Moving Toward Conflict

Mr. White’s US History 2

Main Ideas and Objectives

• Main idea – To stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, the United States used its military to support South Vietnam

• We should be able to:– Summarize Vietnam’s history as a French colony and its struggle for

independence– Examine how the United States became involved in the Vietnam

conflict– Describe the expansion of the U.S. military involvement under

President Johnson

French Rule in Vietnam

• From the late 1800s until World War II, France ruled most of Indochina, which included Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia – used peasant land to grow rice and rubber

• Resistance against the French by Vietnamese peasants began to grow

• French rulers dealt with this harshly, restricting freedom of speech and jailing Vietnamese nationalists – opposition continued to grow

Ho Chi Minh

• The Indochinese Communist Party, founded in 1930, staged revolts under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh

• French condemned Ho Chi Minh, but he was able to coordinate the growing Vietnamese independence movement from the Soviet Union and China

Japanese Control

• In 1940, the Japanese took control of Vietnam in World War II

• Ho Chi Minh came back to Vietnam and formed the Vietminh to win Vietnam’s independence from foreign rule

• When the U.S. forced Japan to leave Vietnam after WWII, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent

France Disagrees

• French troops returned to Vietnam after WWII to reclaim the country

• Ho Chi Minh vowed to fight the French• United States began sending military aid to

France, even though the U.S. had once been allied with Ho Chi Minh against the Japanese

The Domino Theory

• Eisenhower continued the policy of supplying aid to the French

• Many Americans were afraid of the domino theory – if one country became communist, many others would topple soon after, like dominoes

• French were unable to hold Vietnam, and lost in May of 1954• The Geneva Accords temporarily divided Vietnam between a

communist north and anticommunist south

U.S. Steps In

• Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations continued to provide economic and military aid

• Ngo Dinh Diem – president of South Vietnam, supported by the United States

• United States and Diem cancel elections, in return for Diem’s promise that he would set up a stable reform-based government

Diem’s Regime

• Diem doesn’t hold up his end of the bargain– Government is corrupt– Opposition of any kind was suppressed– Little or no land redistribution

• Group opposed to Diem, the Vietcong, forms in South Vietnam (communist group)

• Ho Chi Minh supports the Vietcong, and starts to supply them by the Ho Chi Minh trail, in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia

Kennedy and Vietnam

• Kennedy was accused of being “soft” on communism, so he increases financial aid to Diem’s regime

• Kennedy also sends thousands of military advisors to South Vietnam

• Diem’s popularity begins to decline– Starts moving villagers from their

villagers to camps– Diem, a Catholic, also starts to

attack Buddhism– Several Buddhist monks set

themselves on fire publicly• United States steps in and topples

Diem’s regime

Johnson and Vietnam

• Kennedy had announced his plans to withdraw U.S. forces from South Vietnam

• After Diem is assassinated, a string of military leaders tries to lead the country, fails

• Vietcong’s influence grows• Johnson also doesn’t want to be perceived as

soft on communism, so he commits the U.S. to staying in Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution• August 2, 1964 – North Vietnamese patrol boat fires a

torpedo at an American destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin – torpedo misses, U.S. destroyer inflicts heavy damage on the patrol boat

• Two days later, destroyers reported torpedoes again, and opened fire on patrol boats

• Johnson launches bombing strikes against North Vietnam• Asks Congress for a resolution to give U.S. forces right to repel

any armed attack – not a declaration of war, but gives broad military powers

• Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Tonkin’s Results• Johnson didn’t tell Congress that U.S. had already been

raiding North Vietnam• Destroyer that was fired on had been in the Gulf to collect

information for these raids• Johnson’s Tonkin resolution had been prepared months

beforehand, but he was waiting for the time to propose it to Congress

• Johnson uses his newly granted powers to launch, “Operation Rolling Thunder,” bombings of North Vietnam

• U.S. combat troops start arriving in March of 1965

U.S. Involvement and Escalation

Mr. White Jr’s US History 2

Main Ideas and Objectives

• Main idea – The United States sent troops to fight in Vietnam, but the war quickly turned into a stalemate.

