Unit 12 Vietnam Era 1954-75

Vietnam War Era 1954-1975 This unit will identify how the United States confronted communism in Southeast Asia. The unit reviews the origins of the Vietnam War and the increasing American military involvement in Vietnam. It also discusses opposition to the war. It will explain a crisis in confidence in America. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKhhbmk-akk

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Unit 12 Vietnam War Era 1954-1975

Essential Questions:

Why did the United States become involved in Vietnam?

What were the causes and effects of America’s growing involvement in the Vietnam War?

How did the American war effort in Vietnam lead to rising protests and social divisions back home?

How did the Vietnam War end, and what were its lasting effects?

How did Richard Nixon change Cold War diplomacy during his presidency?

Knowledge Scale

Level 1: I know nothing about how the US was impacted by the issues and events of the Vietnam War. Level 2: I know a little about how the US was impacted by the issues and events of the Vietnam War. Level 3: I know enough about how the US was impacted by the issues and events of the Vietnam War to be able to demonstrate an understanding of the impact of the Vietnam War on the United States socially, politically, culturally and economically. Level 4: I know enough about how the US was impacted by the issues and events of the Vietnam War to be able to critique the impact of the Vietnam War on the United States socially, politically, culturally and economically.

Unit Objectives • Describe the reasons that the United States helped the French fight the Vietnamese.

• Identify ways in which the United States opposed communism in Southeast Asia.

• Analyze how the United States increased its involvement in Vietnam.

• Identify the factors that caused President Johnson to increase American troop strength in Vietnam.

• Assess the nature of the war in Vietnam and the difficulties faced by both sides.

• Evaluate the effects of low morale on American troops and on the home front.

• Describe the divisions within American society over the Vietnam War.

• Analyze the Tet Offensive and the American reaction to it.

• Summarize the factors that influenced the outcome of the 1968 presidential election.

• Assess Nixon’s new approach to the war, and explain why protests continued.

• Explain what led to the Paris Peace Accords and why South Vietnam eventually fell to the communists.

• Evaluate the impact of the Vietnam War on the United States.

• Explain the thinking behind Richard Nixon’s foreign policy.

• Define Nixon’s foreign policy toward China and the Soviet Union.

Terms and People

“Origins of the Vietnam War” Ho Chi Minh - Leader of Vietnamese rebellion against French rule and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Domino Theory - The idea that if one nation falls to communism, its closest neighbors will also fall under communist control.

Vietcong - South Vietnamese communist rebels that waged a guerrilla war against the government of South Vietnam throughout the Vietnam War.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – 1964 congressional resolution that authorized President Johnson to commit US troops to South Vietnam and fight a war against North Vietnam.

Terms and People “US Involvement Grows”

William Westmoreland - Commander of American forces in South Vietnam.

Napalm - Jellied gasoline, dropped in canisters that explode on impact and cover large areas in flames, by US planes during the Vietnam War.

Hawk - A person who supported US involvement in the Vietnam War.

Dove - A person who was against US involvement in the Vietnam War.

Terms and People

“The War Divides America” Draftee - Young American men drafted into Military service during the Vietnam War.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) - An organization founded in 1960 at the University of Michigan to fight racism and poverty.

“credibility gap” - The American public’s growing distrust of statements made by the government during the Vietnam War.

Tet Offensive - A communist assault on a large number of South Vietnamese cities in early 1968.

Eugene McCarthy - The antiwar candidate for the Democratic Party and presidential nominee in 1968.

Robert Kennedy - New York’s Democratic Senator and a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1968.

Terms and People “The War’s End and Impact”

Vietnamization - President Nixon’s plan for gradual withdrawal of US forces as South Vietnamese troops assumed more combat duties.

My Lai - Village in South Vietnam where in 1968 American forces opened fire on unarmed civilians killing between 400 and 500 Vietnamese.

Pentagon Papers - Classified US government study, leaked to the New York Times in 1970, that revealed American leaders intentionally involved the US in Vietnam without fully informing the American people.

Paris Peace Accords - 1973 peace agreement between the US, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Vietcong that effectively ended the Vietnam War.

War Powers Act - 1973 law passed by Congress restricting the President’s war-making powers; requires the President to consult with Congress before committing American forces to a foreign conflict.

Henry Kissinger – President Nixon’s leading advisor on national security and international affairs. Realpolitik - A foreign policy promoted by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during the Nixon Administration based on concrete national interests instead of abstract ideologies. Zhou Enlai - Premier of China. Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT1) - Proposed agreement between the US and the USSR to limit certain types of nuclear arms production; it was never ratified by the US Senate. Détente - Flexible diplomacy adopted by Richard Nixon to ease tensions between the US, the USSR and the People’s Republic of China.

