The Vietnam War

Khrushchev

Became the new Soviet leader following the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953.

Dwight Eisenhower

President of the United States in 1952-1960.

Military hero of WWII who was concerned about the spread of communism

and Soviet aggression.

Eisenhower Doctrine

Stated that the United States would not hesitate to aid any country in the

Middle East that asked for help resisting communist aggression.

Domino Theory

Theory held that if one nation fell to communism, then its neighboring

nations would soon fall as well.

Vietnam A Small Southeast Asian country where fighting erupted following WWII when

Vietnamese nationalists wanted independence from France.

North and South Vietnam were split at the 17th parallel.

Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

An area that both militaries are

required to stay out of in order to

create a buffer between nations. In

Vietnam, a five mile wide DMZ was

established between the North and

South along the 17th parallel.

Dien Bien Phu

In 1946, war broke out between communist insurgents in North Vietnam,

called the Viet Minh, and the French Colonial government. In the spring of

1954, the Viet Minh surrounded and destroyed the primary French fortress

in North Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu. The defeat was so disastrous for the

French that they decided to withdraw from Vietnam.

Geneva Accords (1954)

After the fall of the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu, an international

conference was called in Geneva in 1954 to discuss the status of the war in

Vietnam. The delegates of the conference decided that Vietnam should be

divided into North and South at the seventeenth parallel until national elections

took place in 1954. The elections were never held. The conference also created an

area known as the demilitarized zone.

Ho Chi Minh

North Vietnamese leader who had lead the resistance against the Japanese

during WW II and at the end of the war had led the uprising against the

French Colonial government. He had traveled in Europe, was an ardent

Communist, and became President of the North Vietnamese [communist]

government established after the French withdrawal. Often called the

George Washington of North Vietnam.

Military Advisors

U.S. soldiers sent to train South Vietnam soldiers against communist rebels

between 1958 to 1964.

U-2 Incident

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailp

age&v=9Y8zB7arc_M

A U.S. U-2 spy plane shot down over the Soviet Union in May of 1960.

He experienced 61 consecutive days of

interrogation by the KGB and was tried

and convicted for espionage and was set

to spend up to ten years in prison,

including seven years of hard labor.

U-2 Pilot

Gary Powers

The U-2 pilot was hit by an

anti-aircraft missile about

1,300 miles inside the Soviet

border after launching from a

clandestine U.S. military base

in Pakistan, near to Peshawar.

The United States at first

denied the plane was used for

military reconnaissance.

They said it was a NASA test

plane.

This photo, officially released

in Moscow in 1960, shows the

Russian people viewing the

wreckage of a US U-2

reconnaissance plane shot

down over Soviet territory .

Eventually, Powers was

freed from prison after a

dramatic trade off for

Soviet spy Rudolf Abel on

Berlin's Glienicke Bridge.

Election of 1960

John F. Kennedy (Massachusetts Senator) vs. Richard Nixon (Incumbent Vice

president)

First televised Presidential debates.

John Kennedy won by a narrow margin because Kennedy was Catholic.

The Nixon-Kennedy Presidential Debates (1960): Were the first ever televised. Many consider that these debates

helped undecided voters to favor Kennedy because of his charisma and good looks. At the same time, Nixon

looked tired and ill-prepared. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xgj4TNkZeE

Fidel Castro

Communist leader of Cuba who came to power following the 1959 Cuban

revolution. Castro allied himself with the Soviet Union alarming the United

States.

Bay of Pigs

A small army of anti-Castro Cuban exiles were trained and financed by the

U.S. in the hope their invasion would lead to a popular uprising to overthrow

the Communist government.

The invasion on April 17, 1961 received no popular support and was quickly

wiped out by Castro's forces and it turned out to be a terrible failure and a

huge embarrassment for the Kennedy administration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=8qXZp8bxpNY&feature=player_

detailpage

Berlin Wall

A wall built by the communist that separated communist East Berlin from

democratic West Berlin to keep people from fleeing to West Berlin.

