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The Vietnam War
Section 1 – Background to Conflict
Opening Questions1.Where is Vietnam?
2.Who is Ho Chi Minh?
3.Why was the U.S. involved there?
A. Vietnam History1. Where is it?
– Easternmost country of Southeast Asia– Bordered by China to the north, Laos and
Cambodia to the west and South China Sea to the east
– Most of population is centered in two areas - Red River delta in the north (Hanoi) and Mekong River delta in the south (Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City)
2. Rice is grown twice a year in the moist, tropical climate
A. Vietnam History3. Chinese occupation –
– 200 BC to 939 AD– Again tried to regain control in the
early 1400s but were ultimately driven off
4. French colonization – – Vietnam granted complete control to
France in 1883– Combined with Laos and Cambodia
to form colony of French Indochina
B. Vietnamese Independence1. Nationalist feelings remained
despite French occupation
2. Ho Chi Minh – “He who enlightens” – Nationalist leader who spent many years living in China and Soviet Union, became committed to communism
B. Vietnamese Independence3. France and Vietminh go to war
a) Who were the Vietminh? • Resistance movement started by Ho • He had secretly returned to Vietnam during
Japanese occupation in 1941
b) Trying to get U.S. support• Ho Chi Minh begins writing letters to
Truman in 1946, asking for help• Cited Declaration of Independence
c) Why was Truman unwilling to support Ho in 1946?
• France was an ally • Didn’t like connections to Communism
B. Vietnamese Independenced) When he took over, Eisenhower held
similar beliefs to Truman• China, Korea, etc.
e) Domino theory –
f) 1954 – U.S. is funding most of France’s effort against Vietminh
g) Dien Bien Phu (May 7, 1954) – In Vietminh-controlled northern Vietnam, French were outnumbered almost 4-to-1 and surrounded, had to surrender to the Vietminh
Ho Chi Minh
“If the tiger ever stands still, the elephant will crush him with his mighty tusks. But the tiger does not stand still…He will leap onto the back of the elephant, tearing huge chunks from his hide, and then the tiger will leap back into the dark jungle. And slowly the elephant will bleed to death. That will be the war of Indochina”.
Ho Chi Minh
“You can kill ten of our men for every one we kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and we will win."
B. Vietnamese Independence4. Geneva Conference
a) Meeting between French and Vietminh to settle Indochina conflict
b) Result – • Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel• Vietminh controlling the north • France regained control of the south with
an election to reunify the country scheduled for July 1956
c) U.S. refused to support the agreement
• Feared that the Communists would win a nationwide election, civil war follows
C. Rule of Ngo Dinh Diem1. Who was Ngo Dinh Diem –
– Anti-communist became president of South Vietnam in 1955 (rigged election)
– Refused to call election in 1956, knowing that the Communists would win
2. Why was Diem unpopular? – Roman Catholic when most were Buddhist – Corrupt and controlling, opponents were
tortured by police
3. Vietcong (National Liberation Front – NLF) – rebel force opposing Diem’s regime, many but not all were Communists
C. Rule of Ngo Dinh Diem4. U.S. involvement grows
a) JFK agreed with domino theory
b) Number of U.S. military advisers increased from 900 to over 16,000 within a few years
– Number of American casualties rose from 14 in 1961 to almost 500 in 1963
C. Rule of Ngo Dinh Diem5. Diem’s overthrow
a) Buddhist leaders openly opposed Diem’s regime• Many were arrested and several others
set themselves on fire in public (self-immolation)
b) U.S. officials threatened to end support
c) U.S. quietly orchestrated coup
d) November 1963 – Diem and his brother are shot and killed, not part of U.S. plan
e) Kennedy was concerned about growing U.S. involvement, said “it is their war” but he was killed three weeks after Diem
The Rusk – McNamara Report (1961)
1. According to the report, what would happen if the Communists took over South Vietnam? Why would this endanger American security interests?
