• Think/ look back
over HW and movieJFK…
notes...
– How did Cuban
missile crisis get
resolved?
– In what ways did
Cold War continue
under JFK?
– What kind of
president was he?
(adjectives,
examples…)
Brainstorm what you know
about Vietnam….
• Who What When Where Why
• Names, details…..
Vietnam War
1954- 1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCWdCKPtnYE
Beginnings
• French colony
– 1800s- WW2
• After World War 2
– France tries to reclaim it
– Ho Chi Minh leads revolution
• Communist
• Guerilla warfare
• (US had support Ho vs.
Japan in WW2)
Early US involvement
• Truman
– “Truman Doctrine”- 1950- 15,000,000 in aid to
France
– 1950-1954- US pumps in billions, basically
paying for France’s war
1954- France is defeated
• Vietnam divided
• North Vietnam
– Communist
– USSR supports
• South Vietnam
– Under Ngo Dinh Diem
– USA supports
WHY DID THE US SUPPORT
SOUTH VIETNAM?
• Eisenhower 1954:
• Domino theory- if one nations “falls”
to communism, the rest of South East Asia
will fall
Trouble in South Vietnam
• Diem unpopular
• CIVIL WAR
• Vietcong
– South Vietnamese guerilla
fighters v. Diem gov.
The first view some
Americans have of
Vietnam is Buddhist
monks burning
themselves in protest of
Diem
Famous picture
of a Vietcong
being killed
Kennedy
• By ’61, Diem gov. in danger of falling
– American military comes in as advisors to
South Vietnamese army, 1961-64
• 1963- 16,000 troops in Vietnam
Lyndon Baines Johnson
• 10/63- Diem assassinated
• 11/63 JFK assassinated
• LBJ takes over
– Increases aid
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• Aug. 1964
– North Vietnam supposedly
attacks a US boat in Gulf of Tonkin
• Congress passes Resolution
– Gives LBJ power to take “all
necessary measures”
Escalation- increasing numbers
of American troops sent over
• US bombs North Vietnam, targets in South
• War “escalates” under LBJ
– 1964-68, >500,000 soldiers sent in
– Fighting both Vietcong, and N Vietnam
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM764N2QM8
Guerilla warfare
• No traditional “front”
• US troops- “search and destroy” missions
– Root out Vietcong strongholds, move on
Things get ugly
• Vietcong hides in jungles; don’t face US
troops head on
• Villagers support them
• Who is the enemy?
March 16, 1968- Victims of the “My Lai Massacre”, in which US soldiers killed between 250-400
http://www.english.uiuc.edu
innocent civilians in the village of My Lai
Army photographer- Ronald L. Haeberle
June 6, 1972- Photographer: Kim Phuc and her family run from their village, Trang Bang, after it
was accidentally hit by napalm from South Vietnamese bombers.
Photographer- Nic Ut
http://news.bbc.co.uk
Tet offensive
• January 1968
– HUGE offensive all around Vietnam
– US pushes back, but enormous political
victory for Vietcong, N Vietnam
The draft
• Many wealthy, middle class able to legally
get out of it
• High % of poor, Afr. Am., and Hispanic
At home
• 1st “televised” war
• Hawks: support war
• Doves: anti war
College campuses- anti
war protests
• Baby boom kids, 60s, 70s
– Marches
– Sit-ins
– Burn draft cards
– Take over buildings
– Destroy property
• Spirit of rebellion- “counter culture”
– Rejection of Am. values; clothes, music, drugs
May 4, 1970- A distraught protester looks on at a
student from KENT STATE, on of four whom had been
shot and killed by Ohio National Guardsmen
Photographer: John Filo
http://www.presby.edu
Muhammad Ali- Registers as
concientious objector
"I Ain't Got No Quarrel With The
VietCong...
No VietCong Ever Called Me N****r" —
Muhammad Ali, 1966
"No, I am not going 10,000 miles to help
murder kill and burn other people to simply
help continue the domination of white
slavemasters over dark people the world
over. This is the day and age when such
evil injustice must come to an end."
—Muhammad Ali
LBJ doesn’t run in 1968
Bobby Kennedy (JFK’s) brother running…
June 5, 1968
1968 Democratic National
Convention- Chicago
• Anti- war protestors riot with police
Fortunate Son- CCR
What does this song say about the draft?
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Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooo, they’re red, white and blue.
And when the band plays hail to the chief,
Ooo, they point the cannon at you, y’all!
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, Son.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one. No.
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves, y’all!
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son. No, no.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one. No.
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooo, they send you down to war, y’all.
And when you ask them, how much should we give?
Ooo, they only answer more! More! More! Y’all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMUBWKJ5A_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuUBCF3KKxc
Why did many Americans
oppose the Vietnam War?
America is split in 2: Who do
you sympathize with more?
• Anti-War protestors…
• The “silent majority”
• How can both sides claim to be “patriotic”
or “American”?
Election of 1968
• Richard Nixon (Republican) wins
Nixon and Vietnam
• “Vietnamization”
– Prepare South Vietnam to defend itself
– 1st- bomb “Ho Chi Minh Trail” in Cambodia
• Starts Civil War there
…Nixon
• While bombing, brings troops home slowly
• Peace talks begin in Paris
Nixon goes to China
• 1972- Nixon recognizes communist China
• “saves face” for w/drawal from ‘Nam
End of war
• 1973- cease fire is arranged
• 1974- last troops leave
Aftermath
• US continues to aid S Vietnam w/ $$$$
• April 1975- Vietnam reunited, communist
Modern day celebration of
“Reunification Day”
…Aftermath
• Cambodia goes Communist
– Brutal reign of terror by (Pol Pot) Khmer
Rouge
Aftermath…
• > 58,000 American dead
• > 1,000,000 Vietnamese
War Power Act 1973
• Limits president’s war making powers
• President must inform Congress w/in 48
hours of sending in troops to a hostile area
• Troops can only stay 90 days w/out
Congressional approval
• ***How is this related to the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution?
Impact of Vietnam
• America more hesitant to get involved in
foreign affairs with no direct interest
• Americans more cynical and suspicious of
government
– “Pentagon Papers”- released in New
York Times in 1971, show LBJ planning
on entering war while claiming we weren’t
• 26th Amendment (18- voting age)
Which situation was a result of
the Vietnam War?
1. South Vietnam was able to maintain its
noncommunist status.
2. The United States questioned its role as
a police officer of the world.
3. Richard Nixon was forced to resign the
presidency.
4. The War Powers Act was repealed by
Congress
One reason the United States
became involved in the Vietnam
War was to
1. prevent the spread of communism in
Indochina
2. reduce French influence in Vietnam
3. stop China from seizing Vietnam
4. support the government of North Vietnam
A constitutional issue that was frequently raised
about United States involvement in the Korean
conflict and the Vietnam conflict was the
1. right to regulate commerce with foreign
nations
2. use of deficit spending to finance wars
3. lack of a formal declaration of war by
Congress
4. Supreme Court’s role in foreign policy
decision-making
The primary purpose of the War
Powers Act (1973) is to
1. limit Presidential power to send troops
into combat
2. allow for a quicker response to a military
attack
3. assure adequate defense of the Western
Hemisphere
4. stop the use of troops for nonmilitary
purposes
Vietnam compared to Iraq/
Afganistan Wars
• How do they compare?