Terms and People

“Nixon and the Cold War”

France Rules Indochina In the 1800s French military forces established control over Indochina; an area that includes Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The French treated the Southeast Asian people harshly and some Vietnamese rebelled against the French. Ho Chi Minh became the most important Vietnamese rebel, eventually traveling the world looking for western countries to support his plans for a free Vietnam. Ho eventually embraced communism and rallied Soviet communists to his cause.

The French Battle Communism During World War II Japan took Indochina from the French and ruled it till the end of the war. When the war ended France wanted its colony back. The United States had a difficult decision to make. On one hand they supported de-colonization and on the other they wanted France as an ally in its Cold War against the Soviets. The U.S. decided to allow France to keep its colony and to ensure French support the USA agreed to aid France in its efforts to regain control of Vietnam. Between 1950 and 1954 the U.S. gave France 2.6 billion dollars.

Domino Theory When President Eisenhower took over for Truman he continued with Truman's polices towards Vietnam. Eisenhower believed if Vietnam would fall to communism then other countries next to Vietnam would also turn communist. This idea became known as the domino theory.

After 4 years of slowly bleeding to death the French wanted to draw the Vietminh (Vietnamese Freedom Fighters) into a large set battle where the French could use their superior fire power to defeat them. The French set up a large military base called Dien Bien Phu deep in Vietminh territory urging them to attack. For 55 days the Vietminh laid siege to Dien Bien Phu. After 15,000 causalities the French surrendered. The very next day the French gave up control of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Vietnam was divided up into a communist north and an anti-communist government was set up in the south.

Dien Bien Phu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bo6h-7ryfE

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America Opposes Communism in Vietnam

As soon as the French pulled their forces out the United States started to provide economic and military aid to South Vietnam. Diem was an ardent nationalist and anti-communist but also a dictator and quickly became unpopular. By 1957 a communist rebel group known as the Vietcong launched an insurgency. They employed ambush tactics and quickly weakened Diem’s hold on South Vietnam. The US had to send more money and over 15,000 American advisers to keep Diem in power. By 1963 realizing Diem caused more harm than good, the US plotted with anti-Diem generals to get rid of Diem who was assassinated in November 1963.

Vietnamese and US Clash In 1964 President Johnson faced his first crisis in Vietnam when North Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on the US Battleship the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Maddox was not hit and returned fire. Johnson was angered by the North Vietnamese aggression and ordered an airstrike against North Vietnam.

Johnson Goes to War Johnson then asked Congress to authorize the use of force to defend American troops. Congress agreed and passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which authorized the president to take all necessary measures to protect US armed forces, basically allowing the U.S. to commit troops to South Vietnam without declaring war.

Quiz 12.1

1. What European country controlled Indochina in the 1800s and early 1900s? 2. What was the name of the rebel leader that wanted to free Vietnam from French control? 3. Why did the US try and help France in getting Vietnam back? 4. What battle made France surrender Vietnam? 5. Why did the United States get involved in Vietnam? 6. What event led the United States to send more troops to Vietnam?

Vietnam Becomes America's Burden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6wM9Aiy_kY

At the start of 1965 Johnson altered the U.S. role in the Vietnam War when he ordered Operation Rolling Thunder, the 1st extensive bombing of North Vietnam to try to convince North Vietnam to stop helping the Vietcong. It failed. As the United States sent more troops to Vietnam our soldiers quickly moved from being advisors to fighting in the front lines. Both the Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Commanding General William Westmoreland believed in order to win they needed to increase troop level and air strikes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6wM9Aiy_kY

America's Strategy to win the War Between 1965 and 1973 American pilots dropped more than 6 million tons of bombs on enemy positions, 3x the amount dropped during WWII. American pilots also dropped napalm a jellied gasoline that set large areas on fire when dropped and Agent Orange a herbicide meant to kill the large amounts of rainforest where the Vietcong would hide. Vietnam was not a traditional war because the enemy did not have traditional bases and hid amongst civilians. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEhsqStPTM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEhsqStPTM

An Elusive Enemy Ho Chi Minh's military doctrine hinged on fighting only when victory was assured. He compared his troops to a tiger, while the Americans were like an elephant. If the tiger stands still the elephant will crush it, but if the tiger keeps moving and occasionally jumps on the elephant and bites it the elephant will slowly bleed to death. The Vietcong troops fought like the tiger. They traveled light, dug tunnels to hide in during the day and ambushed American patrols at night. They set up booby traps that maimed American troops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfPx1jfoWjs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfPx1jfoWjs

The Vietcong and North Vietnamese dug a complex series of tunnels, from which they mounted surprise attacks.

Blood and Treasure Go Up By the end of 1965 there were 184,300 U.S. troops in Vietnam and only 636 deaths but just three years later there were 500,000 troops in Vietnam and over 30,000 deaths. Each year the war cost more money and more lives and because the South Vietnamese government was so corrupt American troops enjoyed little real support outside of the cities.

