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Chapter Introduction
Section 1: Going to War in
Vietnam
Section 2: Vietnam Divides the
Nation
Section 3: The War Winds Down
Visual Summary
Going to War in
Vietnam
What created the conflict in
Vietnam and how did
America become involved?
American Involvement in Vietnam
The Cold War policy of containment
led the United States to become
increasingly involved in events in
Vietnam.
American Involvement in Vietnam (cont.)
• One of the leaders of the nationalist
movement in Vietnam for almost 30 years
was Nguyen Tat Thanh—or Ho Chi Minh.
• His proposal for an independent Vietnam
after WWI was reject by the imperial states
of Europe.
• In the 1930’s , he found the Indochinese
Communist Party to overthrow French rule.
American Involvement in Vietnam (cont.)
• In 1941, Japan seized control of the country,
and Ho Chi Minh organized a nationalist
group called the Vietminh.
• America sent aid to the Vietminh.
• (US policy which is a predecessor to
Osama Bin Laden????)
American Involvement in Vietnam (cont.)
• When Japan surrendered to the Allies in
1945, it gave up control of Indochina;
however, French troops returned to Vietnam
in 1946.
• The Vietminh fought back against the
French-dominated regime and slowly gained
control of large areas of the countryside.
• France asked the United States for help.
American Involvement in Vietnam (cont.)
• Two events convinced President Truman to
help France:
– The fall of China to communism
– The outbreak of the Korean War
American Involvement in Vietnam (cont.)
• President Eisenhower continued Truman’s
policy and defended his decision with what
became known as the domino theory—if
Vietnam fell to communism, the rest of
Southeast Asia would follow.
• Despite help from the United States,
guerrilla tactics used by the Vietminh
consistently frustrated the French.
Why Did Vietnam Matter to the United States?
American Involvement in Vietnam (cont.)
• The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu
convinced the French to make peace and
withdraw from Indochina.
• The Geneva Accords divided Vietnam along
the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh and the
Vietminh in control of North Vietnam and a
pro-Western regime in control of the South.
Vietnam, 1959
American Involvement in Vietnam (cont.)
• The U.S. became the principal protector of
the new government in the South, led by a
nationalist leader named Ngo Dinh Diem.
Vietnam, 1959
America Becomes Involved in Vietnam
Political pressures in the United States
led the nation to become deeply
involved in the civil war in Vietnam.
America Becomes Involved in Vietnam
(cont.)
• Ho Chi Minh and the Communists began an
armed struggle to reunify the nation after
Ngo Dinh Diem refused to hold national
elections.
• They organized a new and powerful guerrilla
army called the Vietcong.
• Eisenhower sent hundreds of military advisers
to train South Vietnam’s army, but Diem
looked increasingly to the United States to
keep South Vietnam from collapsing.
America Becomes Involved in Vietnam
(cont.)
• On taking office in 1961, President Kennedy
continued the nation’s policy of support for
South Vietnam.
• The United States urged Diem to create a
more democratic government and to
introduce reforms to help Vietnam’s
peasants.
• Diem introduced some limited reforms, but
they had little effect.
• How bad was Diem rule????
America Becomes Involved in Vietnam
(cont.)
• Several Vietnamese generals seized control
of South Vietnam in November 1963, and
executed Diem shortly thereafter.
• His overthrow made matters worse and the
United States became even more deeply
involved.
America Becomes Involved in Vietnam
(cont.)
• On August 2, 1964, President Johnson
announced that North Vietnamese torpedo
boats had fired on two American destroyers
in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• On August 7, 1964, the Senate and House
passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution,
authorizing the president to “take all
necessary measures … to prevent further
aggression.”
America Becomes Involved in Vietnam
(cont.)
• After the resolution was passed, the
Vietcong began to attack bases where
American advisers were stationed in South
Vietnam.
• Less than 14 hours after the attack that killed
8 Americans and wounded more than 100,
American aircraft bombed North Vietnam.
• Most of the advisers who surrounded
Johnson firmly believed the nation had a
duty to halt communism in Vietnam.
America Becomes Involved in Vietnam
(cont.)
• In March 1965, Johnson expanded American
involvement by beginning a sustained
bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
• The same month, he ordered the first
combat troops into Vietnam.
A Bloody Stalemate
The failure of United States forces to
defeat the Vietcong and the deaths of
thousands of American soldiers led
many Americans to question the
nation’s involvement in Vietnam.
A Bloody Stalemate (cont.)
• To counter the Vietcong’s guerrilla tactics,
American troops went on “search and
destroy” missions.
