Chapter 29 The Vietnam War Era
“How did the United States
confront communism in East Asia
after the Korean War?”
Standards
Element: SSUSH20.d
Describe the Vietnam War, the Tet offensive, and growing
opposition to the war.
Element: SSUSH24.c
Analyze the anti-Vietnam War movement.
Origins of the Vietnam War
Section 1
• “Why did the U.S. become involved
in Vietnam?”
• Vocabulary:
-Ho Chi Minh
SEATO
-domino theory
Vietcong
-Dien Bien Phu
-Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Questions to Ponder
• What background events led up to the
war between North and South Vietnam?
• What were the Vietnam policies of
President Kennedy and Robert
McNamara, the Secretary of Defense?
• How did President Johnson change the
course of the war?
Origins of the Vietnam War
America and the War in Indochina
Main Idea: Hoping to stop the spread of communism, the United States
provided aid to France during its battle against communists in Vietnam.
America Opposes Communism in Vietnam
Main Idea: After Vietnam was divided the United States provided
support to South Vietnam. Kennedy’s election increased the
aggressiveness of this aid.
Johnson Leads the Nation Into War
Main Idea: After an American destroyer was fired upon by the North
Vietnamese, President Johnson received Congressional approval to send
U.S. troops to Vietnam without an actual declaration of war.
Transparency
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Summarize
Vietnam
History of Viet Nam
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China subjugated Vietnam for 1000 years
In 939 – China was defeated
French colonized in 1884
Seized by Japanese in WW II
French returned after war
U.S. contributed $2.6 billion to help France
defeat Ho Chi Minh
• French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954
American Involvement
• 1954, Vietnam divided into
North and South
• Ho Chi Minh, a communist,
controlled the North
• Ngo Dinh Diem controlled the
South
• Domino theory
• Kennedy increased U.S.
advisors
• Diem assassinated in Nov. 2,
1963.
• Kennedy assassinated in Nov.
22,1963
Buddhist Priest Protests Diem
Leaders of the North and South
Ho Chi Minh
Ngo Dinh Diem
Lyndon Johnson Leads Nation
into War
• Robert McNamara – Secretary of Defense
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – August, 1964 gave
Johnson control over U.S. actions in Vietnam
• Johnson escalated American troops to over ½
million by 1968
• Tet Offensive, Jan. 30, 1968. Viet Cong
defeated, but turning point in American
support for war
U.S. Involvement Grows
Section 2
• “What were the causes and effects of
America’s growing involvement in
the Vietnam War?”
• Vocabulary:
-William Westmoreland
-napalm
hawk
dove
The Brutality of the War
U.S. Involvement Grows
“Americanizing” the War
Main Idea: The U.S. increased the number of troops in Vietnam and
used intense bombing, but the North Vietnamese continued to fight
using tactics the Americans were not used to, creating a long and
costly war.
Patriotism, Heroism, and Sinking Morale
Main Idea: The North Vietnamese often forced smaller jungle battles
at night to increase their odds of winning, eventually causing the
American troops’ strong morale to weaken.
Doubt Grows on the Home Front
Main Idea: Slow progress in Vietnam led to doubt in the United
States, strains on the economy, and an antiwar movement.
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Identify Supporting Details
Leaders and Weapons
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Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
General William Westmoreland
Both wanted to increase American troops
6 million tons of bombs
Napalm – jellied gasoline
Agent Orange
Helicopter war
Enemy used guerrilla tactics – Ho Chi
Minh Trail to move supplies
Battlefield Conditions
• South Vietnamese were indifferent
• Jungle fighting in elephant grass and rice
paddies
• Leeches, fever, jungle rot, malaria, liver fluke
• Viet Cong used tunnels, punji stakes, snares
• Many civilian deaths from both sides
• Agent orange, saturation bombing, napalm
Doubt Grows on the Home
Front
• War weakens the economy
-Great Society program was expensive
• Rising prices and inflation
• Antiwar movement emerged
• Hawks supported Johnson’s war policy
• Doves opposed his policy
• Senator J. William Fulbright believed that
it was a civil war, not a Cold War conflict
The War Divides America
Section 3
• “How did the American war effort in
Vietnam lead to rising protests and
social divisions back home?”
• Vocabulary:
-draftee
Tet Offensive
-”Credibility gap” Eugene McCarthy
-Robert Kennedy
-Students for a Democratic Society
The War Divides America
Antiwar Protests Increase
Main Idea: The use of the draft increased the opposition to the war, first
on college campuses, but soon in other areas of the country as well.
Tet Offensive Is the Turning Point
Main Idea: The communist forces’ surprise attack called the Tet
Offensive lessened the confidence of American leaders, despite the fact
that the U.S troops had prevented the communist forces from achieving
their goals.
Violence Rocks 1968 Presidential Race
Main Idea: 1968 was marked by the assassinations of Martin Luther
King, Jr. and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, violent protests at
the Democratic Convention in Chicago, and Richard Nixon’s election as
President.
