The War in Vietnam1954-1973

Background • Vietnam had a 2000 year history of nationalism

• Had consistently fought off Chinese invasions

• Colonized by the French in the late 1800’s

• Both France and Vietnam appealed to the US for help

Ho Chi Minh

• The Vietminh were led by Ho Chi Minh

• The French were defeated at the siege of Dien Bien Phu in 1954

• Vietnam was split until elections could be held.

• North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) vs. The Republic of Vietnam (RVA) and the US

US Involvement• Eisenhower

begins to send “advisors” (500)

• Kennedy increases this number (16000)

• Johnson will GREATLY increase this number (536,000 by 1968)

Domino Theory• If one falls, the rest will follow• This was our FIRM belief in the region (Appeasement!!!)• Johnson’s commitment• Containment

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution• Alleged attack on a

US warship by Vietnamese patrol ships

• LBJ used this to push the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through Congress (416 to 0, 88 to 2)

• Greatly expanded the President’s War Powers

Battlefield Conditions

• Vs. guerilla warfare in the swamps and jungles

Viet Cong could retreat into Laos and Cambodia for protection

Vs. booby traps and land mines

Vs. the intricate tunnel system

• South Vietnamese government was corrupt, and did not help the war effort as much as it could have.

Toll on Civilians• Communist Brutality • Viet Cong Forces killed thousands of civilians as

they were forced from cities

Massacre at My Lai • American forces killed 400 civilians who were

suspected supporting the Viet Cong• American helicopter pilots helped to save many others

Intensifying The War• 1964-1968 LBJ gradually steps up the war in

terms on manpower and dollars

Ho Chi Minh Trail

• Steady stream of supplies that moved through Laos and Cambodia

• Caused LBJ to start bombing North Vietnam

• US never stopped

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Rolling Thunder

• Nonstop, intensive bombing campaign of North Vietnam

Chemical Weapons and Defoliants were used (Agent Orange)

Tet • 1/30/68 – series

of surprise attacks all throughout South Vietnam

• Viet Cong were turned back with very heavy losses

• Government had been telling people that the North Vietnamese were on the verge of surrender

Effects of Tet • showed that the

Viet Cong could still mount major offensive

• images of fighting on American TV turned many against the war

• led many to believe the war was un-winnable

Effects on LBJ’s Presidency

• LBJ went from being a very popular president in 1963/1964, to one of the most unpopular by 1968.

• Vietnam, in effect, wrecked his presidency.

Troop Levels in Vietnam

• 1965 Beginning – 25,000 End – 184,000

• 1966 – 385,000• 1967 – 485,000• 1968 – 536,000

Political Divisions

• Student Activism• Baby Boomers• Sit-ins, Teach-ins• Free Speech Movements

• Resistance to the Vietnam War, and the draft for the War

• Formation of “The New Left” from Student Demonstration Groups

Students for a Democratic Society

• “SDS groups”

• Major college protest group

• Organized protests among student groups

• Protested against Vietnam War and

Johnson Decides not to Run• Tet Offensive

convinces Johnson that he cannot win the war, nor the election, seeks peace with North Vietnam

• Johnson not running causes the Democratic Party to Split into several factions

The Election of 1968• Democratic National Convention results in

protest and rioting• Nixon tells America about his “Secret Plan” to

win the war in Vietnam• Nixon Wins the Election

19681. Assassination of

MLK2. Tet Offensive3. LBJ decides not

to run for re-election

4. RFK is assassinated

5. Democratic National Convention / Election of 1968

6. Passage of the 26th Amendment

The Last Years of the War 1968

• Nixon Elected• Paris peace talks begin

1969

• Nixon announces policy of “Vietnamization”• Formation of the “Weather Underground

Terrorist Group

1970• Nixon calls for

law and order• Appeals to the

“Silent Majority” • Students killed

while protesting at Kent State in OH, and Jackson State in MS

1971

• Nixon meets Elvis

1972• Nixon Re-

elected• US troop

levels in Vietnam fall to 24,000

• North Vietnam renews attacks on South Vietnam

• Nixon orders the most intensive bombing of the war

1973

• US troops are completely withdrawn from Vietnam.

1975

• Saigon falls to the North Vietnamese, the war is over

At Home - 58,000• US Soldiers were

killed, 2500 were either POWs or MIAs. Many returning Vietnam Vets felt unappreciated. Ideas about the war left the country divided for years to come. Vietnam was the longest and least successful war in American history.

• South Vietnam falls to The North Vietnamese army in 1975. Millions of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians died in the war.