Fighting in Vietnam

1. Not a traditional war because territorial acquisition was not the end game.

2. The US did not invade North Vietnam because of fear that China and the USSR would enter the conflict.

3. US troops found it difficult to fully tell their friends from their enemies.

4. US troops fought well and won numerous battles but their enemies would just move to a different location.

5. As the war went on they felt they were defending a nation whose people were unwilling to do the same.

Quiz 12.1

7. Describe the United States strategy to win the war in Vietnam. 8. Describe the Vietnamese strategy to win the war in Vietnam. 9. Why did the United States get little support in Vietnam? 10. Describe the fighting in Vietnam.

Morale Declines When the U.S. first went to war the American people thought it would be a quick victory. As it dragged on people at home as well as the soldiers began to feel that it was not worth it.

Doves

Doubt Grows Starting in 1967 America divided up into 2 camps on the war in Vietnam. The Hawks supported the war and the Doves who questioned the war on both moral and strategic grounds.

Hawks

Antiwar Protests Increase The war in Vietnam divided Americans more deeply than any conflict since the Civil War. At first Americans supported the war but as America sent less volunteers and more draftees people turned away from supporting the war. The local draft boards had considerable influence in selecting men including deferments for college students and selected fields of work. As a result most of the 2.5 million men who served in Vietnam came from working-class and poor backgrounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeFMyrWlZ68

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Protests Spread to College Campuses

1. College campuses became centers of antiwar sentiment.

2. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organized campus “teach-ins” and demonstrations.

3. Student activism led to clashes with administrators as well as the police at several colleges.

4. At Kent State students threw rocks at the National Guard who then shot at the protestors killing four.

5. A credibility gap emerged between what President Johnson said and what reporters on the ground reported.

Tet Offensive is the Turning Point In November of 1967 Johnson brought General Westmoreland home from Vietnam to address the nation on how the war was going. Westmoreland said that the Vietcong were declining in strength and could no longer mount a major offensive. Westmoreland was wrong and the Vietcong hit dozens of U.S. positions throughout South Vietnam. Although the Tet Offensive was a great military victory for the United States, at home it looked like Westmoreland lied to the American people and the war would have no end in sight.

Tet Offensive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4FkCvC3Gx4

Johnson Steps Down / Robert Kennedy is Shot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BpNoHkc5YY

At the beginning of 1968 many Americans turned against the war and President Johnson. Johnson made 2 decisions; the first was to change tactics in Vietnam from trying to win the war to setting up a negotiated peace like in Korea. The second was to not seek reelection which threw the presidential race wide open. Robert F. Kennedy the brother of John F. Kennedy announced he was running but he was assassinated while campaigning. Protesters also caused a riot outside of the Democratic Convention in Chicago. With Democrats in disarray Nixon was able to win the 1968 election.

Nixon Wins the Presidency At a much more peaceful convention the Republicans nominated Richard M. Nixon who promised if elected he would deliver “peace with honor” in Vietnam. He also promised to listen to the “great, quiet forgotten majority- the non-shouters and the non-demonstrators”. With Nixon's silent majority and Alabama governor George Wallace running a 3rd party ticket splitting the southern democratic vote, Nixon won with 301 electoral votes.

Nixon Starts the Peace Talks When Richard Nixon took office his peace delegation wanted all communist troops out of South Vietnam and all prisoners of war (POW's) returned. The North Vietnamese demanded an immediate American withdrawal from Vietnam. Nixon refused to accept the North Vietnamese peace terms and stuck with his peace with honor pledge. So he began a gradual pullout of American troops by turning the fighting over to South Vietnamese troops (ARVN). To give the ARVN time to train, the US tried to reduce the flow of communist supplies to the Vietcong by bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the secret supply line to South Vietnam) in Cambodia.

My Lai Massacre A platoon of American soldiers brutally killed between 200 and 500 unarmed civilians at My Lai. The soldiers had been advised before the attack by army command that all who were found in My Lai could be considered VC or active VC sympathizers, and told to destroy the village. Soldiers raped and tortured many villagers before killing them. The events at My Lai were covered up by high-ranking army officers until the following March, when one soldier, Ron Ridenhour, heard of the incident secondhand and wrote about it in a letter to President Richard Nixon, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and various congressmen. The letter was largely ignored until later that year, when investigative journalist Seymour Hersh interviewed Lt. William Calley and broke

the story.

