1953-1973. allies france united states pres. jfk pres. lyndon b. johnson gen. westmoreland ...
TRANSCRIPT
The Vietnam War1953-1973
Players
ALLIES
France United States Pres. JFK Pres. Lyndon B.
Johnson Gen.
Westmoreland Robert McNamara Pres. Richard
Nixon
COMMUNISTS
VietnamSoviet Union
Ho Chi MinhVietcong
(communist guerilla fighters)
Background
French Colony
Independence Movement
French troops surrender
Vietnam ÷
N Vietnam=CommunistS Vietnam=non-
communist
Causes for U.S. Involvement
•Keep France as an ally
•Contain the “spread of Communism”
•Afraid of the domino theory
U.S. Actions
$$$ to S. Vietnam through SEATO
1961=Pres. JFK sends
U.S. Military Advisors
“Gulf of Tonkin Resolution” (gave Pres. Johnson power to commit troops to warw/out approval of
Congress)
U.S. Actions…
Napalm: jellied gasoline
Agent Orange-defoliant
The Draft College-bound
students exempt
1965=Pres. Johnson
More More groundairstrikes
troops
strategy ofSec. of Defense, McNamara & Gen.
Westmoreland
Strategies & Tactics
UNITED STATES
Napalm
Agent Orange
My Lai American troops
killed over 400 unarmed Vietnamese in My Lai village.
VIETCONG
Guerilla Warfare
“booby traps”
Tet Offensive Attack by Vietcong & N.
Vietnamese on S. Vietnam & U.S. forces at the beginning of Tet (New Year), 1968
Homefront
•Hawks: Supported war
•Doves: Questioned war
•SDS (Students for a Democratic Society):
•Against racism•Against poverty•Against war•Became leading anti-war group
Kent State University
Members of the National Guard fired into a group of protesters, killing 4.
“Credibility Gap”
Differences between realistic journalists’ reports
& optimistic government reports
regarding the war.
The Pentagon Papers
Documents that showed that the government had been dishonest
with the American public
and with Congress
regarding the Vietnam War.
End of War
“Vietnamization” Pres. Nixon’s belief that the South
Vietnamese Army should fight on its own.
Paris Peace Accords, 1973 Signed by U.S., S. Vietnam, N. Vietnam &
Vietcong agreeing to the withdrawal of U.S. troops in S. Vietnam
Effects of Vietnam War
South Vietnam united with Communist North Vietnam
›58, 000 Americans killedReturn to “isolationism”Distrust of government leaders1973 War Powers Act
Restricted the President’s authority to commit troops to foreign conflicts