Cuban Missile Crisis [October 1962]

Castro allowed the Soviets to secretly put nuclear missiles in Cuba in October

1962.

Kennedy responded by authorizing a naval blockade of the island.

Soviets withdraw the missiles in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba.

Cuba was caught in the middle between the US and Soviet Union. After the US put nukes in Turkey, the Soviet

Union put nukes in Cuba. This is the closest the US and Soviet Union ever came to nuclear war. Soviet Union

agrees, after intense pressure to remove the missiles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp6FQvVLUos

Cuban Missile Crisis: The Evidence [October 1962]

Range of the Cuban Missiles

Cuba is 90 Miles from the Florida Coast

Do Now: What’s the Message?

HW: Write a paragraph discussing whether or not You would

have handled the situation differently than President

Kennedy?

Robert McNamara

U.S. Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War.

Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey

Oswald. Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby two days after Kennedy's

assassination. The Warren Commission, a Federal investigation on Kennedy’s

assassination stated that Oswald was Kennedy's lone assassin.

President Kennedy’s Motorcade in Dallas, Texas on

Nov. 22, 1963 moments before shots rang out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXRGKyVuRkA

Assassination of President Kennedy Map

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcmcD8QvQvo&feature=player_detailpage

Assassination of President Kennedy

And the nation mourned as JFK Jr.

saluted his father’s coffin.

Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald two days after

Kennedy’s assassination. There are many who are

convinced that Lee Harvey Oswald did not pull the

trigger, but there was a conspiracy.

Lyndon B. Johnson

President of the United States after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Because of the grief and loss of President Kennedy, the House and Senate passed many of

Kennedy's proposals under Johnson.

Barry Goldwater

Ran for President in 1964 against Lyndon B. Johnson.

Goldwater alienated people and was believed to be too conservative. He was

perceived as an extremist who advocated the use of nuclear weapons if

needed to win the war in Vietnam. LBJ won by the largest margin ever.

Johnson won the election of 1964.

Johnson vowed that he would not

lose Vietnam to the Communists.

Great Society

President Johnson’s plan to wage war against poverty.

He implemented several programs such as free school

Lunches and section 8 housing.

It was put on hold during the Vietnam War.

Saigon

South Vietnamese capital during the Vietnam War.

Ngo Kinh Diem

Established a United States-supported government in South Vietnam.

Diem was overthrown and killed by members of his own military in 1963.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detail

page&v=vw_7vZ00IrI

Thích Quảng Đức who was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by

the South Vietnamese government led by Ngo Dinah Nhu burned

himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on June 11, 1963.

International pressure on Diệm led him to announce reforms with the

intention of mollifying the Buddhists, but the promised reforms were

not implemented. Instead, ARVN Special Forces loyal to Diệm's

launched nationwide raids on Buddhist pagodas. Several Buddhist

monks followed Quang Duc's example by also immolating themselves.

Eventually, an Army coup toppled Diệm, who was assassinated on 2

November 1963.

Gulf of Tonkin

After North Vietnamese gun boats assaulted American ships that were

organizing air strikes and military moves, Johnson and his advisers drafted

the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that committed the United States in Vietnam. It

was passed by Congress and gave Johnson a "blank check," granting him full

authority against North Vietnamese forces. This led to the increased U.S.

involvement in Vietnam.

Viet Cong

Communist-trained South Vietnamese rebels who aided the North Vietnamese

against the South. During the Vietnam War, United States soldiers frequently

had trouble distinguishing between the friendly South Vietnamese and the Viet

Cong.

U.S. Strategies for Winning the Vietnam War

Fought a hi-tech war, using B52 bombers, artillery, helicopters, napalm and

defoliants (Agent Orange). This killed many innocent civilians, and failed

to stop the Vietcong guerrillas.

They forced the peasants to leave Vietcong-controlled areas and made them live

in defended strategic hamlets in loyal areas. This created immense opposition,

and allowed Vietcong infiltrators into loyal areas.

