If we have to fight, we will fight. You will kill
ten of our men and we will kill one of yours,
and in the end it will be you who tires of it.
- Ho Chi Minh





Japanese Takeover of
French Indochina early
in the war
Member of Communist
party since 1920 (while
studying in France)
Leader of the
Vietnamese
Independence League
(Viet Minh)
Gained valuable
military and political
support from China, US
and USSR during WWII
August of 1945:
Vietnamese
Declaration of
Independence
 “First
Indochina War” 8 year war (mostly
financed by the US) with the Viet Minh
 French defeat at Dien Bien Phu leads to
the Geneva Peace Accords
Political: Domino Theory and sustain Democracy
in Vietnam
 Economic: Raw materials: rice, rubber, coal and
iron ore
 1953 State Department Memo: “If the French
actually decide to withdraw, the U.S. would have to
consider most seriously whether to take over this
area…”

 French
withdraw
temporarily into
Southern Vietnam
 Partition at the 17th
Parallel
 National elections
in 2 years for the
purpose of
reunification
1954: Eisenhower pledged support
for Diem to control the North
 US financial and military support
 Unpopular as a result of:

• Catholicism
• Pro-Landlord in country of peasants
(80%)
• No land reform like Ho Chi Minh
• Imprisoned political opposition
Make sure that Geneva elections
does not take place!
 Leads to the creation of the Viet
Cong “National Liberation Front” in
South Vietnam

Remnants of the
Viet Minh
peasants in the
southern
countryside
 Organization on
a massive scale
 By early 1962:
300,000
members
 Extremely
Popular:

• Peasants
promised a
different life
• More a social
revolution with
importance
placed on the
lowly peasant
Saigon, June 1963
Nov. 1, 1963: South Vietnam military leaders
overthrow Diem’s government and
assassinate him and his brother
 Review
Homework Questions for Zinn
Chapter 7
 Review Homework Questions for
America’s Deepening Commitment
On a piece of paper, write the names of the people in
your group. Take turns being scribes. This activity
will count as a quiz grade.
 Part I: June 1964

• Read and have scribes write down answers to discussion
questions below
• LBJ vs. Goldwater: 1964 Election: Daisy
• Summarize the four main points of the Bundy and Rostow report
of June 1964.
• Why did Johnson believe that bipartisan (both Republicans and
Democrats) congressional support for his policies in Vietnam
was so important?
• Does the government of a democracy have to operate under a
different set of rules from those of a dictatorship when
formulating foreign policy?
 Part
II: The Incident: Summer of 1964
• Read and answer questions:
• Some have argued that the North Vietnamese
were to blame for the incident, while others have
maintained the United States was at fault. Discuss
the case that both sides might make.
• Why do you think that President Johnson went to
Congress and the American people immediately,
rather than waiting for a full investigation of the
second “attack”?
 Part
III: The Request: August, 1964
• Summarize each point of the Resolution.
• How do the changes in wording from the June
draft change the President’s ability to direct U.S.
policy in Vietnam? Explain by comparing
specific phrases from the two documents.
• Sometime later, Johnson remarked to aides that
this resolution was “like grandma’s nightshirt—it
covered everything.” What did he mean by this?
 Part
IV: The Action
• Read and answer questions
• If the administration had foreseen how long and
costly the war would be, do you think that it
would have chosen the same means to obtain
congressional support and legal authority?
• What kind of turning point in US history is the
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?
• Why was there no congressional opposition?
 Secretary
of Defense
under Kennedy and LBJ
 What
were the effects of
the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution?
 Start 1:05-1:15:31
“take all necessary
measures to repel any
armed attacks against
the forces of the United
States and to prevent
further aggression”
 Operation Rolling
Thunder:

• 120,000 American
soldiers in Vietnam
• Ongoing bombing of
Hanoi for the next three
years