T HE V IETNAM WAR : 1954-1975
V IETNAM
• Ruled by the Chinese
for 100’s of years
•1800-1940’s- was a
French colony.
•Post-WWII- seen as
vital to contain
communism.
• French Indochina:
Laos, Cambodia &
Vietnam ruled by
France until WWII

November 22, 1954
Ho Chi Minh:
E ARLY WAR

nationalist leader led the
Communist Party that pushed for
independence from France.

Name means “bringer of the light”.
July 16, 1965
May 12, 1975

Vietnam previously a colony
of France (1800’s to WWII)

Vietminh

Both communists & noncommunists who fought
together to expel the
Japanese

Ho Chi Minh’s nationalist
group

US sent aid to the
Vietminh in WWII.

France & Vietnamese fighting

France appeals to US for help

Colonialism vs Communism

Truman convinced to help France
because:


Fall of China to Communism

Outbreak of Korean War
Eisenhower continues with Domino
Theory

If Vietnam falls to Communism the rest
of Asia will too

Vietminh = guerilla
war tactics (& very
good at it!)

Battle at Dien Bien
Phu - Falls

Supply point

French lost it
agreeing at the
end of the battle
to withdraw from
Vietnam

divided French territory into 3 nations,
Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia.

divided Vietnam in half at 17th parallel


North = Vietminh

South led by Ngo Dinh Diem – pro-western
regime
general elections were to occur pulling the
country together

Diem refused because Ho Chi Minh would rig
the elections and win, so tensions between
the North & South increased with U.S. getting
caught in the middle.
US Presidents & US
Involvement in Vietnam

1949- President Truman sent money to help the French
who were fighting against Ho Chi Minh.

1950’s- President Eisenhower sent money & non-combat
military advisors to help train the South Vietnamese Army
to defend their land against Ho Chi Minh.

1961-1963 President Kennedy dramatically increased the
number of US military advisors to Vietnam (from 1,364 to
15,000).

1964-1968- President Lyndon Johnson sends first US
combat troops & begins bombing North Vietnam
(“escalation”)

1969- 1975- Presidents Nixon & Ford- US & North Vietnam
sign a cease fire; US troops withdrawn.

All of Vietnam falls to Ho Chi Minh & the communists

Vietcong: Ho Chi Minh’s guerilla army formed to
reunify Vietnam

Strategic Hamlets:

special fortified villages created by the South

moved Vietnamese to these villages to protect
them from the Vietcong and prevent them from
helping them.

villagers resented being moved to these hamlets
and resisted the South Vietnamese


Buddhists

discriminated against by Diem

made him very unpopular since
most of Vietnam was Buddhist.

Buddhists protested against his
policies.
Self-Immolation:


a Buddhist monk set himself on fire
to protest Diem’s religious policies
(1963)Diem was overthrown by
military generals with the backing of
the U.S. – he was executed – which
created a problem in South Vietnam
as the government grew weak and
unstable
ATTACK ON THE GULF OF
TONKIN ?

August 2, 1964-President Johnson announced
that North Vietnamese torpedo boats had fired
on two US ships.

Two days later—he announced that another
attack had taken place.

Johnson asked Congress for authority to defend
US forces & allies in SE Asia.

Johnson was campaigning for another term in
1964 & he did not tell them that US ships had
been actively helping South Vietnam.
*GULF OF TONKIN
RESOLUTION

authorized President Johnson to “take all
necessary measures to repel any armed attack
against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent
further aggression.”

basically means the president had war powers –

After an American base was attacked by the
Vietcong leaving 7 dead and over 100 wounded,
President Johnson decided to respond by sending
in airstrikes

Operation Rolling Thunder: a sustained bombing
campaign against the Vietcong (Johnson Admin. 19651968).

Search and Destroy Missions: U.S. troops used this tactic
in searching for Vietcong then destroying them by
bringing them out in the open

Airstrikes destroyed landscape with napalm and Agent
Orange: a chemical that strips leaves from trees and
shrubs

Ho Chi Minh Trail: a network of trails from the North to
the South that the Vietcong used as a supply route

North Vietnam received most of their supplies from
China and the U.S.S.R.
President Johnson & Escalation

1965- Operation Rolling Thunder= LBJ’s
popularity ratings went up to 60%

1965- LBJ sent 1st US combat troops to Vietnam

1966- 360,000 US troops in Vietnam

By 1968—500,000 US troops in Vietnam.
Tactics used by the Vietcong
& US Government

Booby traps, ambushes, guerilla “hit & run”,
underground passageways, blend with civilians.
Tactics Used by the US & South Vietnam

“search & destroy” missions- US & S. Vietnamese
troops searched village to village for the enemy.

Agent Orange- chemical that was meant to kill
vegetation to make the enemy more visible.

Napalm- jellied gasoline; used to destroy jungle & kill
the enemy.

LBJ refused to invade North Vietnam because it
might anger China

LBJ refused to attack Ho Chi Minh Trail- did not want
to widen the war (Limited War)
V ICTIMS OF A GENT O RANGE AND N APALM
Americans become
divided over the war

US political & military leaders (Gen.
Westmoreland) declared that the enemy was
near defeat

1st Televised War- daily news reports discredited
US politicians & military leaders

“Credibility Gap”- the gap between what citizens
were being told versus the reality of the info they
were seeing & what was being reported.