• We want to be able to:– Explain the reasons for the escalation of the U.S.

involvement in Vietnam– Describe the military tactics and weapons used by U.S.

forces and the Vietcong– Explain the impact of the war on American society

Containment

• Lyndon Johnson was determined to contain communism in Vietnam

• At first, Johnson wasn’t enthusiastic about sending American troops into Vietnam

• Working with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Johnson began sending U.S. soldiers to Vietnam

Disagreement and Support

• Some Americans saw what Johnson was doing as a contradiction of what he said before

• Many others felt he was carrying on a tradition of confronting communism wherever it came up

• About 61% of Americans supported what Johnson was doing

Troop Buildup

• By the end of 1965, over 180,000 American troops were in Vietnam

• General William Westmoreland, in command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, kept asking for more troops

• Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) – army of South Vietnam, were not fighting very well, Westmoreland didn’t trust their ability

• By the end of 1967, about 500,000 U.S. troops were in Vietnam

Jungle Fighting

• U.S. believed superior weaponry and tactics would lead to victory over the Vietcong

• Vietcong, largely in the jungles, used hit-and-run and ambush tactics– Hit-and-run – attack important, vulnerable points,

cause damage, then disappear– Ambush – wait in a location good for a surprise

attack, allow U.S. forces to enter, attack and cause maximum damage, then disappear

Irregular Tactics

• Vietcong also blended in with civilian population• Difficult for U.S. troops to tell friend from enemy• Vietcong used tunnel systems in the jungle to hide

and move around the jungle• Booby traps and land mines also used• Vietnam’s jungles – sweltering heat, leeches, insects,

etc.

Tunnel Systems

Tunnel Systems, Part 2

War of Attrition

• Westmoreland wanted to destroy Vietnamese morale through a war of attrition – wearing down an enemy by continuous attack and harassment

• Body count – tracking Vietcong killed during a battle as a measurement of success

• Vietcong were prepared to take massive casualties to fight the U.S. – saw it as a struggle for existence

“Hearts and Minds”

• Another part of American strategy was to keep the Vietcong from winning support in South Vietnam

• Guerillas – (not gorillas) irregular fighters who do not wear uniforms to blend in with the civilian population

• Guerillas would hide among the people – if you win the people over, guerillas have nowhere to hide

• U.S. wanted to win over Vietnamese “hearts and minds”

Problems with “Hearts and Minds”

• U.S. planes dropped napalm, a gasoline-based burning jelly that set fires to villages, as well as the jungle

• U.S. also used Agent Orange – defoliant (kills leaves) that was also a toxic chemical

• U.S. soldiers used search-and-destroy missions, investigating, arresting, and sometimes killing civilians with suspected ties to the Vietcong – also killed livestock, burned villages

Napalm

Sinking Morale

• Frustrations of guerilla warfare, jungle conditions, failure to make large successes took toll on U.S. troop morale

• Many soldiers had been drafted and felt forced into the war, so morale dropped– Some turned to alcohol, marijuana, and other

drug use– As the U.S. was planning to pull out, morale and

fighting spirit dropped, as well

Soldiers and Duty

• Many Americans still felt that they were fulfilling a patriotic duty, and still took pride and fought well

• Some ended up as prisoners of war, and endured hardships in North Vietnamese prison camps – John McCain

The Great Society Suffers

• The Great Society suffered because of the war in Vietnam – Inflation rate climbed– Johnson asked for a tax increase– Money was taken from Johnson’s domestic

programs• One of the main reasons the Great Society did

not succeed more was because of the money it lost to Vietnam

The Living-room War

• Vietnam became U.S.’s first living-room war• United States government was giving

Americans a generally positive picture of what was happening in Vietnam

• Combat footage from Vietnam showed a different, more horrific picture

Brutality of War

Body Count and Credibility Gap

• Westmoreland use the numbers of Vietcong killed in battle to encourage the American public

• However, U.S. soldiers were dying at high rates, as well – over 16,000 between 1961 and 1967

• Credibility gap – difference between what the government was saying and what was really happening

• By 1967, many Americans were evenly split over their support for the Vietnam war

A Nation Divided

Mr. White’s US History 2

Main Idea and Objectives

• Main idea – An antiwar movement in the U.S. pitted supporters of the government’s war policy against those who opposed it.