• To take away the Vietcong’s ability to hide,
American forces literally destroyed the
landscape by dropping napalm and
Agent Orange.
The Vietnam War, 1965–1973
A Bloody Stalemate (cont.)
• The guerrillas, however, had no intention of
surrendering, and they were willing to accept
huge losses to achieve their goals.
• North Vietnam sent arms and supplies south by
way of a network of jungle paths known as the
Ho Chi Minh trail.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
A Bloody Stalemate (cont.)
• One of the main reasons President Johnson
refused to order a full-scale invasion of North
Vietnam was his fear that such an attack
would bring China into the war.
• However, placing limits on the war made it
hard to win.
• American troops were forced to fight a war
of attrition.
North Vietnam received military
weapons and other support from
which two countries?
A. The Soviet Union and China
0%
D
C
D. Germany and Japan
B
C. The Soviet Union and Japan
A. A
B. B
C.0% C 0%
0%
D. D
A
B. Korea and Japan
Vietnam Divides the
Nation
How did Americans protest
the war in Vietnam?
Is it acceptable for Americans to
protest wars?
A. Always
B. Sometimes
C. Never
0%
A
A. A
B. B
C.0%C
B
0%
C
An Antiwar Movement Emerges
The Vietnam War produced sharp
divisions between Americans who
supported the war and those who did
not, and the resulting political turmoil
led President Johnson to decide not to
run again for president.
An Antiwar Movement Emerges (cont.)
• As the war dragged on, people became
suspicious of the government’s truthfulness
about Vietnam.
• American commander in South Vietnam,
General William Westmoreland, reported
that the enemy was on the brink of defeat
throughout the early years of the war.
• However, media reports were
less optimistic.
Opposition to the Vietnam War
An Antiwar Movement Emerges (cont.)
• In the view of many, a credibility gap had
developed.
• Congress soon grew uncertain about the war
as well.
Opposition to the Vietnam War
An Antiwar Movement Emerges (cont.)
• In March 1965, a group of faculty members
and students who opposed the war at the
University of Michigan abandoned their
classes and joined together in a teach-in.
• The gathering inspired teach-ins at many
campuses.
• Young protesters especially focused on what
they saw as an unfair draft system.
Opposition to the Vietnam War
An Antiwar Movement Emerges (cont.)
• Young people from working-class families
were more likely to be drafted and sent to
Vietnam because they were unable to afford
college (draft deferment).
• The treatment of African Americans also
came under scrutiny.
• An estimated 500,000 draftees refused to
go, and more than 3,300 Americans
were prosecuted for refusing
to serve.
Opposition to the Vietnam War
An Antiwar Movement Emerges (cont.)
• By 1968, the nation seemed to be divided
into two camps:
– Doves—those who disagreed with the war
– Hawks—those who supported the war
Opposition to the Vietnam War
Anger over the draft fueled discussions
about changing the voting age to 18, which
led to which amendment?
A. First
0%
D
0%
A
D. Twenty-sixth
A
B
C0%
D
C
C. Fourteenth
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
B. Fifth
1968: The Pivotal Year
The Tet Offensive increased doubt that
the United States could win in Vietnam.
1968: The Pivotal Year (cont.)
• On January 30, 1968, during Tet, the
Vietnamese New Year, the Vietcong and
North Vietnamese launched a massive
surprise attack.
• In this Tet Offensive, guerrilla fighters
attacked most American airbases in South
Vietnam and most of the South’s major
cities.
• Although a strategic failure, the North
Vietnamese had scored a major political
victory.
1968: The Pivotal Year (cont.)
• Eugene McCarthy became the first dove to
declare that he would challenge Johnson for
the Democratic presidential nomination.
• Senator Robert Kennedy also entered the
race for the Democratic nomination.
• Johnson announced he would not run again.
Presidential Election of 1968
1968: The Pivotal Year (cont.)
• Violent events of 1968:
− In April, James Earl Ray was arrested for
assassinating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
− Two months later, Robert Kennedy was
gunned down.
− A chaotic and well-publicized clash
between antiwar protesters and police
happened at the Democratic National
Convention in Chicago.
Who won the 1968 presidential election?
A. Republican Richard Nixon
B. Democrat Hubert Humphrey
0%
C
B
A. A
B. B
0% C
0%
C.
A
C. Independent George Wallace
The War Winds Down
How did the war end and
how did it affect
Americans?
Do you believe everything the
government tells you?
A. Yes
B. No
A. A
B. B
0%
A
0%
B
Nixon Moves to End the War
While unrest and suspicion of the
government grew, the United States
finally withdrew its troops from
Vietnam.
Nixon Moves to End the War (cont.)
