The Vietnam War Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon Concerns about the spread of communism led the United States to become increasingly involved in Vietnam

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The Vietnam War Lyndon Johnson and Richard
Nixon Concerns about the spread of communism
led the United States to become increasingly
involved in Vietnam
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Western imperialism in SE Asia was brief, but it
left a problematic legacy. The introduction by
the colonials of Western-style bureaucracies,
education and capitalism led to the demise of
older monarchical forms of authority and the rise
of Western-educated elites
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A Brief History (Views of Vietnam)

• Truman extension of the Cold War struggle
  against the USSR (Containment)
• Eisenhower if S. Vietnam falls, all Southeast
  Asia will fall to communism (Domino Theory)
• Geneva Accords general elections in July 1956
  would reunify the country
• The U.S. never fully supported the peace
  agreements fearing that Ho Chi Minh and the
  Communists would win the nationwide election
• We supported Diem in the south first with
  advisors then with troops and weapons

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An illustration of what Eisenhower called the
Falling Domino Principle in an interview in
1954. The Domino Theory justified American
involvement in Southeast Asia.
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• Diems opponents in South Vietnam began to
  revolt.
• North Vietnam supplied weapons to Vietminh
  (communist) rebels in South Vietnam.
• They formed the National Liberation Front and
  called their military forces the Vietcong (VC).
• Diem is overthrown (1963)
• The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is passed after the
  USS Maddox is fired upon (1964)
• Allows LBJ to take all necessary measures and
  the escalation begins

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• Operation Rolling Thunder to bomb roads,
  bridges, bases and the Ho Chi Minh Trail that
  supplied the Viet Cong in South Vietnam
• Agent Orangedefoliant, or chemical, that
  destroys vegetation
• Napalmjellied form of gasoline used to create
  firebombs

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Opposition to the War in the U.S.

• TV news brings the war to living rooms (first
  news reports were positive then negative)
• Escalating costs 600 - 700 billion (total) and
  500,000 soldiers (1,200 dying/month)
• Public opinion was divided
• Hawks believed in containment
• Doves believed the US action immoral and futile
• Credibility Gap- difference between the reality
  of the war and Johnsons portrayal of it
  (underscored with the Pentagon Papers leak)

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More Protests

• Opposition grew after the Tet Offensive and when
  Americans learned about the My Lai massacre and
  the Pentagon Papers.
• Tet (1968) was an unsuccessful offensive by the
  N. Vietnamese that turned public opinion against
  the war even more
• Also in 1968, troops under Lt. William Calley
  killed at least 450 men, women, and children in
  the village of My Lai while on a
  search-and-destroy mission.
• Campus violence at Kent State University in May,
  1970 (4 students killed and 9 injured) and
  Jackson State College in Mississippi (2 killed,
  9 wounded)
• Remembering Kent State and Ohio

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The Pentagon Papers

• In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, former Department of
  Defense official leaked a top-secret study known
  as the Pentagon Papers.
• This study revealed how previous administrations
  deceived Congress and the public about Vietnam.
• Congress stopped the publication of the papers
  but it was brought to trial
• In New York Times Co. vs United States free
  speech won and the papers were published.

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Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry
Kissinger devised plans to end the war.

• Vietnamization
• Turn over more of the fighting to the
  S.Vietnamese and bring U.S. forces home
• Nixon Doctrine (the U.S. will expect its Asian
  allies to tend to their own military defense)
• Antiwar activists called for an immediate not a
  gradual reduction and end
• Nixon hoped for Peace with Honor with the
  backing of the silent majority

• Laos and Cambodia
• However, Nixon was secretly expanding the war by
  bombing Cambodia along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
• Concealed the air strikes from the American
  people and members of Congress
• Sent troops into Cambodia and Laos to destroy
  North Vietnamese army bases (thats what sparked
  KSU)
• Renewed bombing of North Vietnam to force them to
  seek peace.

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• In 1972 Nixon stressed law and order at home and
  told voters he would end the war.
• Henry Kissinger (Nat. Sec. Advisor) announced a
  breakthrough in the peace talks just weeks
  before the election.
• The announcement helped Nixon win by a landslide.

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Finally the End

• Officials from North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and
  the United States finally reached an agreement in
  January 1973.
• The U.S. agreed to withdraw all troops.
• All prisoners of war were to be released
• Toll 58,000 Americans were killed 600 were held
  as POWs 2,500 soldiers reported MIA 300,000
  wounded

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• Two years after U.S. troops were withdrawn, N.
  Vietnamese troops invaded S. Vietnam.
• After a short amount of fighting, South Vietnam
  surrendered.
• The U.S. military rushed to evacuate Americans
  still working in Saigon.
• After two decades of temporary division,
  Vietnam was reunited under a Communist
  government.
• In 1975, Communist forces called the Khmer Rouge
  gained control of Cambodia.

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The Legacy of Vietnam

• Veterans experienced a negative reception upon
  return and had trouble readjusting to civilian
  life
• Some suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder
• Spent more than 600 billion on the war
• Changed how many Americans viewed government
• Congress passed the War Powers Act in 1973.
• The President can only send combat troops into
  battle or into areas where ''imminent''
  hostilities are likely, for 60 days without
  either a declaration of war by Congress or a
  specific Congressional mandate.
• Avoids the problems of the Gulf of Tonkin
  Resolution which allowed LBJ to escalate the
  American presence in Vietnam without a formal
  declaration of war

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