Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
PW_TR_SGEE_p142-160 1/22/02 C H A P T E R 31 3:30 PM Page 156 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 © Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.