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Napalm
The Vietnam War 1965-1973
Our Longest War Comes To An End
Democratic National Convention of 1968
• The Democrats met in Chicago in 1968 to hold their convention and choose their presidential candidate
• Easier said then done: LBJ decided not to run for reelection, the leading Democratic presidential candidate was assassinated, and the party was split on how to handle the war in Vietnam
• 10,000 antiwar protestors showed up – Millions of Americans watched the chaos on television
June 5, 1968
The Presidential Election of 1968
• Richard M. Nixon makes a political comeback from his 1960 defeat and wins the presidential nomination from the Republican party
• He goes up against Democrat Hubert Humphrey – Vice President under Johnson
• George Wallace (former governor of Alabama)– Championed school segregation– Proponent of states’ rights
• Who do you think wins?
Nixon Begins Pullout
• President Nixon and his National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, come up with a withdrawal plan – Vietnamization- Nixon’s strategy for ending
U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War by the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and their replacement with South Vietnamese forces
• By August 1969, the first 25,000 U.S. troops returned home
My Lai Massacre
• In November of 1969, the New York Times broke the story:
• March 16, 1968, a U.S. platoon was searching for Vietcong rebels in the small village of My Lai
• They found none, but rounded up the villagers and shot more than 200 innocent civilians– Women, children, elderly
My Lai Massacre
Invasion of Cambodia
• On April 30, 1970, Nixon announced troops had invaded Cambodia to clear out Vietcong and North Vietnamese supply centers
• Congress then repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• More than 1.5 million students went on strike, closing down 1,200 campuses
Tragedy at Kent State
May 4, 1970 Kent State University
• http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/02/kent.state.ap/index.html
Will This War Ever End?!
• 1971- 60% of Americans thought we should withdraw from Vietnam
• March 1972- North Vietnamese launch their largest attack on South Vietnam since the Tet Offensive– Nixon responded with a heavy bombing campaign,
which halted the North Vietnamese attack
• Nixon realizes he must end this war if he wants to win reelection in November 1972
Suspected Vietcong soldiers
Interrogating a Vietcong suspect
American Involvement Ends
• January 27, 1973 “Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam” was signed– North Vietnamese troops would peacefully
remain in South Vietnam – Nixon said he would respond with full force if
the peace was broken
• On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left for home
All For Not?
• For America, the war was over in 1973
• Within months, the peace between North and South Vietnam collapsed
• On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon and captured the city– South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam– Vietnam is now a united, Communist nation
War Facts
• The Vietnam war became our longest war ever
• In all, 58,000 American troops died in Vietnam– 303,000 wounded
• North and South Vietnamese deaths topped 2 million
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The War Is Over, Pain Is Not
• No brass bands, no victory parades, no cheering crowds
• 15% of the 3.3. Million soldiers who served developed post-traumatic stress disorder– Reoccurring nightmares, severe headaches,
memory lapses
• Others began abusing drugs and alcohol• Several thousand committed suicide
Aftermath of the Vietnam War
• Government abolished the draft, which aroused so much anti-war sentiment
• Passed the War Powers Act– President must inform congress within 48 hours
of sending forces into a hostile area without a declaration of war
• Overall, citizens lost faith and trust in their government
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
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