The Vietnam War
American Involvement in Vietnam (1961-1973)Vietnamese
Conflict (1961-1973)
Reasons for InvolvementContainmentDomino theoryUnderestimation
of the enemy
War EffortLBJ escalates the warThe Tet offensivePresident Nixon
continues the warReasons we could not win
The HomefrontIncrease in Presidential powersDiscontent at
homeNew York Times vs. US (1971)
ConsequenceImpact in Southeast AsiaImpact in US
STAGE #1 The United States’ involvement in Vietnam expanded
through a series of stages between 1950 and 1965. From 1950 to
1954, in the name of containing communism, the US
assisted the French in fighting a Communist-led nationalist
revolution in Vietnam, ultimately paying close to 80 percent of the
cost of the war. Domino theory
STAGE #2 From 1954 to 1961, after the French had departed,
the American government attempted to construct in the southern part
of Vietnam an independent, non-Communist nation to stand
as a bulwark against further Communist expansion in Southeast
Asia.
STAGE #3 From 1961 to 1965, the United States assisted
the South Vietnamese in fighting an internal insurgency backed by
Communist North Vietnam.
STAGE #4 full-fledged shooting war between US and
South Vietnamese combat forces and National Liberation Front (NLF)
insurgents and North Vietnamese regulars (ARVN) lasted from 1965 to
1973
THE VIETNAM WAR – A Chronology
1950- The United States began providing economic aid
and arms to France in a colonial war in which the Vietnamese are
led by Ho Chi Minh, who was a communist and a
nationalistic Vietnamese Declaration of Independence
1954- The French surrender at Dien bien phu and a
compromise is worked out at the Geneva Conference that split
Vietnam into South Vietnam and North Vietnam with elections to
unify the country to be held in two years. In order to retain
US influence in the region, Eisenhower had used a truce to set up a
client state in the South (a violation of the Geneva
Agreement)
1955 - 1960 The Outbreak of the Vietnam War The
United States began sending military advisers to South Vietnam
1961- The first American, Richard B.
Fitzgibbon, died in Vietnam
1963- Diem, who proved to be a ruthless
dictator, was overthrown and killed in a military coup that the
United States approved; by the end of the year, 73 Americans had
died in Vietnam
1964- While campaigning for President, Lyndon
Johnson said “We are not about to send American boys 10,000 miles
from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for
themselves.”
1964- Aug. 2- Gulf of Tonkin incident –
two United States destroyers, on a raiding mission, are “attacked”
by the North Vietnamese.
President Johnson Escalates the war
1964- Aug. 5 – Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - Congress,
with only two “nay” votes, passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
that gave LBJ the power to take “all necessary action” in
Vietnam. The Resolution which gave the President
extraordinary military powers to act quickly against North
Vietnam. President Johnson began bombing North Vietnamese
cities and increased the amount of troops involved in the Vietnam
War.
1965- Feb. The US states bombing North Vietnam
- Operation Rolling Thunder
1965- April- The United States begins to use combat
troops to fight against North Vietnam. By the end of the
year, the United States had 185,000 troops in Vietnam.
Underestimation of the enemy: With superior armed forces and
advanced technological and economic resources, military and
government leaders felt it would be a short, easty war for the
U.S. They underestimated the strength of Vietnamese
nationalism and their willing to risk everything to unify the
country.
Key Players in Vietnam
(1) LBJ
(2) McNamara (DOD)
3) Rusk (State)
(4) McGeorge Bundy (NSC)
(5) Maxwell Taylor replaced Henry Cabot Lodge as ambassador to
S. Vietnam
(6) General Earle Wheeler became Chairman of JCS
(7) Gen. William Westmoreland became MACV commander
(8) William Bundy became head of the Bureau of Far Eastern
Affairs.
1965 - Protests begin at United States colleges and
universities- protesters concentrate on teach-in
1967- Domestic opposition to the war also turns to
resistance- March on the Pentagon, draft card burning
1968 The Year in Review
The Tet Offensive: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops
staged a massive attack and captured several important South
Vietnamese cities. Although U.S. troops, over time, were able
to win back the territory taken during the offensive, the successes
of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong showed the American public
that winning in Vietnam was not a foregone conclusion.