Antiwar Protests Increase
• Draft becomes unpopular – deferments
were given to college students and men in
certain occupations
• Activism spreads on college campuses
-Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
• Students clash with authorities
• “Credibility gap” Americans began to
distrust the Johnson administration
New Left
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Free Speech Movement
University of California at Berkeley
Teach-in Movement
University of Michigan
Conscientious objectors
Deferment
Columbia University in New York City
Weathermen - violence
Student Protest
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Recognize Sequence
TRANSPARENCY
Political Cartoons: Conflict on the Home Front
Tet Offensive
• Attack by North Vietnamese Army on
positions all over South Vietnam
• American and South Vietnamese forces
repelled the offensive, but it showed that
the war would not be easily won
• Many Americans turned against the war
• Johnson decided to not seek reelection in
1968
Election of 1968
• Democratic candidate - Hubert Humphrey;
Robert Kennedy was running, but was
assassinated in a hotel on June 5, 1968
• Republican candidate – Richard Nixon
• Protesters disrupt the Chicago Democratic
Convention; Chicago used police to beat
activists
• Nixon wins the election, promising “peace
with honor” in Vietnam
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COMPARING
VIEWPOINTS
Can the United States Win the War in Vietnam?
TRANSPARENCY
Rising U.S. Involvement in Vietnam
ANALYZE
Political Cartoons: The Opposing Forces
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ANALYZE
Political Cartoons: The Bombing Campaign
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The War’s End and Impact
Section 4
• How did the Vietnam War end and
what were its lasting effects?
• Vocabulary:
-Vietnamization
-Kent State University
-Paris Peace Accords
Pentagon Papers
My Lai
War Powers Act
The War’s End and Impact
Nixon Starts the Pullout
Main Idea: Formal peace talks between North and South Vietnam stalled, but
Nixon started a gradual pullout of American troops from Vietnam.
Troubles on the Home Front Intensify
Main Idea: News of further violence in Vietnam increased the protests in the
United States, and the anti war movement led to counter protests in support of
Nixon.
The War Finally Ends
Main Idea: In 1972, a peace settlement was finally agreed to and the last
American troops came home from Vietnam, but fighting within the country
continued.
The Vietnam War Has a Lasting Impact
Main Idea: The years of fighting had an impact on the Vietnam region itself,
veterans, domestic and foreign policy, and the public’s trust in the U.S.
government.
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Compare and Contrast
Nixon Starts the Pullout
• Peace talks stall
• Vietnamization – U.S. forces withdraw as
ARVN troops assumed more combat
duties
• Bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in
Cambodia
• Americans attacked Cambodia
• Stirred antiwar activitists
CHART
U.S. Military Personnel in Vietnam
TRANSPARENCY
Protesting the Vietnam War
Kent State
Protest over Cambodian
incursion
• National Guard fired on
crowd, killing four
students
• Demonstrations on other
campuses
• Thousands demonstrated
in support of Nixon
My Lai Massacre
• Lt. William Calley, Jr.
• Villagers slain by Americans
• Hugh Thompson, helicopter pilot stopped
killing
Pentagon Papers
• 1971 publication of Pentagon Papers,
which were classified government history
of American involvement in Vietnam
• Revealed that the government did not fully
inform the American people and
occasionally lied to Congress
American Troops Leave
Vietnam
• October 1972, U.S. and North Vietnam
came to terms.
• South Vietnam refused to sign
• Americans bombed North Vietnam and in
January, 1973 Paris Peace Accords were
signed
• 550 POWs returned, including John
McCain
• 1975, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese
The End of the War
MAP
French Indochina
TRANSPARENCY
The Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Recognize Effects
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Nixon and the Cold War
Section 5
• “How did Richard Nixon change Cold
War diplomacy during his
presidency?”
• Vocabulary:
-Henry Kissinger
realpolitik
-Zhou Enlai
détente
-Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
Nixon and the Cold War
Nixon Redefines American Foreign Policy
Main Idea: While in office, Richard Nixon changed the way the United
States looked at the world and developed new, less abstract, ideological
approaches to the Cold War.
Playing the China Card
Main Idea: Nixon reached out to communist China and successfully
developed diplomatic relations with the country that had previously been
unrecognized by the United States.
Détente With the Soviet Union
Main Idea: Nixon visited the Soviet Union, where the two countries
made steps toward agreements that would help reduce tensions between
them.
Nixon Redefines American
Foreign Policy
• Henry Kissinger was Nixon’s advisor
• Realpolitik – “real politics” means political
goals should be defined by national
interests not ideologies
• Nixon recognized Communist China and
traveled to China to met Premier Zhou
Enlai and Mao Zedong
• Increased trade
Détente with the Soviet Union
• Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev invited
Nixon to Moscow
• Signed the Strategic Arms Limitation
Treaty, SALT I; it froze the deployment of
ICBMs and placed limits on antiballistic
missiles
• Nixon’s strategy was to be more flexible
toward communism and be more
pragmatic toward foreign policy
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Categorize
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TRANSPARENCY
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