2. What limits, if any, did Rusk and McNamara attach to American involvement in Vietnam? Explain.
3. In what respects did this report epitomize the premises of the Cold War?
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
“We are launched on a course from which there is no respectable turning back: the overthrow of the Diem government. There is no turning back because US prestige is already publicly committed to this end in large measure, and will become more so as facts leak out.”
The Vietnam War
Section 2 –
The War Escalates
Advantages and DisadvantagesU.S. advantages
Better training and technology
Better conventional weapons
Supply of chemical and nuclear weapons
More money
U.S. Disadvantages Poor knowledge of
the terrain Lack of training in
guerilla warfare Weapons ineffective
in jungle fighting Unable to distinguish
between friends and enemies, most in South or North supported Ho Chi Minh
Low morale
A. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution1. Johnson
– McNamara advises Johnson to increase troops
2. 8/2/64– Incident in Gulf of Tonkin– Unprovoked? Did USS Maddox fire first?– 2nd attack?
3. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
1. Full War Powers given to the President – “all necessary measures to repel any armed
attack against forces of the United States”
1. Not everybody happy
Opposition to Gulf of Tonkin
“I believe history will record we have made a great mistake…We are in effect giving the President war-making powers in the absence of a declaration of war.”
Sen. Wayne Morse of Oregon, who was one of just two senators to vote against the resolution
LBJ and Vietnam “I am not going to lose
Vietnam” “They can’t bomb an
outhouse without my approval”
By 1965 50% of South Vietnam was controlled by the Vietcong: “We will not be defeated”, “We will not withdraw”
“Win the hearts and minds of the Vietnam people”
B. U.S Forces in Vietnam1. Escalation – buildup of forces ordered
by LBJ2. April 1965 – Selective Service
authorized to increase draftees– More than 2 million total– At first, most were professional soldiers who
enlisted but more draftees were used as time passed
3. “Blue Collar War” – Deferment of service was given to those in
college or certain jobs– 1967 Stop the Draft Week– 1969 – Lottery system installed, deferments
ended
B. U.S Forces in Vietnam4. The air war
a) Ho Chi Minh Trail• Network of jungle paths used by the
North to bring supplies into South Vietnam
b) Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965) – • Bombing campaign against military
targets in North Vietnam to get a quick victory
• Result – Roads and bridges were quickly repaired or rebuilt by Vietcong or not missed
B. U.S Forces in Vietnam4. The air war
a) Ho Chi Minh Trail
b) Operation Rolling Thunder
c) Types of weapons used – a) Napalm – jellied gasoline mixture used
in firebombs
b) Cluster bombs that sprayed metal fragments
c) Defoliants – chemicals that stripped land of vegetation
• Example: Agent Orange
B. U.S Forces in Vietnam5. The ground war
a) More South Vietnamese joined the Vietcong
b) Increase of U.S. troops – from 185,000 in 1965 to 486,000 by end of 1967
c) Search-and-destroy missions – • “dark room full of spiders”• Attempts to drive Vietcong from
hideouts • Used ground troops to find the enemy
and air support to finish them off
d) Pacification – • Moved residents to new, secure
locations and burned old villages
Hunting the Vietcong!!
B. U.S Forces in Vietnam6. Morale declines
a) Pacification means that body counts were the only measure of success
• Inaccurate if not completely inflated
b) Optimism of a quick victory began to go away
• Troops realized they were fighting a determined enemy on their land, which was unlike anything we were accustomed to
C. Opposition to the War1. By end of 1967, over 16,000 U.S. killed
2. The first TV War– Unprecedented media access – Images from Vietnam on TV news every night
3. Doves – opposed the war– All war was wrong– Vietnam was not important to national security– Fear of nuclear war– Majority of Vietnamese wanted communism
4. Conscientious objector – meaning?
5. Other opponents – MLK – Why?
6. Hawks – supported the war’s goals– Criticized the way the war was being fought
D. Different Opinions1. Defending the war – Secretary of
State Dean Rusk – If the U.S. didn’t support its ally in South
Vietnam, no one would trust us again
2. Against the war – Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright – – Head of the Foreign Relations
Committee criticized administration’s methods and held televised hearings
