Vietnam War 1964 - 1973

Ho Chi Minh- leader of Vietnamese Independence

movement. Later led Communist South Vietnam against North Vietnam to

reunite the country.

Dien Bien Phu- The French defeat will lead to the Geneva Accords and French withdrawal from

Vietnam.

Geneva Accords 1956 – divides Vietnam into North (Communist) and South (non-communist)

Domino Theory- developed during the Eisenhower presidency. If one Asian country falls to Communism, then others will soon follow.

America’s policy of Containment and the belief in the Domino Theory will ultimately lead the U.S. into a war in Southeast Asia (Vietnam)

President John Kennedy with wife Jackie, seconds before being assassinated in Dallas Texas – November 22, 1963

Vice President Lyndon Johnson being sworn in on Air Force One. LBJ will begin to increase U.S. military involvement in Vietnam soon after becoming President.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – Congress gives LBJ authority to use military action in Vietnam after it is reported that a North Vietnamese

gunboat attacked an American warship in the Gulf of Tonkin near Vietnam.

Tet Offensive – North Vietnamese army (Vietcong)

attack American bases throughout South Vietnam on New Years Day (Tet) 1968.

This surprise attack is repulsed by American and S. Vietnamese

troops, but the attack goes against what LBJ has been

telling the American public, that the Vietcong were on the verge of defeat. The Tet offensive will lead to an increase in anti-war protesting in the United States and a “credibility gap” with the

government.

My Lai Massacre – American troops under command of Lt. Calley kill over 200 villagers at My Lai which is supected by the military to be

harboring enemy combatants. Calley is later convicted of war crimes and serves a 5 year sentence in prison. This incident fuels greater

anti-war protest and more Americans ask what is the purpose of U.S. troops in Vietnam

Nixon Misleads

• Nixon orders the secret bombing and invasion of neighboring Cambodia and Laos as a way to disrupt enemy supply lines (Ho Chi Minh Trail)

• The American public becomes upset because he denied it.

Kent State Shooting - Ohio National Guardsmen shoot and kill 4 students and wound others during an anti-war protest.

Similar incident occurs at Jackson State College in Mississippi

President Richard M. Nixon (Nixon vs. NY Times)

President Nixon tried to stop the New York Times from publishing a secret Document about JFK and LBJ’s policies regarding the early part of the war.The Supreme Court ruled that freedom of the press outweighed national security concerns in this case.

Vietnamization and American Troop Withdrawals – Nixon decided that the fighting should be turned over to the South Vietnamese and began to withdraw American troops in 1970. By early 1973, the last fighting troops left Vietnam. This photo shows an American helicopter evacuating Vietnamese refugees from the American embassy as Communist North Vietnam forces have taken over Saigon (S. Vietnam capital) in 1975

Vietnam War Legacy

• War Powers Act 1972

• Credibility Gap • Agent Orange• End of the Draft-

(all volunteer army)• Iraq and

Afghanistan