Congress held hearings with Johnson’s staff to
determine how the war was going.
The Anti-War Movement
Grows
US citizens held differing views on the war:

It’s a civil war- why are we in the middle?

Why are we propping up the corrupt South Vietnamese
government & leaders?

It’s a war of Independence- why don’t we support it?

1965- University of Michigan “teach-ins” –professors
cancelled classes & taught about the situation in
Vietnam.

“Doves”- anti-war protestors

“Hawks” –pro-war citizens
The Draft Protests

1960’s – numbers of US citizens protested the draft & refused to go
to fight.

Why?
1.
The growing unpopularity of the war at home.
2.
The Draft was seen as unfair.

College Deferments- allowed higher income kids & academically
advanced kids to postpone enrollment in the military= lower income
kids & students not going to college more likely sent to Vietnam.

Disproportionate number were African-Americans= 1967 (20%)

500,000 US citizens burned draft cards, left the country, went to
prison to avoid the draft.

1969- US adopted a draft lottery (more fair system)

*1971- 26th Amendment – lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
*The Tet Offensive

“Tet”- the Vietnamese New Year; seen as an unlikely time for
a military offensive.

Jan. 30, 1968- the Vietcong & North Vietnamese launched a
surprise attack on US airbases in South Vietnam & major
cities in S. Vietnam.

US troops repelled the enemy- NOT MILITARILY SIGNIFICANT
FOR THE ENEMY.

Gen. Westmoreland requested from Congress 209,000 more
US troops????

LBJ’s approval ratings fell

**Significance of TET** 1968 LBJ announces he will not seek
another term as President

TV News man- Walter Cronkite- “Vietnam will end in
stalemate…”
W HAT
DOES THIS MEAN ?
The 1968 Democratic Primary
& Convention

1968 Democratic Convention- pro & anti-war
protestors clash with Police outside the convention
hall.

Democrats seeking nomination:
1.
Eugene McCarthy (dove)- won 40% primary votes in NH
2.
Robert Kennedy (opposed the war)- killed by Sir Han Sir
Han before the party could nominate him.
3.
Hubert Humphrey
The 1968 Election

Republican-Richard Nixon: promised to restore
“law & order” & end the war in Vietnam

Democrat- Hubert Humphrey- supported LBJ’s war
policies at first; then wanted to end bombing.

Independent Party- George Wallace (segregationist
former Gov. of Alabama)

* Nixon won!
Nixon Moves to End the War

Appoints Henry Kissinger (Harvard Professor) as
Special Asst. on National Security – in charge of
getting the US out of the war.

“Linkage”- Kissinger policy of improving relations
with China & USSR (suppliers of aid to North
Vietnam)= so they would cut aid to N. Vietnam.

“Vietnamization”- Nixon reduced US troop levels in
Vietnam in order for South Vietnam to take over the
responsibility of fighting for themselves.

1969-Kissinger began secret peace talks with the
negotiator for N. Vietnam.
*The My Lai Massacre (1968)

US platoon led by
William Calley
massacred unarmed
South Vietnamese
civilians

Calley sentenced to
time in prison for the
crime

Convinced many
Americans that the
war was senseless
The Invasion of Cambodia
(1970)

Nixon announced April 1970 that US troops had invaded
Cambodia

Ordered to destroy Vietcong military bases

Some Americans angered-- saw this as a widening of
the war!!
*Result- Kent State Protests & Jackson State Protests

May 4, 1970- student protests at Kent State- National
Guard killed 4 students.

May 14- Jackson State- two African-Americans
protestors killed.

Result- Congress withdrew the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution
The Pentagon Papers

Daniel Ellsberg- former
Defense Department worker
leaked secret documents to
newspapers.

Revealed that Johnson officials
had questioned the war privately

Presidents & advisors had
expanded the war without
consulting Congress

Government officials had tried to
convince the press that Vietnam
was going better than it was.

NY Times v. United States, 1971
The US Pulls Out

Oct. 1972- Kissinger announces that “peace is at
hand”- “October Surprise”- a few weeks before the
election of 1972.

2/3 of Americans wanted to end the war

Nixon won reelection- & peace talks broke down

*“The Christmas Bombings”- 11 straight days of US
bombing North Vietnam- to force Vietnam to
negotiate.

Negotiations resumed; Jan. 27, 1973 a cease-fire
agreement- US pulled all troops out.

March 1975- North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam,
captured capital of Saigon (renamed Ho Chi Minh
City)= Vietnam under communist rule.
The Impact of the War

Longest war in US History

$170 Billion direct costs

58,000 US troops dead, 300,000 wounded, psychological effects

@ 1 million North & South Vietnamese dead

POW’s (Prisoners of War) & MIA’s (Missing in Action)still unaccounted

1973- **War Powers Act: requires future presidents to:
1.
Notify Congress within 48 hours if troops sent into action
2.
Withdraw troops within 60 or 90 days unless Congress gives permission for longer
stay.

All Presidents refuse to admit the limit

Every President since 1973 has gone to Congress for permission to use troops

1982- Vietnam Veterans Memorial built
The Vietnam Memorial