American troops were sent on search & destroy patrols supported by air

and artillery when attacked. This demoralized the soldiers, who realized they

were being used just as bait.

Story of David and Goliath

U.S. Strategies for Winning the Vietnam War

Air superiority

Body counts

Search and destroy missions

Firebases Helicopters

NVA and Viet Cong Strategies /Tactics

They fought a guerrilla war, ambushing US patrols, setting booby traps and

landmines, and planting bombs in towns. They mingled in with the peasants,

wearing ordinary clothes. The Americans couldn't identify who the enemy was.

Their tactic was "hanging onto the belts" of the Americans, staying so close to the

Americans so they could not use air or artillery backup without killing their own

men.

NVA and Viet Cong Traps

NVA and Viet Cong Traps

NVA and Viet Cong Traps

NVA and Viet Cong Traps

NVA and Viet Cong Traps

NVA and Viet Cong Traps

NVA and Viet Cong Traps

Bouncing Betty

There were other types of booby traps,

and an array of explosive mine

devices. Mines were the most harmful,

were made from almost anything that

was available, and had various setups

and triggering methods. In Vietnam,

mines and booby traps caused about

11% of the deaths and 17% of wounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo7XBaG_-SE

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Viet Cong were supplied with rockets and weapons by China and Russia. They

used the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a jungle route through Laos and Cambodia, to

supply their armies. The Americans couldn't attack their supply routes without

escalating the war.

Operation Rolling Thunder

In February 1965, President Johnson ordered Operation Rolling Thunder, a

massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam.

The bombings destroyed bridges, supply lines, and villages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0rImC7_kq0

Tet Offensive (January 1968)

In January 1968, the NVA captured a number of towns in South Vietnam.

The North Vietnamese lost 58,000 men, including many officers. Their morale

was damaged, the offensive proved that they could not defeat the Americans by

direct attack.

It took the Americans a month to recover the towns and U.S. confidence was

badly shaken. The U.S. won the Tet Offensive, but realized that it would never

defeat the Vietcong and led many people in the U.S. to question how the

government was handling the war and whether US troops should be there at

all.

The recapture of Hue: witnessed intense street

fighting. As one soldier commented, “ In order to

save Hue, we had to destroy Hue.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvYp6bCP6TY

My Lai Massacre A notorious incident in which United States troops massacred at least 100 and

perhaps as many as 200 civilians in the hamlet of My Lai.

When the American public began to hear about the My Lai massacre, anti-war

sentiment swelled, as many were horrified to hear about the United States' role in

so many civilian deaths.

Lt. Calley was sentenced to life

imprisonment by a military court. He only

served a few months before President Nixon

pardoned him.

Two groups formed in the U.S. affected by the Vietnam

War.

. Hawks (Pro-War) Wanted the government to allow the

military to do whatever was necessary to win.

Doves (Anti-war)

• Pacifists- This group did not believe in war.

• Radicals- Upper middle-class (college students)

• Anti-war liberals- questioned the Vietnam War

on moral and practical grounds

Impact of anti-war protest

Encouraged the North Vietnamese government to continue its activities in

South Vietnam.

Hawks (Pro-War)

Doves (Anti-war)

Draft

Compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the military. The

United States discontinued the draft in 1973, moving to an all-volunteer

military force.

Many draft-age males burned

their draft cards as a means of

protesting the Vietnam War.

Others fled to Canada or Went

into hiding elsewhere.

Draft-card burning was a symbol of

protest performed by thousands of

young American men as part of the

opposition to the involvement of the

United States in the Vietnam War.

Some activists burned their draft

cards at anti-war rallies and

demonstrations.

In August 1965, the United States

Congress enacted a law which

punished anyone who "knowingly

destroys, knowingly mutilates" his

draft card.

Subsequently, 46 men were indicted

for burning their draft cards. The act

of draft card burning was defended as

a symbolic form of free speech, a

constitutional right guaranteed by the

First Amendment. The Supreme Court

decided against the draft card

burners; it determined that the federal

law was justified and that it was

unrelated to the freedom of speech.