The Pentagon Papers The Pentagon Papers was the name given to a secret Department of Defense study of U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967, prepared at the request of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. The military analyst Daniel Ellsberg (who had worked on the study) came to oppose the war, and decided that the information contained in the Pentagon Papers should be more widely available to the American public. He secretly photocopied the report and in March 1971 gave the copy to The New York Times, which subsequently published a series of articles based on the report’s findings. Amid the national and international uproar that followed, the federal government tried unsuccessfully to block publication of the Pentagon Papers on grounds of national security.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4kQG1bPf2k

Trouble on the Home front

1. Nixon inherited 2 things from Johnson; an unpopular war and a vocal opposition to it.

2. Nixon wanted “peace with honor”, but the peace negotiations were going slow.

3. Nixon ordered a ground attack on Vietcong bases in Cambodia expanding the war.

4. Protests spread across the country about the Cambodian Incursion.

5. The My Lai Massacre along with the Pentagon Papers caused even more distrust about the war.

Quiz 12.2

1. Who were the Hawks and who were the Doves? 2. Why did Vietnam divide the American people? 3. What happened at Kent University? 4. What was the Tet Offensive and why did it change a lot of American's views on the war?

American Troops Leave Vietnam By 1972 Nixon knew he had to bring the troops home if he wanted to win reelection. So in October of 1972 the United States and North Vietnam came to terms on a peace settlement. One month later Nixon easily won reelection. In January of 1973 the U.S., N and S Vietnam, and the Vietcong all signed the Paris Peace Accords. They agreed to a cease-fire and a US troop withdrawal from South Vietnam. POW's would be exchanged but North Vietnamese troops would remain in South Vietnam. For the United States the war was over.

Saigon Falls In the spring of 1975 minor fighting between North and South Vietnam escalated until North Vietnam was able to take Saigon the capitol of South Vietnam.

Why We Lost 1. We were fighting to stop Communism; the

Vietnamese were fighting for freedom.

2. Our bombing tactics could not wear down the Vietcong’s will and caused many people to turn against us.

3. The South Vietnamese regime was weak and corrupt.

4. The military could not fight in a way to win the war.

5. The war became unpopular and lost public support.

Legacy of the War 1. More than 58,000 Americans died fighting and over

300,000 were wounded.

2. Communism spread throughout Indochina and the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia and perpetrated genocide.

3. In 1978 Vietnam invaded Cambodia while China supported the Khmer Rouge.

4. Veterans that returned home were never fully appreciated for their sacrifice.

5. Vietnam changed American war policies and undermined American trust in its leaders.

Nixon's Foreign Policy During his years in office Richard Nixon fundamentally reshaped the way the United States approached the world. Nixon and Henry Kissinger, his leading adviser on foreign affairs, changed the Cold War approach and embraced the idea of realpolitik. Realpolitik is a German word meaning real politics. Realpolitik was to set aside Cold War biases and look at China and the USSR not as enemies but as trading partners. Nixon insisted on a flexible foreign policy that avoided ideological absolutes.

Nixon Recognizes China At the time of Nixon's presidency the communist People's Republic of China was the most populous country in the world but not recognized by the U.S.A. The exiled Chinese government on Taiwan was what the US recognized. Nixon knew that communist China could not be ignored forever and wanted to extend the olive branch of recognition and thus peace to the communists. In 1972 Nixon made a trip to China and talked about trade agreements. His trip was a success and by 1979 China and the US had established full diplomatic relations.

Détente with the Soviet Union

Nixon and Brezhnev Meeting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKhhbmk-akk

The improved U.S.-Chinese relations caused the Soviet Union to improve relations also with the United States. As a result, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev invited Nixon to Moscow. During Nixon's Russian trip Nixon announced plans to conduct joint U.S.-Soviet space missions and the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT1) to try and end the arms race between the two countries. Nixon started the process of détente with the Soviet Union. Détente was the easing of Cold War tensions.

Quiz 12.2

5. What was the agreement at the Paris Peace Accords? 6. What happened to South Vietnam after the United States left? 7. How did Nixon change U.S. relations with China? 8. How was detente started with the Soviet Union? 9. What was SALT and why was that an important turning point in USSR and USA relations?

Unit 12 “The Vietnam War”

1954-1975 – Summary

Origins of the Vietnam War: American involvement in Vietnam began with President Truman’s support of the French colonial governments in Southeast Asia. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy continued that support.

U.S. Involvement Grows: After Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, President Johnson sent more troops to South Vietnam. This escalation began to weaken the economy and divide the American people.

The War Divides America: Presidential candidate Nixon promised peace with honor. As President, Nixon secretly ordered air strikes on Cambodia and eventually withdrew U.S. troops from Vietnam. But the war’s impact on America endured.

Unit 12 “The Vietnam War”

1954-1975 – Summary

The War’s End and Impact: Presidential candidate Nixon promised peace with honor. As President, Nixon secretly ordered air strikes on Cambodia and eventually withdrew U.S. troops from Vietnam. But the war’s impact on America endured.

Nixon and the Cold War: Nixon developed a new approach to the Cold War. He established diplomatic relations with China and signed the first U.S–Soviet Union agreement that limited the nuclear arms race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2IcmLkuhG0

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