Congress authorized the president to “take all necessary
measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of
the United States and to prevent further aggression”.
 What does this mean?
The United States Sends in Troops
 Following an attack on a base at Pleiku, resulting in 7
Americans dead and 100+ wounded – Johnson orders
an airstrike on North Vietnam
 Most military advisers believed that the U.S. had a
duty to halt communism in Vietnam.
 March 1965: policy involved a sustained bombing
campaign against North Vietnam
 Operation Rolling Thunder
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges
 End of 1965 – 180,000 American troops in Vietnam
 Vietcong used ambushes, booby traps, and guerrilla
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tactics – blended in with general population
American troops went on “search and destroy”
missions, dropped napalm to destroy the landscape,
and Agent Orange to turn farmland into wasteland
North Vietnam sent arms and supplies to the Vietcong
using the Ho Chi Minh trail entering Cambodia and
Laos
North Vietnam received support from China and USSR
Vietcong and North Vietnamese showed no sign of
surrender.