26.1 – GOING TO WAR IN VIETNAM
• French Indochina – French colonial area including
Vietnam, Laos, and
Cambodia
• Ho Chi Minh – leader of the Vietnamese nationalist movement
• Presented a petition of independence at the 1919
Versailles Peace
Conference; it was ignored
Ho Chi Minh

26.1 – GOING TO WAR IN VIETNAM
• 1930s – HCM founded the Indochinese
Communist Party
• Worked to overthrow
French rule
• 1940s:
- HCM organized the
Vietminh to expel the
Japanese
- French returned to claim control after WWII; fought the Vietminh
- U.S. (Truman) decided to aid French forces against the Vietminh (why?)

26.1 – DIEN BIEN PHU
• Vietminh used guerilla tactics to frustrate the French
• 1954 – VM forces surrounded the French at DBP and eventually the French were forced to withdraw from
Indochina

26.1 – GENEVA ACCORDS
• The agreement to end the conflict:
• Divided Vietnam along the 17 th parallel
• North Vietnam – controlled by Ho Chi
Minh and the Vietminh
• South Vietnam – pro-Western regime
(led by Ngo Dinh Diem; allied with the U.S.)
• 1956 – election to be held to reunite the country; Diem refused to allow them to take place
Ngo Dinh Diem

26.1 – AMERICA GETS MORE INVOLVED
• Ho Chi Minh reacted by starting an armed struggle to reunited the country
• he created the Vietcong
(guerrilla army of South
Vietnamese communists)
• Ike sent hundreds of U.S. military advisers to train
South Vietnam’s army
• Diem continued to look to the U.S. for more aid

26.1 – JFK TAKES OVER
• JFK continued
Truman/Ike’s policy of supporting South
Vietnam
• He increased the # of
American military personnel in South
Vietnam by almost
15,000
• He also urged Diem to: a. create a more democratic gov’t in the
South b. Help the peasants c. Use strategic hamlets (failure)

26.1 – OVERTHROW OF DIEM
• Diem discriminated against Buddhists; further increased his unpopularity
• Nov. 1, 1963 – a coup overthrew and executed Diem
• Actually made things worse; chaotic situation
• U.S. became more involved in an effort to prop up the South
Vietnamese gov’t

26.1 – LBJ & VIETNAM
• Initially wanted a “limited” war to prevent the spread of communism
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• LBJ announced that the N.
Vietnamese attacked U.S. ships
(Aug. 1964)
• Aug. 7 – Congress passed the resolution, which gave LBJ the authority to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the
United States and to prevent further aggression”
• LBJ basically had war powers

26.1 – LBJ & VIETNAM
• Reacting to increased attacks by the VC, LBJ authorized the bombing of N.
Vietnam (1965)
• March 1965
• LBJ launches
Operation Rolling
Thunder against
North Vietnam
• LBJ sends in the first
combat troops into
South Vietnam

26.1 – WAR BECOMES A STALEMATE
• By the end of 1966 there were almost
400,000 American troops in Vietnam
• VC fought back with ambushes, booby traps, mixed in with the locals, used tunnels….guerrilla tactics
• U.S. countered with
“search and destroy” missions, napalm,
Agent Orange

26.1 – HO CHI MINH TRAIL
• N. Vietnam sent supplies and troops to the VC in the South by way of the Ho Chi Minh Trail
• Wound through Laos and
Cambodia
• LBJ did not attack the trail or North
Vietnam(why not?)
• Failed war of attrition as a result?
• By the end of 1966 more than 6,700
Americans were dead and citizens seriously questioned the war

26.2 – VIETNAM DIVIDES THE NATION
• Spring of 1965 – American troops first enter the war under LBJ and public support for American policies in Vietnam is high (66%)
• As casualties climbed and progress seemed lacking many
Americans began questioning the war
• Media reports contradicted reports by General Westmoreland
• Credibility gap?
• Congress began having doubts
• Walter Cronkite report

26.2 – NATION DIVIDED
TEACH-INS
• March, 1965 – students and teachers discussed the war and reasons they opposed it
• National Teach-In Day – May 1965; 122 colleges; by radio for more than 100,000 antiwar demonstrators
• Why did they oppose it? Many reasons: a.
Civil War that was not America’s business b.
S. Vietnam had a corrupt gov’t and therefore did not deserve to be defended/supported

26.2 – NATION DIVIDED
DRAFT
• Prior to 1969 college students could defer until graduation
• Socioeconomic effect of this?
- If we can fight, why can’t we vote? (26 th amendment)
- as more became eligible for the draft, more and more draftees refused to go
- What did they do?
• Majority of soldiers were actually volunteers (why volunteer?)
• Disproportionate number of volunteers were working-class
• African-Americans
• Unfair treatment?
• Disproportionate death rate?

26.2 – NATION DIVIDED
PROTESTS
• Protests took many forms, not just limited to college campuses
• Public rallies in many towns and cities
• Ex. Students for a
Democratic Society (SDS) organized a march on
Washington, D.C.