• Nixon appointed Harvard professor Henry
Kissinger as special assistant for national
security affairs and gave him wide authority
to use diplomacy to end the Vietnam War.
– Kissinger embarked upon a policy he
called linkage.
– He also rekindled peace talks with the
North Vietnamese.
Nixon Moves to End the War (cont.)
• Nixon reduced the number of American
troops in Vietnam, known as
Vietnamization.
• In late 1969, Americans learned that, in the
spring of 1968, an American platoon under
the command of Lieutenant William Calley
had massacred unarmed South Vietnamese
civilians, mostly old men, women, and
children.
U.S. Troops in Vietnam, 1964–1974
Nixon Moves to End the War (cont.)
• The actions of Calley convinced many that
the war was brutal and senseless.
• During protests against the invasion of
Cambodia, Ohio National Guard soldiers
killed four students at Kent State University
in Ohio.
• Ten days later, police killed two African
American students during a demonstration at
Jackson State College in Mississippi.
Nixon Moves to End the War (cont.)
• In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg leaked what
became known as the Pentagon Papers to
the New York Times.
• These papers confirmed that the government
had not been honest with the public about
the war in Vietnam.
• Just weeks after Nixon was reelected, peace
negotiations with North Vietnam and South
Vietnam broke down.
Nixon Moves to End the War (cont.)
• To force North Vietnam to resume
negotiations, the Nixon administration began
the most destructive air raids of the entire
war, known as the “Christmas bombings.”
• After 8 years of war, the warring sides signed a
peace agreement on January 27, 1973.
• Two years after the United States pulled its
troops out of Vietnam, the North Vietnamese
army launched a full-scale invasion of the
South.
Nixon Moves to End the War (cont.)
• Without American assistance, the North
Vietnamese united Vietnam under
Communist rule.
The Legacy of Vietnam
The Vietnam War made a negative
impact on the way in which Americans
viewed international conflicts, as well
as their own government.
The Legacy of Vietnam (cont.)
• Approximately 58,000 young Americans died
and more than 300,000 were injured in
Vietnam.
• Around 1 million North and South
Vietnamese soldiers died, as did countless
civilians.
• Many soldiers found it hard to escape the
war’s psychological impact.
The Legacy of Vietnam (cont.)
• The war also remained unresolved for the
American families whose relatives and
friends were classified as prisoners of war
(POWs) or missing in action (MIA).
• In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers
Act as a way to reestablish some limits on
executive power.
• Together with the Watergate scandal,
Vietnam made Americans more wary
of their leaders.
The War Powers Act
Why were there relatively few welcome-home
parades and celebrations after the war?
A. Lack of money to celebrate
B. Many Americans wanted to
forget a war the U.S. lost.
0%
D
A
B
C0%
D
C
0%
A
D. Out of respect for the
POWs and MIAs
B
C. There were too many
soldiers to recognize.
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
Causes of the Vietnam War
• During World War II, the United
States helps the people of Indochina
fight the Japanese, who had invaded
the region.
• After World War II, France refuses
to give independence to the people
of Indochina and sends troops to
reestablish control.
• Led by Ho Chi Minh, the Vietminh fight the French. Ho
Chi Minh wants Vietnam to be independent but also
wants to build a Communist society in Vietnam.
Causes of the Vietnam War
• Concerned about the spread of
communism, President Eisenhower
sends aid to help the French retain
control in Vietnam.
• After losing the battle of Dien Bien
Phu, France pulls out of Vietnam.
The Geneva Accords create North
and South Vietnam.
• Ho Chi Minh becomes the leader of North Vietnam and
makes it a Communist nation allied with the USSR and
China. North Vietnam begins arming guerrillas to fight
the South Vietnamese government.
Causes of the Vietnam War
• American leaders become worried
that a “domino effect” might cause all
of Southeast Asia to fall to
communism if South Vietnam falls.
• President Kennedy sharply increases
military aid to South Vietnam.
• President Johnson escalates U.S.
involvement and gains war powers
after the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
Effects of the Vietnam War
• Americans applaud President
Johnson’s response to a Vietcong
attack with aggressive air strikes.
• United States commits over
380,000 ground troops to fighting
in Vietnam by the end of 1966.
• American people question the government’s honesty
about the war, creating the so-called “credibility gap.”
• The war casualties and the unfair draft system cause
civil unrest.
Effects of the Vietnam War
• The wartime economy hurts
domestic spending for programs
such as the Great Society.
• President Nixon is elected largely
on promises to end the war and
unite a divided country.
• Congress passes the War Powers Act
to limit the power of the president
during wartime.
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