• We should be able to:– Explain the draft policies that led to the Vietnam war

becoming a working-class war– Trace the roots of opposition to the war– Describe the antiwar movement and the growing divisions

in U.S. public opinion about the war

The Draft

• Most soldiers in the Vietnam war were called up using the Selective Service Act – draft

• All males had to register with their local draft boards when they turned 18 – still today

• Men could be called to serve from the ages of 18 to 26

Manipulation of the Draft

• Many young men looked for ways to avoid the draft, which was very easy to manipulate– Sympathetic doctors – would grant medical

exemptions– Some changed where they lived to go to a

different, more lenient draft board– Some joined National Guard or Coast Guard

College Deferment

• If a young man was enrolled in a university or college, they could put off their military service

• University students in the 1960s tended to be white and financially well-off

• Many of the men who fought in Vietnam were those who couldn’t afford college – lower class whites and blacks

African-Americans in Vietnam

• Served in much larger numbers than most groups as ground combat troops – most hazardous place to be

• Blacks accounted for over 20% of U.S. combat deaths, even though they were only 10% of the U.S. population

• Martin Luther King spoke out against the injustice of blacks fighting for freedom in another country, when theirs did not grant them freedom

• Racism in military units led to lower troop morale

Women in the Military

• Women were still not allowed to serve in combat roles

• Over 10,000 women did serve, mostly as nurses

• Also served in the USO and Red Cross– USO – provided hospitality and entertainment– Red Cross

Roots of Opposition – New Left

• In the 1960s, there was a growing youth movement known as the New Left

• Followers demanded sweeping changes in American society

• Students for a Democratic Society– Charged that corporations and government had taken

over America– Wanted more “participatory government” and greater

freedom• Free Speech Movement – focused criticism on the

American “machine” – business and government

Campus Activism

• SDS and FSM ideas spread across campuses of colleges and universities– Protested dress codes– Curfews– Campus issues

• Students started joining together in protest against these issues, but would later protest the Vietnam War

The Protest Movement Emerges

• April, 1965 – SDS helped organize a march on Washington, D.C., by 20,000 protesters, other marches followed

• Johnson changed college deferment rules, requiring students to be in good academic standing

• Protests erupted after this – SDS calls for civil disobedience at campuses

Opposition to the War

• Youths opposed the war for many different reasons:– Most common belief was that the war in Vietnam was a

civil war, and the U.S. had no business there– Some said Diem’s South Vietnamese government wasn’t

any better than North Vietnam– Some thought war was draining America’s strength– Some just saw the war as morally unjust

The Movement Grows

• Movement grew beyond college campuses– Returning veterans– Folk singers

• “Eve of Destruction,” a protest song by Barry McGuire, talked about the wrongs of the Vietnam war

Protest to Resistance

• 1967 – antiwar movement had intensified

• Spring of 1967 – protesters marched on New York City’s Central Park - many people burned their draft cards

• Draft resistance continued up until President Nixon phased it out in the early 1970s

• Some Americans had fled to Canada to avoid the draft

March on the Pentagon

• In October of 1967, a demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial drew 75,000 protesters

• About 30,000 demonstrators marched on the Pentagon to “disrupt the center of the American war machine.”

• Protesters were turned back with tear gas and clubs – about 700 arrested

War Divides the Nation

• Americans were increasingly divided into two camps:– Doves – those who were opposed to the war and

thought it should end– Hawks – felt America should use its military might

to win the war

• Some believed that the protests were acts of disloyalty

Johnson Remains Determined

• Johnson remained firm– Doves attacked him for continuing the war– Hawks attacked him for not increasing military

power• Johnson continued his policy of slow

escalation• Johnson’s own administration started to

doubt the war – Robert McNamara resigns

1968: A Really Messed Up Year

Mr. White’s US History 2

Main Idea and Objectives• Main Idea – An enemy attack in Vietnam, two

assassinations, and a chaotic political convention made 1968 an explosive year

• We should be able to:– Describe the Tet offensive and its effect on the American

public– Explain the domestic turbulence of 1968– Describe the 1968 presidential election

The Tet Offensive• January 30 was the Vietnamese equivalent of

New Year’s eve, known as Tet• A week-long truce had been proclaimed for

Tet• At the same time, funerals were being held for

war victims – coffins came into major cities in Vietnam

The Surprise• The coffins were filled with weapons, and many of

the people coming into the cities were Vietcong agents

• On the night of Tet, the Vietcong launched an attack on over 100 towns and cities, as well as 12 U.S. air bases

• Attacked U.S. embassy in Saigon, killing five Americans

• This went on for about a month before U.S. and South Vietnamese forces regained control of the cities

The Tet Offensive (Map)

Growing Credibility Gap

• Westmoreland declared the attacks a victory for the U.S. and a defeat for the Vietcong– 32,000 Vietcong dead– Only 3,000 American and

South Vietnamese dead• But, the Tet offensive

shook the confidence of the American public – Johnson’s credibility gap widened

Public Opinion• Tet did more to change public opinion than any

protests did– 28 percent of Americans were “doves” before Tet, 56

percent were “hawks”– After Tet, both sides were at 40 percent

• Mainstream media now openly criticized the war – Walter Cronkite, a very respected one, was one critic

• Even Johnson’s new defense secretary, Clark Clifford, felt that the war was almost unwinnable

Johnson’s Administration

• Johnson’s popularity plummeted

• War weariness began to set in, and Johnson recognized the change

• Johnson said about Walter Cronkite criticizing the war, “If I’ve lost Walter, then it’s over. I’ve lost Mr. Average Citizen.”