General Westmoreland, who had our 500,000 troops, wanted
208,000 more.
1968- March- President Johnson announced a bombing halt and that
he wouldn’t seek re-election.
1969- New President Richard M. Nixon begins the
policy of Vietnamization by gradually substituting South Vietnamese
troops for American troops
1969, the Selective Service System of the United
States conducted two lotteries to determine the
order of call to military service in the Vietnam War for
men born from 1944 to 1950. "The draft" occurred during a period
of conscription, controlled by the President, from just before
World War II to 1973. The Selective Service System commonly
uses the label 1970 or says "Issued 1969 – Applied 1970". These
lottery numbers were used during calendar year 1970 both to call
for induction and to call for physical examination, a preliminary
call covering more men. Selective Service Vietnam
President Nixon continues the war
In the Presidential election of 1968, Richard Nixon
campaigned on a promise of an early “peace with honor.” Nixon
began a policy of “Vietnamization,” replacing American troops with
South Vietnamese. This allowed the U.S. to gradually withdraw
U.S. forces and reduce the number of soldiers in Vietnam. In
1973, President Nixon negotiated a cease-fire agreement with the
North Vietnamese and withdrew all remaining U.S. soliders.
With the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the South Vietnamese government
collapsed and Vietnam was reunified under a communist
government.
1969- March – Nixon began the secret bombing of
Cambodia
In the late 1960’s the U.S. was being divided between “hawks”
(those supporting the war) and “doves” (those who felt the U.S.
should withdraw from Vietnam. By 1970, as public opinion
turned against the war, anti-war protests were held throughout the
country. Draft cards were burned and college campuses were shut
down as hundred of thousands protested U.S. involvement in
Vietnam
Protest and the American Character
1970- May - Kent State
The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre
or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the
U.S. city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed
college students by the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970.
The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing
four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered
permanent paralysis
The Hard Hat Riot occurred on May 8, 1970 in Lower
Manhattan. The riot started about noon when about 200 construction
workers mobilized by the New York State AFL-CIO attacked about
1,000 high school and college students and others protesting the
Kent State shootings, the American invasion of Cambodia and the
Vietnam War near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street.
The riot, which spread to New York City Hall, lasted little more
than two hours. More than 70 people were injured, including four
policemen. Six people were arrested.
1971 -New York Times v. U.S. The U.S. government tried to
stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers which was a
classified study on Vietnam War policy showing the government was
lying to the American public. The government felt that it was
permissible to limit freedom of the press since the nation’s
security was at risk. The Supreme Court refused to stop the
publication of the book claiming that national security was not
threatened by the release of the book. The Supreme Court held
for freedom of the press even during wartime.
1972- Dec. - Nixon ordered heaviest
bombing of the war
1973- Jan. - Cease fire agreements were formally
signed and the draft was ended.
1975- Vietnam falls to Communism
Historic photograph of the Fall of Saigon in 1975
Casualties of War - 58,220 dead; 303,644
wounded
CONSEQUENCES
Reasons the U.S. could not win the war: Many factors
combined to stop the U.S. from winning the Vietnam War. The
jungles and dense forests provided ideal cover for the enemy’s use
of guerrilla warfare. The Viet Cong did not fight out in the
open in “conventional” methods. They also hid among the South
Vietnamese people making it very difficult for American troops to
tell who the enemy was. Another problem faced by the U.S. was
the large amounts of supplies, money, and support that Communist
China and the Soviet Union provided to North Vietnam. The
U.S. fought a limited war in Vietnam due to their fear of Chinese
and/or Soviet intervention.
Impact on U.S.: The President’s military power was
curtailed by the War Power Act in 1973. The act required the
President to inform Congress within 48 hours of sending troops into
combat. Within 60 days Congress must decide whether or not to
declare war. If they don’t declare war, the President must
remove combat troops within 30 days. U.S. power and prestige
was also curtailed. The Nixon Doctrine stated the U.S. would
continue to meet its treaty obligations but would not provide
actual combat troops. SEATO was also phased out after the
U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.
Impact on Southeast Asia: In 1975, North Vietnam
defeated South Vietnam and unified Vietnam under communist
control. The domino theory was proven true as Laos and
Cambodia also turned communist.
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