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U.S. History
Chapter 22: The Vietnam War Years
BellRinger
 List 3-4 things you know about Vietnam
Origins of the Conflict in
Vietnam
 France controlled Indochina (Vietnam,
Laos, Cambodia) from late 19th century
until WWII
 Exploited natural resources

Rice and rubber
 Who took over during WWII?
Independence Movement in
Vietnam
 Ho Chi Minh


leader of Indochinese Communist Party
forms the Vietminh, an organization to fight
for Vietnam’s independence from foreign
rule
Declared Vietnam an independent nation in
1945
French Indochina War, 19461954
 After WWII, France attempts to re-
establish its rule in Vietnam
 In 1950, the United States entered the
conflict as they helped France with
military and economic aide


Maintaining an ally against Soviet Union
Containment
End of the French Indochina
War
 1954 Dien Bien Phu


Vietminh conquered the main French
outpost at Dien Bien Phu
French were defeated
 Geneva Accords


Peace agreement that temporarily divided
Vietnam at the 17th parallel (North/South)
A unifying election was to be held in 1956
U.S. Presidents and Involvement in
Vietnam Group Assignment
 Analyze the role of each President in the U.S.




involvement in Vietnam
Each group will be given a President
Read documents and discuss the President’s
policies during the Vietnam conflict
Report to the class
When completed, everyone will have the
policies filled in for each of the four Presidents
U.S. Escalation in Vietnam
16000
14000
Advisors
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Eisenhower
1954-1961
Kennedy
1961-1963
U.S. Escalation in Vietnam
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
Troops
100000
0
Johnson
19641969
Nixon
19691974
BELLRINGER
 Initially, why did the United States get
involved in the conflict in Vietnam?
 What was the United States’ role in the
French Indochina War?
BELLRINGER
 In warfare or a sporting event, is it easier
to fight/play against an opponent whose
tactics/strategies are known or
unknown? Please explain.
Vietnam
 Theme: What Made Fighting in Vietnam
So Hard For American Soldiers?
 What is Guerilla Warfare?




Hit and Run Tactics
Who’s the Enemy?
Where’s the Enemy?
Tunnels of the Vietcong
 Video
Clip
The Jungle Terrain in Vietnam
 Excerpt from Red Thunder, Tropic
Lightning
 What were some of the harsh conditions
that soldiers faced in Vietnam?
Reflection
 What made the fighting in Vietnam so
hard for American soldiers?
The Decision to Escalate
 Election of 1964


Lyndon Johnson
“I’m not about to send American boys 910,000 miles away from home and do what
Asian boys should be doing themselves”
 Barry Goldwater

Extreme anti-Communist
The Decision to Escalate cont.
 “Democrats soft on Communism”
 1965: President Johnson begins sending tens
of thousands of American troops to Vietnam
 By the end of 1965, 180,000 American troops
were in Vietnam
 Initially, 61% of Americans supported the
decision

Vital to the safety and security of the United States
and World
Leadership in Vietnam
 General William Westmoreland
 ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam)
 Lacked leadership, training, technology
 Westmoreland continued to ask for more
troops

By 1967, the United States had 500,000
troops in Vietnam
BELLRINGER
List
4-5 things
that made
fighting in
Vietnam hard for
American
soldiers.
Fighting in Vietnam
 Americans predicted a swift defeat?
 Guerilla Warfare

Hit and Run tactics
 Jungle terrain
 Land mines
 Climate
 Underground Tunnels
 Diagram p. 731
Ho Chi Minh Trail
A War of Attrition
 Gradually wearing down the enemy
through continuous harassment

Search and destroy missions
 Introduction of the body count

What was the purpose?
Attrition cont.
 Westmoreland underestimated the
resolve of the Vietcong as they had no
intentions of surrendering
 Vietcong were aided by China and the
Soviet Union with military supplies
 Vietcong viewed the battle as a fight for
their very existence and were prepared
to fight to the death
Napalm and Agent Orange
 Napalm

Gasoline-based
bomb used to set the
jungle on fire
 Agent Orange

leaf-killing toxic
chemical used to
destroy jungle
“Working Class War”
 A “Manipulatable”
Draft
 80% of soldiers
came from lower
economic levels
 Many medical
excuses
 National Guard
 Coast Guard
 College
 African Americans


Served in
disproportionate
numbers
20% of battle
deaths, only
made up 10% of
the population
Roots of Opposition
 New Left
 Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
 Free Speech Movement
 Avoiding the draft
 200,000 draft offenses
 4,000 jailed
 10,000 fled to Canada
 Doves
 Hawks
Tet Offensive
 January 30, 1968
Tet Changes Public Opinion
 Journalist Walker Cronkite

“more certain than ever that the bloody experience
of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate”
 Defense Secretary Clark Clifford

“We seem to be in a sinkhole”
The Nation Turns on President
Johnson
 “If I’ve lost Walter, then it’s over. I’ve lost Mr.
Average Citizen”
 60% of citizens disapproved
Johnson Withdraws
 President Johnson decides to not seek
re-election in 1968
President Nixon and
Vietnamization, 1969-1975
 Vietnamization- Nixon’s plan for the
gradual withdrawal of American troops
from Vietnam

“We have to get rid of the nightmares we
inherited. One of the nightmares is a war
without end.”
 By 1972, American soldiers in Vietnam
was less than 25,000
Peace with Honor
 President Nixon intended to maintain
dignity while removing troops from
Vietnam
 Invading Laos and Cambodia
 Continuing to bomb North Vietnam, chart
p.748
Pentagon Papers
 7,000 page document prepared for
Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. It
revealed plans that the government was
making plans for entering the war in
Vietnam even as President Johnson
promised not to send American troops to
Vietnam
 Confirms Americans distrust of the
government
The End of the War
 After years of negotiations, on January
27, 1973 the U.S. signed an agreement
ending the war
 North Vietnamese troops would remain
in South Vietnam
 March 29, 1973 the last of American
combat forces left Vietnam
End of the War cont.
 Within months of the peace agreement,
the cease-fire agreement between North
and South Vietnam collapsed
 In March of 1975, North Vietnam
launched a full scale attack on South
Vietnam
 Within a month, Saigon fell to North
Vietnam and South Vietnam surrendered
Legacy of the War
 58,000 soldiers died
 365,000 wounded
 15% of the 3.3 million soldiers returned home
with delayed stress syndrome
 War Powers Act- President must inform
Congress within 48 hours if U.S. forces are sent
into a hostile area without a declaration of war.
In addition, the troops cannot remain there for
more than 90 days without Congressional
approval or a declaration of war