ADMINISTRATION
JKF
JKF
JFK
LBJ
LBJ
LBJ
LBJ
LBJ
NIXON
NIXON
NIXON
NIXON
DATE
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
MILITARY FORCES, TOTAL
3,200
11,300
16,300
23,300
184,300
385,300
485,600
536,100
475,200
334,600
156,800
24,200

26.2 – NATION DIVIDED
HAWKS
• Early 1968 poll – 53% of
Americans favored stronger military action; 24% wanted an end to the war
DOVES
• Wanted the U.S. to withdraw from Vietnam; end the war
• Hawks believed America should stay and continue to fight

26.2 – 1968
• Major events took place during this dramatic year:
1. January – Tet Offensive – victory and defeat at the same time?
2. March – LBJ announced he would not seek reelection
3. Assassinations of MLK and RFK
4. Riots between antiwar protestors and the police
5. Nixon wins the presidential election

LINCOLN BY JOHN WILKES BOOTH IN 1865

GARFIELD BY CHARLES J. GUITEAU IN 1881

MALCOLM X BY THOMAS HAGAN IN 1965

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. IN 1968 BY
JAMES EARL RAY

ROBERT F. KENNEDY BY SIRHAN SIRHAN IN
1968

1968 – YEAR IN REVIEW POSTER
TOPICS
1. Tet Offensive
2. LBJ announcement
3. Assassinations of MLK and RFK
4. Nixon elected
MUST HAVES
1. Title (same as this slide)
2. Headings (the 5 topics)
3. At least 1 picture for each topic
4. Caption for each picture that explains the significance of the picture

26.3 – THE WAR WINDS DOWN
• Steps taken by Nixon once in office:
1.
Appoints Henry Kissinger and approves the policy of linkage
What was linkage?
Who was Le Duc Tho?
2.
Vietnamization – gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces as South Vietnam took on more fighting
3.
Increased bombing of North Vietnam
4.
Secretly bombed Vietcong bases in
Cambodia and sends troops into
Cambodia
Richard Nixon

26.3 – TURMOIL AT HOME
• Nixon’s policies, and events in the war, created more division and debate at home
• Massacre at My Lai (1968)
• American platoon killed unarmed civilians in the hamlet of My Lai
• Led many more Americans to call for an end to the war; became a symbol/rallying cry of doves
• PBS vid
• PBS pictures
• Massacre at Hue

26.3 – TURMOIL AT HOME
• Invasion of Cambodia (1970)
• U.S. invades; leads to many protests at home
• Protestors saw this as a “widening” of the war (U.Streaming vid)
• Kent State University (May 4, 1970)
• Ohio Nat’l Guard was called in and fired on demonstrators; 4 students were killed
• 2 days later two African-American student demonstrators were killed in
Mississippi
• Ohio song and vid
• CCR Fortunate Sone
• Billy Joel Goodnight Saigon

26.3 – TURMOIL AT HOME
• Pentagon Papers (1971)
• Documents leaked to the NYT that showed: a. Some in the admin. doubted the war while defending it b. Abuse of power c. Misleading of the public
---big picture – was the gov’t being dishonest about the war?

26.3 – U.S. LEAVES VIETNAM
• April 1972 – Nixon dropped the major demand on NV
(what was it?)
• Nguyen Van Thieu – the president of SV would not agree at first, he eventually did
• January 27, 1973
• Agreement ending the war is signed
• American troops leave
Vietnam
• The war is over for America, but not for the Vietnamese
Nguyen Van Thieu

26.3 – SOUTH VIETNAM FALLS
• Peace agreement collapsed in 1975
• Congress refused to give
Ford authority to aid SV
• April 30, 1975 – SV’s capital city of Saigon fell; renamed Ho Chi
Minh City – the war is over
Gerald Ford – President after
Nixon (R)

26.3 – LEGACY OF VIETNAM
• About 58,000 died; over
300,000 injured (U.S.)
• About 1 million
Vietnamese died
• Cost about $170 billion for the United States

26.3 – LEGACY OF VIETNAM - SOLDIERS
• Psychological trauma; dealing with it when home
• War was seen as a loss
• Poor treatment of returning soldiers
• Few parades, celebrations, Many
POWs (prisoners of war) and MIA (missing in action)
• The Wall was dedicated in 1982
• Wall vid

26.3 – LEGACY OF VIETNAM
1. War Powers Act (1973)
- Know what it did (p.903)
2. Loss of national confidence?
3.
Questioning of our role in the world…should we be more isolationist?
4.
Is containment better than negotiation or vice versa?
5.
Increased cynicism regarding the government
6.
Boat people

THE POLITICS OF PROTEST
(1960-1980)

• Use page 910 to create a poster: a. Title – Rise of the Youth Movement b. Describe/explain and provide a picture for:
1. Roots of the movement
2. Racism/Civil Rights Movement
3. Nuclear concerns
4. Baby boomers
5. College life

• Use page 910-911 to create a poster: a. Title – Students for a Democratic Society b. Describe/explain and provide a picture for:
1. View of wealth/wealthy
2. What is meant by the “New Left”
3. Port Huron Statement
4. 3 things they addressed/focused on

• Use pages 911-912 to create a poster: a. Title – Free Speech Movement b. Describe/explain and provide a picture for:
1. Origins of the movement
2. Two practices students were unhappy with
3. Events of December 2, 1964
4. Supreme Court decision

• Counterculture refers to young Americans who rejected the
American system and sought to reform it
(hippies)
• Hippies originally sought to create a utopia
• Society based on love, nature, equality, freedom, tolerance
• Typified by long hair,
Native American beads, shabby jeans, drugs, communes…

• Communes – hippy communities where everything was shared by members
• Could be rural
• Could be in cities
( Haight-Ashbury in
San Francisco)

• The movement lost momentum after a few years
• Novelty wore off
• People got older
• Hippie communities became dangerous
…...but it had a lasting impact on
American society

• Fashion
• Inexpensive, surplus clothes
• Rejection of consumerism
• Native American beads
• Ethnic clothing
• Tie-dyed shirts
• Long hair
• Mustaches
• Defiance of conformity

• Music
• Use of folk and rock n’ roll
• Lyrics expressed hope and fears of the generation
• Woodstock (New York, 1969)
• Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger
• Electrical amplification (Jimmy
Hendrix)

1.
Mamas and the Pappas – California Dreamin’
2.
Bob Dylan – The Times They Are a Changin’
3.
Jimmy Hendrix – National Anthem