Vietnam War – Part III

Reality of the Vietnam War As the war went on, evidence mounted that America

had been entrapped in an Asian civil war, fighting against highly motivated rebels who were striving to overthrow an oppressive regime

Johnson was bent on “saving” Vietnam and assured Americans he could see “the light at the end of the tunnel”

Tet Offensive The Viet Cong and North

Vietnamese launched a major offensive

The Tet Offensive included surprise attacks on 27 major cities, towns, and American military bases throughout South Vietnam

Even though they were turned back with heavy losses, the Viet Cong had won a psychological victory

Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive demonstrated that:

The Viet Cong could launch attacks anywhere they wanted Johnson’s strategy of gradual escalation would not work The war would continue for many more years

Images of the fighting on TV continued to increase reservations towards the war

American military leaders requested 200,000 more troops

End of LBJ In March 1968, after losing the New Hampshire

primary, President Johnson announced in a television address that: Bombing north of the 20th parallel would be

stopped He announced he would not seek reelection

Vietnam War Policies ofJohnson and Nixon

War was winnable

Escalated U.S. involvement

War was not winnable, but wanted “peace with honor”, which meant a “decent interval” between U.S. withdrawal and the defeat of S. Vietnam

Vietnamization deescalated the war (except invasion of Cambodia & Laos)

Vietnam War Policies ofJohnson and Nixon

Increased bombing, but would decrease bombing to try to negotiate an end to the war

Increased bombing to try to negotiate an end to the war

Triangular diplomacy with USSR and China had the hopes of those two countries pressuring N. Vietnam to negotiate

Vietnam War Policies ofJohnson and Nixon

Neither wanted to be the first U.S. president to lose a war

Both inherited the war from earlier administrations Both saw the war as a part of the larger picture of the

Cold War Both faced increasing public protest Both kept information from the public Both were concerned about Chinese involvement Both were interested in negotiating an end to the war Both had domestic policies that distracted in the war

effort

Vietnamization

Plan was to withdraw the 540,000 U.S. troops in South Vietnam over an extended period

The South Vietnamese, with American money, weapons, training, and advice, could then gradually take over the burden of fighting their own war

Nixon Doctrine – the U.S. would honor its existing defense commitments, but that in the future, Asians and others would have to fight their own wars without the support of large amounts of American ground troops

Between 1968 and 1972, American troop strength dropped from 543,000 to 39,000

Dove Reaction to Vietnamization and Nixon’s Reaction

Most demanded a prompt and complete withdrawal They staged a massive protest on the Boston

Common in October 1969 with 100,000 people and 50,000 next to the White House

Nixon tried to appeal to the “silent majority” who he believed supported the war

Unleashed the vice-president to attack the “nattering nabobs of negativism” (doves)

Called student antiwar demonstrators “bums”

Reality of the Vietnam War By January 1970, the Vietnam War:

Was the longest in American history 40,000 killed 250,000 wounded 3rd most costly war Became very unpopular

Soldier fought against: Vietnamese enemy Booby traps Hot jungles Couldn’t determine foes

Drug abuse, mutiny, and sabotage dulled the army’s fighting edge. Morale was low

Invasion of Cambodia and Laos

Nixon expanded the war when he bombed and invaded Cambodia and Laos in 1970 (without Congress’ consent) and hid his actions from the public

His goal was to clear out Communist camps there, from which the enemy was mounting attacks on South Vietnam

Nixon’s actions were eventually reported and more protests resulted

Kent State In Ohio, students broke windows

and burned the army ROTC building on campus

In response, the governor of Ohio ordered the National Guard to Kent State

When students threw rocks and empty tear-gas canisters at them, they fired

4 died while 9 others were wounded

Jackson State

In Mississippi, similar violence broke out

A confrontation between students and police left two students dead and 11 wounded

The outbreaks of violence against students shocked the nation

Pentagon Papers

In June 1971, a State Department official, Daniel Ellsberg, leaked a study to the The New York Times called the Pentagon Papers. They revealed that Kennedy and Johnson had lied about the war: The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution had been prepared a

month before the incidents reported The U.S. destroyers had been in North Vietnamese

waters trying to land marines of the South Vietnamese Army on the shore to engage in acts of sabotage

More Antiwar Discontent

They revealed that government officials had lied to Congress and the American people about the war

Such revelations shocked the public and gave a boost to the growing antiwar movement

More Antiwar Discontent Antiwar protestors were

partly pleased when: Congress repealed the

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 26th Amendment was

passed in 1971 – lowering the voting age to 18

Watergate Nixon became increasingly worried about

protestors and political opponents The Committee to Reelect the President

(CREEP) decided to wiretap the phones at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Nixon tried to authorize the CIA to persuade the FBI to stop its investigation on the grounds that the matter involved “national security”

Watergate Members of CREEP gave hush money to

Watergate defendants while the 1972 election was going on

The trial of the Watergate burglars began in January 1973

Nixon decided to prove his innocence by appointing a special Watergate prosecutor, Archibald Cox

The prosecutor asked Nixon for his White House tape recordings, but he refused to give them up

Watergate Nixon ordered the Attorney General to fire Cox When he didn’t, he resigned and Nixon fired Cox

himself The firing set off a series of resignations and firings

(called the “Saturday Night Massacre”) Congress then issued an order for Nixon to turn over

the tapes He refused, citing executive privilege The Supreme Court ruled that Nixon must give up the

tapes because it had nothing to do with national security, as he had claimed

Watergate

Nixon gave up the tapes, which gave clear evidence of Nixon’s involvement in the cover-up

Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974

Vice-President Gerald Ford was sworn in and a month later he pardoned Nixon

Effects of Watergate on the Vietnam War

Nixon would lose congressional support

The credibility gap would widen

It would be a negative distraction from the Vietnam War