Johnson Withdraws• Anti-war coalition had been forming in the

Democratic party, Johnson’s party• Robert Kennedy, JFK’s brother, turned down the

nomination from this section of the party• November of 1967 - Eugene McCarthy says that he

will run against Johnson on an anti-war platform

Johnson Withdraws (Part 2)

• As McCarthy gained support in his presidential campaign, Johnson began losing it

• Robert F. Kennedy announces that he will run for president for the Democrats

Johnson Withdraws (Part 3)

• March 31, 1968 – Johnson gives a televised address– U.S. will seek negotiations to

end the war– Bombings will cease, as well– South Vietnamese will take

over more of the war• Johnson then shocked the

nation by saying that he was no longer running for president

Violence and Protest• April 4 – Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated – race

riots followed• June 5 – Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated• Nation’s college campuses continued to protest –

some students even took over university buildings for days, like at Columbia University in New York City

1968 Democratic National Convention

• Democratic presidential primary was Eugene McCarthy against Hubert Humphrey, Johnson’s VP – Humphrey was going to be nominated

• Nearly 10,000 protesters arrived in Chicago during the convention – wanted Democrats to adopt an anti-war platform

• Mayor Richard Daley calls up 12,000 Chicago police to keep order

Riots

• On August 28, protesters gathered in a park to march on the convention

• Policed moved in to disperse the crowd, using mace and nightsticks

• Some protesters ran, some fought back

• Inside the convention, Democrats were fiercely debating

• World was watching on television – Democrats seemed like a party of disorder

Nixon

• Republican candidate for president was Richard Nixon

• Nixon campaigned on a promise to restore law and order – appealed to people who were tired of protests and riots

• Also promised to end the war in Vietnam

Wallace• Governor George Wallace, who had blocked school

integration in Alabama, entered as a third-party• American Independent Party – Wallace supported:– School segregation– States’ rights

• Wallace’s third party splits the Democratic party and weakens it – Nixon wins pretty easily

The End of the War and Its Legacy

Mr. White’s US History 2

Main Idea and Objectives

• President Nixon instituted the Vietnamization policy, and America’s longest war finally came to an end

• We should be able to:– Describe Nixon’s policy of Vietnamization– Explain the public’s reaction to the Vietnam War during

Nixon’s presidency– Describe the end of the U.S. involvement and the final

outcome in Vietnam– Examine the war’s painful legacy in the United States and

Southeast Asia

President Nixon and Vietnamization

• 1969 – Nixon says that the United States had to withdraw its troops from Vietnam

• But as Nixon pulled out the troops, he continued the war against North Vietnam

• Some people felt that this prolonged the war

Pullout Begins

• Negotiations to end the war were going nowhere• The U.S. and South Vietnam wanted North

Vietnamese forces to withdraw from the South, and the South Vietnamese government to stay in power

• Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s National Security Advisor, suggested Vietnamization – for South Vietnamese to take over a more active combat role

Peace With Honor

• Nixon wanted to maintain U.S. dignity as the U.S. withdrew from the war

• Also wanted to keep power in negotiations• Nixon began ordering bombing against North

Vietnamese targets• Nixon also had Laos and Cambodia attacked, as some

Vietcong sanctuaries were there

Trouble Continues on the Home Front

• Nixon continued to appeal to what he called the “silent majority” – moderate, mainstream Americans who still supported the war

• Many Americans did support him, but the events of the war still divided the country

My Lai Massacre

• November, 1969 – Seymour Hersh reported that on March 16, 1968, a U.S. platoon had massacred innocent civilians in the village of My Lai

• Lieutenant William Calley, Jr., was searching for Vietcong, but found no evidence

• Troops rounded up 200 men, women, and children and shot them all

• Soldiers claimed that they were only following Calley’s orders

Invasion of Cambodia

• By 1970, country’s mood was less explosive, it seemed – it seemed the war was finally winding down

• April 30, 1970 – Nixon announced that U.S. troops had invaded Cambodia to clear out North Vietnamese and Vietcong supply centers

