Download File

The Vietnam War
Debate Over US Intervention, 1950-1975
Questions to Consider
 Why did the United States intervene in Vietnam?
 Why did the United States withdraw from
Vietnam?
 Why did US intervention in Vietnam become
socially and politically controversial?
 How successful was US intervention in Vietnam?
 Should the US have intervened in Vietnam?
Context
 What was the Truman Doctrine?
 What was the Marshall Plan?
 What was “Containment?”
 Why did the United States become involved in
the Korean conflict in the early 1950s?
 What were some major US foreign policy goals
and foreign policy concerns in the early 1950s?
The Conflict in Vietnam
 1945: Ho Chi Minh, a
Vietnamese nationalist with
Communist leanings,
declares Vietnam’s
independence from
France
 1946: The French go to war
with Vietnamese
nationalists to maintain
control over the country
(Indochina War)
Source 1: Report by the National Security
Council on the Position of the United States
with Respect to Indochina, Feb. 27, 1950
“It is recognized that the threat of communist
aggression against Indochina is only one phase
of anticipated communist plans to seize all of
Southeast Asia …
The newly formed states of Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia do not as yet have sufficient political
stability nor military power to prevent the
infiltration … of Ho Chi Minh’s forces. The French
Armed Forces … can do little more than
maintain the status quo …
The presence of Chinese communist troops
along the border of Indochina makes it possible
for arms, material and troops to move freely
from Communist China to the … area now
controlled by Ho Chi Minh. There is already
evidence of movement of arms.”
Questions to consider:
1. Who was the audience
for this source?
2. What is the main message
of this source?
3. What evidence does the
author use to support his
message? What is the tone?
4. What can we learn from
this source about why the US
intervened in Vietnam?
Timeline of Events in
Vietnam, 1950 - 1964
 1950
 US President Harry Truman sends US troops to Vietnam
 US pledges $15 mil in aid to the French
 1954
 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower popularizes the idea of the
“Domino Theory” regarding Southeast Asia
 Geneva Agreements divide Vietnam at the 17th parallel
 1955
 China and the USSR pledge financial support to North
Vietnam
 1956
 The French pull out of Vietnam, leaving the US with the
responsibility for training the South Vietnamese forces
 1959
 Development of the Ho Chi Minh trail
 1961
 US President John F. Kennedy pledges more support to the
South Vietnamese government
 1964
 Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Source 2: US Secretary of State Rusk’s Address, “The Stake in Vietnam,” at the
Economic Club of New York, Apr. 22, 1963
“The assault on South Vietnam was a major Communist enterprise, carefully and
elaborately prepared, heavily staffed, and relentlessly pursued. In 1961 [South
Vietnamese] President Diem appealed for further assistance and President Kennedy
responded promptly …
Critics have complained that … our aid has been subject to waste and
mismanagement … let us recall that we are talking about a nation [South Vietnam]
which has been responsible for its own affairs for less than a decade, about a people
who have had … little experience in participation in political affairs. Their four national
elections [and] their thousands of elected hamlet councils … show steady movement
toward a constitutional system.”
Source 3: The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Aug. 10, 1964
Questions to Consider:
“Whereas naval units of the Communist regime in Vietnam …
have deliberately and repeatedly attacked the United States
naval vessels … and have thereby created a serious threat to
international peace;
1.
What is the main message of each
source?
1.
Who is the audience for each source?
Whereas these attacks are part of a deliberate and
systematic campaign of aggression that the Communist
regime in North Vietnam has been waging against its
neighbors …
1.
What reasons does each author give for
US intervention in Vietnam?
1.
The NSC Report from 1950 (Source 1)
listed several reasons for proposed US
intervention. Can we corroborate that
source with either Source 2 or Source 3?
1.
How reliable are these sources about
what is happening in Vietnam?
Whereas the United States is assisting the peoples of Southeast
Asia to protect their political freedom and has not territorial,
military, or political ambitions in that area …
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States … That the Congress approves … the
determination of the President … to take all necessary
measures to … prevent further aggression.”
Timeline of Events in
Vietnam, 1965 - 1969
 1965
 Operation “Rolling
Thunder”
 Anti-war protest activity
begins to rise to national
prominence in the US
 1968
 The North Vietnamese
launch the Tet Offensive
 My Lai Massacre
 Paris Peace Talks begin
 Richard Nixon is elected
president of the United
States
 Anti-war protest activity
peaks
 1969
 Nixon begins secret
bombing of Cambodia;
announces policy of
“Vietnamization”
 News of the My Lai
massacre reaches the
United States
Authorized Troop Level in South Vietnam, 1960-72
Source 4: President Nixon’s Address to
the Nation on the War in Vietnam, Nov.