This outcome was criticized by legal

experts.

Students for a Democratic Society

Launched large protests against the war and supported a number of social

causes, such as civil rights.

Flower Children

Hippies who were unified by their rejection of traditional values and

assumptions of Western society.

ROCK-N-ROLL

Opposition of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

The Anti-War Movement

Featured students and other activists calling for the US to withdraw its troops

from Vietnam.

Protesters filled college campuses and marchers constantly picketed the

White House, accusing the president of heartlessly sending young US men to

die in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knsEeegLdH8

Opposition of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

•Anti-War Demonstrations

•Draft Card Burnings

•A.W.O.L. (Military personnel would hide to avoid going

to Vietnam.)

Celebrity Jane Fonda: Anti-War Patriot or Traitor?

Jane Fonda angered

many Americans

when she went to

North Vietnam to

protest the United

States involvement

in Vietnam. Her

actions still haunt

her today.

According to rumors, when a group of POWs were

brought out to visit with Fonda ...she walked the line,

shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging

snippets like: "Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?"

& "Are you grateful for the humane treatment from

your benevolent captors?" Many of the POW's were

listed as missing in action so to identify themselves to

American authorities, they each wrote their Social

Security numbers on small pieces of paper and slipped

them to Fonda as she greeted them. To their horror,

however, after Fonda finished meeting them, she turned

to the North Vietnamese commanding officer and

handed him the POW's pieces of paper. In the beatings

that followed, three American POW's died.

While we were fighting the Vietnam War, Jane Fonda

went to North Vietnam to pose for propaganda pictures

with people who were killing Americans. Most

notoriously, she was photographed at a Vietnamese anti-

aircraft gun. She also did Tokyo Rose style broadcasts,

attacking her own nation.

Why Did the War Arouse So Much Opposition in

America?

It was hard for Americans to believe that they were defending America by

fighting in a war 8,000 miles away.

Extensive media coverage brought all the failures and horrors of the war

into US homes.

Atrocities such as the massacre at My Lai undermined the moral authority

of the US to continue the war.

The cost of the war meant that the US president Lyndon B. Johnson had to

cancel his Great Society program of reform.

The war was opposed particularly by Martin Luther King and by America's

black community (because wealthier white men could avoid the draft by

going to university or to Canada, and young black men were twice as likely

to be killed).

Johnson’s Fall from Popularity

The U.S. involvement in Vietnam was the primary cause in Johnson's decline

in popularity.

Johnson decided not to run for reelection in 1968.

Assassination of Robert Kennedy (June 1968)

President John F. Kennedy's younger brother and democratic presidential

hopeful in 1968 was assassinated after his victory speech after winning

the California primary.

*Sirhan Sirhan- A Palestinian that shot Robert Kennedy because of Kennedy’s

strong support of Israel.

Hubert Humphrey

Democrat nominated for president in 1968

Democratic Party Convention Riot (Chicago) August 1968

Anti-War protesters disrupted the Democratic National Convention in Chicago

in 1968.

With national media coverage, thousands of anti-war protestors, African-

Americans and Democratic supporters were clubbed by Major Daley's police.

Chicago 7

The defendants arrested at the Democratic National Convention.

Although found guilty the courts overturned their convictions and they served

no jail time.

Richard Nixon

Became president in January 1969 after Johnson decided not to run for re-

election in 1968.

Nixon pledged to reduce the numbers of US troops in Southeast Asia.

Vietnamization

Nixon's policy of building up the South Vietnamese army in order to allow

American troops to begin withdrawing from Vietnam.

Nixon expressed his support for a policy of "Vietnamization" and announced his

authorization of substantial increases in training and equipment to the South

Vietnamese.

President Nixon felt that a rash and reckless withdrawal of American Troops from Vietnam would be a mistake. He

proposed to make the withdrawal much more gradual, in step with his "Vietnamization," policy.

