The Vietnam War

Why did the U.S. fight the Vietnam War?

Find your seat Staple +place JFK Assignment in HW/LW bin 1960s Quiz– use pen; hand in when finished Take out notebook/ notes (unpinned video Qs) Handouts: • Johnson/Vietnam Policy Document• Vietnam Quiz (practice)• Test Review (HW33)

Background

Vietnamese always struggled for independence 939 A.D. & 1428 won independence from

China 1883 France took over the region Combined with Laos and Cambodia to make

“French Indochina”

Ho Chi Minh

Led the fight for independence Communist 1941 organized resistance movement called

Vietminh Declared independence after WWII U.S. supported France

France was an ally against communism Ho was Communist

Spread of Communism in Asia

1949 Mao Zedong’s Communists took China 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea Vietminh—guerilla tactics: attack without

warning and retreat “domino theory” Eisenhower was willing to commit money, but

did not want another war

DIEN BIEN PHU

Domino Theory

1954 Defeat of French

The fall of one Southeast Asian nation to Communism would prompt neighbors to fall “like dominoes in a row”

Geneva Accords

International agreement on Indochina Supervised cease fire Vietnam divided along 17th parallel North Vietnam—Communist South Vietnam—anti-Communist, French-

sponsored Neither South Vietnam nor United States

signed the agreement

South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)

Defensive military alliance U.S., Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand,

Thailand, Pakistan, and the Philippines Member nations offered to aid, upon request,

Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin

Suspected North Vietnam attacks on U.S. spy ships

Neither ship was actually fired upon U.S. used the incident to escalate the conflict

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

1964 Congress gave President Johnson authority

“to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression”

Increase presidential war powers

Ngo Dinh Diem

president of South Vietnam controversial 1956 election put him in power Anti-Communist Initially supported by U.S. Overthrown in a coup by his own generals and

U.S. Killed in 1963, three weeks before JFK

National Liberation Front (NLF)

Also known as Viet Cong Led by Communists in South Vietnam Opposed Diem Successful tactics

Escalation

Increasing attacks and troop levels without drawing in China or U.S.S.R.

1965--75,000 troops 1966--375,000 troops 1968--500,000 troops

Tet Offensive 1968

North Vietnamese and Vietcong launched a major series of attacks on American military bases and South Vietnam cities

Turned many Americans against the war Johnson decided not to seek reelection

Violence at Home 1968

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, which set off riots throughout the U.S.

Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated while running for president

Clash between protestors and police at 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago

Richard M. Nixon won the election of 1968

Quick Quiz

What did the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution say? What event occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin? What was the most widely used chemical to

clear the forests and expose the land

Nixon

Vietnamization--