3, 1969
“[T]here were some who urged that I end the
war at once … In January I could only
conclude that precipitate withdrawal of
American forces … would be a disaster not
only for Vietnam but for the United States and
for the cause of peace.
For the South Vietnamese, our … withdrawal
would inevitably allow Communists to repeat
the massacres which followed their takeover in
the North …
For the United States, this first defeat in our
Nation’s history would result in a collapse of
confidence in American leadership, not only in
Asia but throughout the world.
Three American Presidents have recognized
the great stakes involved in Vietnam and
understood what had to be done.”
Source 5: “You see, the reason we’re in
Indochina is to protect the boys in
Indochina,” The Washington Post, May
5., 1970
Questions to Consider:
1. What reasons do the creators of Sources 4 and 5 identify for US intervention in Vietnam?
2. Considering these sources along with Sources 1-3, did the reasons for US involvement in Vietnam change over
time?
3. What does Source 5 tell us about what public opinion might have been about US intervention in Vietnam in
1970?
Timeline of Events in
Vietnam, 1969 - 1975
 1969
 Nixon begins policy of
“Vietnamization”
 News of My Lai
massacre reaches the
United States
 1970
 Number of US troops in
Vietnam drops sharply
 1973
 Cease-fire signed in
Paris
 End of the military
draft in the United
States
 Last US troops leave
Vietnam
 1975
 Fall of Saigon
Authorized Troop Level in South Vietnam, 1960-72
Source 6: John Kerry’s Testimony Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
Apr. 22, 1971.
“We found [in Vietnam] it was … a civil war, an effort by a people who [were] seeking
their liberation from any colonial influence whatsoever …
We found most people didn’t know the difference between communism and
democracy. They only wanted to work in rice paddies without … bombs with napalm
burning their villages and tearing their country apart …
We also … saw first hand how money form American taxes was used to [support] a
corrupt dictatorial regime … We saw Vietnam ravaged equally by American bombs as
well as by … Vietcong terrorism.”
Source 7: Interview with Theodore Gatchel, a Marine
Corps officer who served in Vietnam, conducted in 1998.
“We … heard on the radio about the protests that were going
on. One of my marines brought a flyer to me … [it] said
something like ‘why are you going out there fighting peasants
who are only trying to protect their homes …’ This arrived …
about the time that the North Vietnamese units started
carrying the best, the latest Soviet arms and weapons …
During my first tour, I looked at the Vietnamese as probably
not caring much about their country; not willing to fight for
their country. However, after I [learned Vietnamese], that
view changed completely … I found the Vietnamese were
both willing and capable of fighting for their country …
In my two years in Vietnam combat, I never saw anyone
commit an atrocity … but when you fight the kind of war that
we were fighting … the frustration level gets so high that it’s
very likely, occasionally, somebody is going to commit an
atrocity.”
Questions to Consider:
1.
What is the main message of each
source?
1.
Who is the audience for each source?
1.
What can we learn from each source
about what it was like to be a soldier in
Vietnam? How reliable are these
sources?
1.
Does source 6 contradict sources 1-5
about conditions in Vietnam?
1.
Can we corroborate Source 6 with
Source 7?
1.
Do these sources give us insight into
what public opinion might have been
about the war in Vietnam, and why?
Source 8: “Panic Rises in Saigon, but the
Exits Are Few,” The New York Times, Apr.
24, 1975
“Panic is clearly visible in Saigon now as
thousands of Vietnamese try desperately to find
ways to flee their country.
There are few exits left, and most involve
knowing or working for Americans. United States
Air Force … jet transports took off all day and
night from the Tan Son Nhut air base, the lucky
passengers heading for … the Philippines or for
… Guam.
Others, not so lucky, rushed to drug stores to buy
quantities of sleeping pills and tranquilizers, with
which they could commit suicide if the worst
came to pass.
Still others, trying to get a seat aboard one of
the planes, offered everything they had.”
Questions to consider:
1. Who was the audience
for this source?
2. What is the main message
of this source?
3. What evidence does the
author use to support his
message?
4. What can we learn from
this source about US success
in Vietnam?
Questions to Consider
 Why did the United States intervene in Vietnam?
 Why did the United States withdraw from
Vietnam?
 Why did US intervention in Vietnam become
socially and politically controversial?
 How successful was US intervention in Vietnam?
 Should the US have intervened in Vietnam?