Vietnam
Moving Toward Conflict
I. France’s involvement in
Vietnam
• From 1800—WWII,
France ruled most of
Indochina (Vietnam,
Laos, and Cambodia)
• Vietnamese peasants
began resisting French
rule
– French rulers began
restricting freedom of
speech and assembly
• Many revolutionaries fled to China and formed a
group under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh
– Leader of the Indochinese Communist Party
• Vietminh—an organization whose goal it was to
win Vietnam’s independence from foreign rule
• September 2, 1945—Ho Chi Minh stood in the
northern city of Hanoi and declared Vietnam’s
independence
– The French fought back
• The US get involved in 1950 backing the
French for 2 reasons
– Strengthen ties with France
– Fight spread of Communism
• US provided military and economic
support
– Eisenhower’s Domino Theory—Countries on
the brink of Communism are like dominoes
waiting to fall one after another
• The Vietminh overran the
French at Dien Bien Phu in
May 1954
• Geneva Accords—
Temporarily divided Vietnam
along the 17th parallel
– Ho Chi Minh and the
Communists ran North
Vietnam from Hanoi
– Anticommunist Nationalists
ran South Vietnam from
Saigon
US involvement in Vietnam
• With France gone, the US played a larger role
• Ho Chi Minh was winning support in the north by
breaking up large estates and dividing the land
among the peasants
– He was considered a hero
• 1956, South Vietnam’s President, Ngo Dinh
Diem canceled elections because of Ho Chi
Minh’s popularity
– Knew entire country would become Communist
• US supported Diem’s government in South
Vietnam, which soon became corrupt
• Vietcong—Communist
group against South
Vietnam, began attacking
Diem’s government
– Supported by Ho Chi Minh
– Ho Chi Minh Trail—Path
Ho Chi Minh used to supply
the Vietcong in South
Vietnam
JFK and Vietnam
• Increased financial aid to Diem
• --Sent military advisers to train South
Vietnamese troops (16,000 by 1963)
– Diem began targeting Buddhists
– US overthrew Diem on November 1, 1963
– JFK announced he planned to withdraw from
Vietnam, shortly before his death
LBJ and Vietnam
• After Vietnam’s removal South Vietnam became more
unstable
• LBJ believed a communist takeover in South Vietnam
would be disastrous
• Tonkin Gulf Incident—The USS Maddox claimed to hear
enemy fire and began firing back
– Prompted LBJ to authorize bombing strikes on North Vietnam
– LBJ asked Congress for powers to take “all necessary measures
to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to
prevent further aggression” –Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• Gave LBJ broad military powers in Vietnam
• By August 1965, 50,000 US soldiers were battling the Vietcong
Viewpoints on increasing
involvement
Lyndon Johnson
Robert McNamara
Dean Rusk
Determined to contain
Communism
Sent over large numbers of
American troops
LBJ’s Secretary of Defense
Supported LBJ’s decision to
send troops
LBJ’s Secretary of State
Supported LBJ’s decision to
send troops
Viewpoints continued
General William
Westmoreland
US Congress
American Public
American commander in South
Vietnam
Continued asking for more
troops
Supported LBJ’s decisions and
strategy
Supported their President,
although there were dissenters
American
Military
advantages
Military strategies
Superior highpowered
weaponry
Bombings
War of Attrition—gradual wearing
down of the enemy
Preventing Vietcong support by S.
Vietnam’s rural population
The use of Napalm (gasoline-based
bomb that set fire to the jungle) and
Agent Orange (a leaf-killing toxic
chemical)
Search and Destroy missions
Vietcong
Military advantages
Military strategies
Knowledge of terrain
Ability to blend in with
civilians
Willingness to pay any
price for victory
Hit and run ambushes
Booby traps and land
mines
Surprise attacks
Guerilla warfare
Intense tunneling
system (pg 738)
Decreasing public support
• The US economy
– As the number of troops in Vietnam grew, the
cost of the war grew
– Inflation rate rose
– LBJ asked for a tax increase
• Congress agreed after LBJ cut $6 billion in funding
for the Great Society
Decreasing public support
• Television
– “Living room war”
• People could watch combat footage
• Listened nightly to body count statistics
– 16,000 from 1961-1967
• The Fulbright Hearings
– LBJ advisers were asked to defend their
foreign policies to congress
– People felt they weren’t hearing the truth
about what was really happening
End of the War and its Legacy
• 1. Nixon adopts a policy of Vietnamization
– Vietnamization—Nixon and National Security
Advisor, Henry Kissinger’s, plan to gradually
withdraw US troops so the South Vietnamese
could take a more active combat role in the
war
• Silent Majority—Moderate, mainstream
Americans who quietly supported the US
efforts in Vietnam
• 2. My Lai massacre shocks Americans
– 200 innocent Vietnamese were killed by US
soldiers
• 3. Nixon orders invasion of Cambodia
– Wanted to remove Vietnamese and Vietcong
supply centers from Cambodia
• 4. First student strike in US history occurs
– 1.5 million students closed down 1,200
campuses protesting the invasion of
Cambodia
• 5. Congress repeals the Tonkin Gulf
Resolution
– To protest Nixon’s bombing and invasion of
Cambodia without notifying Congress
– To gain greater Congressional control over
US policy in Vietnam
• 6. The “Christmas bombings” take place
– Nixon bombed North Vietnam cities, Hanoi
and Haiphong, as one last push to force a
negotiated peace
• 7. South Vietnam surrenders to North
Vietnam
– North Vietnam’s full-scale invasion of South
Vietnam and the capture of Saigon
– No US troops there to prevent the North’s
victory
• 8. Vietnam veterans receive a cold
homecoming
– Americans were very torn and bitter about the
war
• 9. Cambodia erupts in civil war in 1975
– Caused by the US invasion of Cambodia in
1970
– 1 million Cambodians died
• 10. Congress passes the War Powers Act
– A president must inform Congress within 48
hours of sending troops into a hostile area
without a declaration of war
– Curbs the president’s war-making powers
• 11. The draft is abolished
– Due to much caused anti-war sentiment