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The Vietnam War (1954–1975)
SECTION 1
THE WAR UNFOLDS
TEXT SUMMARY
American involvement in Vietnam grew
out of the Cold War and fears that
Southeast Asia would become dominated
by Communist governments. United
States’ foreign policy subscribed
T H E BIG I D E A
to the domino theory that if
one
nation fell to communism,
The United States
its
neighbors
would follow.
entered the war in
Following
World War II,
Vietnam with the
nationalists in Vietnam, then a
goal of stopping
French colony, began a war of
the spread of
independence. When their
communism.
forces, the Vietminh, drove the
French from northern Vietnam,
an international conference met in 1954
and through the Geneva Accords divided the nation at the 17th parallel into
Communist North Vietnam, led by Ho
Chi Minh, and anti-Communist South
Vietnam, led by Ngo Dinh Diem.
The legacy of the Vietnam War began
when President Eisenhower sent about
675 military advisers to aid South Vietnam
in their struggle against North Vietnam.
President Kennedy pledged support and
sent more advisers. However, he became
disillusioned with the Diem government,
and in 1963 U.S. military leaders helped
organize a coup in South Vietnam. Despite
the establishment of a new military government in South Vietnam, North
Vietnamese forces, aided by the Viet
Cong, Communist guerrillas in the South,
gained more territory and won over many
South Vietnamese who had no confidence
in their new government.
Communist
advances
alarmed
President Lyndon Johnson. In 1964 he
announced that North Vietnamese forces
had attacked U.S. ships off the coast of
North Vietnam. Although reports of an
attack were sketchy, he persuaded
Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, giving him power to take
whatever action he deemed necessary to
prevent aggression against U.S. forces in
Vietnam without an official declaration of
war. Johnson had expanded presidential
power and gained total control over U.S.
involvement in Vietnam.
GRAPHIC SUMMARY: The United States in Vietnam,
1960–1964
During the early 1960s
the American military
slowly expanded its
involvement in the
Vietnam War.
1960
President Eisenhower sends 675 United States military advisers to assist South Vietnam.
1963
1964
President Kennedy increases number of military advisers to over 16,000.
Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Johnson power to expand American
involvement in the war.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
156
CHAPTER 31
1. What was the domino theory?
2. Chart Skills What power did the
Gulf of Tonkin resolution give
President Johnson?
Guide to the Essentials
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