• College students across the country began to protest again – more than 1.5 million students closed down some 1,200 campuses

Violence on Campus

• Massive student protest at Kent University led to the burning of the ROTC building

• Local mayor called out the National Guard

• May 4, 1970 – National Guard fired live ammunition into a crowd of protesters who were hurling rocks at them – nine wounded, four killed

Violence on Campus (Part 2)

• At Jackson State in Mississippi, National Guardsmen fired on a crowd of protesters after several bottles were thrown at them – 12 wounded, 2 killed

• Country hotly debated the campus shootings– Some supported National Guard – students got what they

were asking for• New group called “hardhats”, construction workers

and other blue-collar Americans who supported the government’s war policies, emerged

Pentagon Papers

• President had bombed, then invaded Cambodia without notifying Congress, so he lost support from them

• Congress repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution• Pentagon Papers – document that showed that the

government was making plans to invade Vietnam even as President Johnson said he would not send American troops

• Pentagon Papers confirmed the belief that the government had not been honest about its war intentions

America’s Longest War Ends

• March, 1972 – North Vietnamese launched their largest attack on South Vietnam since the Tet Offensive

• Nixon responded with a massive bombing campaign

• Also laid mines in Haiphong harbor so that Soviet and Chinese ships could no longer bring in supplies

“Peace is at Hand”

• Nixon administration began to change its negotiation policy

• Kissinger was negotiating with Vietnam’s chief negotiator, Le Duc Tho

• Kissinger drops his insistences that North Vietnam remove all North Vietnamese troops from the South

The Final Push

• Nixon wins reelection in 1972• Thieu, leader of Vietnam, rejects Kissinger’s plan to

pull out without removing North Vietnamese troops• Nixon sends another bombing attack on the North –

11 straight days of bombing• January 27, 1973, U.S. signed a peace agreement –

Nixon promised to respond “with full force” if the peace agreement was violated

The Fall of Saigon

• Within months of U.S. departure, cease-fire agreement between North and South ended

• March, 1975 – North Vietnamese launched full-scale invasion of the South

• South Vietnam asked for help – President Gerald Ford sent economic aid, but no troops

• On April 30, 1975, South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam

The War Leaves a Painful Legacy

• War had cost 58,000 dead Americans, 303,000 wounded

• North and South Vietnamese deaths topped 2 million• Southeast Asia was now very unstable, and led to

further war in Cambodia• Americans would take a more cautious outlook on

foreign affairs and a more cynical attitude toward government

American Veterans Cope Back Home

• Nation as a whole gave a cold reception to returning veterans

• Veterans faced indifference or hostility from people – sometimes called names, ridiculed

• About 15% of returning soldiers suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, others headaches, memory lapses

• Some veterans fell into drug abuse or alcohol• Some chose suicide

Further Turmoil in Southeast Asia

• North Vietnamese at first told South Vietnamese that they had conquered that they had “nothing to fear.”

• Communists soon imprisoned more than 400,000 South Vietnamese in “reeducation” camps – labor camps

• Nearly 1.5 million people fled Vietnam – people that had supported U.S., business owners, others

Civil War in Cambodia

• U.S. invasion of Cambodia unleashed a civil war in Cambodia

• Communist group known as the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, seized power in 1975

• Pol Pot wanted to make Cambodia a peasant country, executed almost 1 million Cambodians:– Professors– Educated– People with foreign relations– Even people with glasses

Legacy of Vietnam – Hawks of Doves

• Hawks:– Continued to insist that the war could have been won if

the U.S. had used more military power– Blamed the antiwar movement for morale drop

• Doves:– Said that the North Vietnamese had shown such resilience

that it would have taken a huge effort to defeat them– Might have prompted a military reaction from China or

Soviet Union

Legacy of Vietnam, continued

• Government abolished the draft• November, 1973 – Congress passed the War Powers

Act – President must inform Congress within 48 hours of

sending forces into a hostile area without a declaration of war

– Troops could only remain there 90 days unless Congress approves President’s actions or declares war

• Nixon vetoes the War Powers Act, but Congress overrides his veto

Legacy of Vietnam, continued

• Vietnam war significantly altered America’s views on foreign policy– Vietnam syndrome – Americans consider possible risks to

their own interest before intervening in the affairs of other nations

• War contributed to overall cynicism (distrust) about government and political leaders – still exists today

• Americans felt less enthusiasm for government than they had felt in Eisenhower and Kennedy years