Cambodia

In April 1970, Nixon authorized US troops to invade Cambodia for the purpose

of destroying Communist training camps and the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Technically illegal because Cambodia and Laos were neutral, but done because

North Vietnam was itself illegally moving its troops through those areas.

The U.S. invasion of Cambodia set off a firestorm of anti-war protest in the United States.

Kent State Site of a student, anti-war protest that resulted in National Guardsmen shooting

and killing four people and wounding nine others.

Four students were killed by Ohio State guardsmen at Kent State (Ohio) while protesting the war in

Vietnam. The incident began when the students began throwing stones at the soldiers guarding the ROTC

building.

Pentagon Papers

In 1971 when the New York Times began publishing portions of papers by

former secretary of defense, Robert McNamara that documented the history of

U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

The papers revealed that the executive branch had lied to Congress concerning

the war.

Presidents had made secret decisions and undertaken unapproved military

actions.

New York Times Co. v. U.S. (1971)

The U.S. government sued the New York Times for publishing the

Pentagon Papers.

The Supreme Court ruled that the Times had done nothing wrong and that

the paper had the right, under the First Amendment, to publish the

articles.

Ping Pong Diplomacy

Ping Pong Diplomacy would facilitate the beginning of a friendlier relationship

between the US and China.

During the period of 6-17 April 1971, the game would prove to be the uniting

link between two countries with vastly different cultures and political

ideologies.

Opening of China

U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China

was an important step in formally

normalizing relations between the United States and the People's Republic of

China.

It marked the first time a U.S. president had visited the People's Republic of

China, which at that time considered the U.S. one of its staunchest foes.

The visit ended 25 years of separation between the two sides.

Paris Peace Accords Officially ended the US involvement in Vietnam in January 1973.

The Paris agreement called for:

•The withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam within 60 days.

•The release of prisoners of war.

•All parties involved would end military activities in Laos and

Cambodia.

•The 17th parallel would continue to divide North and South

Vietnam.

Although the Americans left Vietnam in 1973, we continued to support the South Vietnamese army with

financial and military aid.

War Powers Act 1973

Gave any president the power to go to war under certain circumstances, but

required that he could only do so for 90 days before being required to

officially bring the matter before Congress.

The Broken Peace- Fall of Saigon

After the U.S. troops left Vietnam, the North Vietnamese forces launched an all

out offensive in April 1975.

The U.S. decided not to return troops and South Vietnam had to defend itself.

North Vietnamese easily overran South Vietnam as they massacred thousands of

South Vietnamese.

Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam was ruined, its

infrastructure was destroyed,

thousands of its people had been

killed, and its farmland was polluted

by American chemical warfare. It

remains one of the poorest countries

in the world.

Why Did America Lose the Vietnamese War?

Americans Vietcong

•The American hi-tech tactics

continually killed the wrong people

and demoralized their own troops.

•The Vietcong's guerrilla tactics were

appropriate to the nature of the conflict.

•The US was trying to supply a war

8,000 miles from America.

•The Vietcong were supplied with

weapons by China and Russia.

•The South Vietnamese regime was

weak, brutal, and corrupt.

•The South Vietnamese peasants

supported and sheltered the Vietcong.

•Their short (one-year) tour of service

meant that American troops were

always inexperienced.

•The Vietcong had been continuously at

war since they resisted the Japanese

during the Second World War.

•The morale of Americans soldiers

was rock bottom; they took drugs,

shot their officers ('fragging') and

deserted.

•The Vietcong were fanatically

determined to drive out the Americans,

whatever the cost.

•The war became very unpopular in

the US, and lost public support.

•The North Vietnamese were motivated,

fighting at home to unite their country.

The Impact on America

58,000 Americans died in Vietnam.

The war had cost so much that President Johnson's Great Society program of social reform had to be cancelled.

Loss of confidence: It was nearly 20 years before America again intervened militarily in world affairs.

News of atrocities such as the killings at My Lai lost the US its claim to moral superiority, and its status as the world's defender of freedom and right.

700,000 Vietnam veterans suffered psychological after-effects.