Chapter 16:
Vietnam War
1954-1975
Timeline
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1954 – U.S. gives
money to South
Vietnam
1960 – Kennedy
elected president
1963 – JFK
assassinated,
Lyndon B. Johnson
takes over for JFK
1964 – Johnson is
reelected, Gulf of -
Tonkin Resolution passed
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1965 – U.S. troops go to
Vietnam
1968 – Nixon elected
1969 – Nixon begins to
withdraw troops
1970 – Kent State
shooting
1973 – U.S. leaves
Vietnam
Key Vocabulary
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Ngo Dinh Diem – leader of South Vietnam
French Indochina – Vietnam was part of a
French colony from 1880-WWII
Ho Chi Minh – communist leader of North
Vietnam, organized the Indochinese
Communist Party (ICP)
Domino theory – the idea that countries would
fall to communism if nearby countries were
communist
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Viet Cong – an American slang term for
Vietnamese Communists
Ho Chi Minh Trail – a network of paths that
allowed the communists to move supplies
through Laos and Cambodia into South
Vietnam
Cuban Missile Crisis – threat of nuclear attack
by Russia from Cuba, JFK was able to avoid
the attack and prove himself as a leader
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – gave the president
the power to use military force without
Congress approval
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Escalation – increasing military involvement in
Vietnam
William Westmoreland – the commander of
U.S. forces that constantly asked for more
U.S. troops
Guerrilla warfare – surprise attacks by small
groups of military, very effective strategy for
the Viet Cong
Napalm – jellied gasoline fire bombs, very
sticky and burned for a long time
Agent Orange – chemical plant killer, caused
long term problems for U.S. troops and locals
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Tet offensive – a surprise attack by
Vietnamese troops during the New Year
celebration of Tet
My Lai massacre – U.S. troops shot 175-500
unarmed men, women, and children in the
small town of My Lai
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Doves – people who were against war
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Hawks – people who supported war
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Richard Nixon – elected president in 1968,
promised to “bring an honorable end to the
war in Vietnam”
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Vietnamization – U.S. Slowly leaving and
allowing the South Vietnamese soldiers to
fight the war on their own
Cambodia – secret bombings ordered by
Nixon in Cambodia were meant to stop the
supplies along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Twenty-sixth Amendment – lowered the voting
age from 21 to 18 years old, soldiers were
mad that they could be drafted but not vote
War Powers Act – a law that limits the
president's power to make war, must ask
Congress first
Roots of Vietnam War
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During French rule, the French exported their
rice and rubber, leaving Vietnamese without
land or money - several revolts were staged
against the French
Ngo Dinh Diem was the leader of South
Vietnam and was disliked by his people
because he was very rich and they were poor
In 1930, Ho Chi Minh gained power and formed
the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP)
U.S. felt threatened by communism in Vietnam
Domino Theory
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President Truman and Eisenhower both
followed a policy of containment – trying to
keep communism in (like water in a bottle)
The United States got involved in Vietnam
because of their fear of communism spreading
Dividing North and South Vietnam
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Viet Minh defeat the French at a major battle
and meet in Geneva Switzerland to make a
peace agreement
Geneva Accords are signed, which splits
North and South Vietnam temporarily at the
17th parallel, which is called the demilitarized
zone (DMZ) – in the DMZ, guards are there to
prevent any fighting at the border
Ho Chi Minh became the communist leader of
North Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem became the
unpopular leader of South Vietnam
Kennedy Deals with Communism
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16,000 + U.S.
soldiers in Vietnam
Bay of Pigs invasion
went horribly wrong
Soviet Union
threatens to close
access to West
Berlin – Berlin Wall
Cuban Missile Crisis
was handled well
Power Shifts
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Diem was unpopular and not following U.S.
instructions to set up a democratic gov't
Kennedy ordered a military coup to overthrow
Diem, but specifically asked that he not be
killed – he was killed anyway
Three weeks later JFK was assassinated
(unrelated) and Lyndon B. Johnson took over
Johnson had the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
passed and increased U.S. involvement in
Vietnam (escalation)
Soldiers and Vietnam
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William Westmoreland was the U.S.
commander in Vietnam
His average soldier was only 19 years old,
served a one year tour (officers only served
six month tours), and were very inexperienced
Vietnam was a different war than any other
war American has fought
–
in a jungle, no front line, enemies not in uniform,
guerrilla warfare
U.S. Fights Back
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Napalm and Agent Orange were used to strip
the jungle of all trees and brush to make the
Viet Cong easier to find
Both of these weapons were harmful to
innocent civilians, Agent Orange led to cancer
and diseases in Vietnamese people and U.S.
soldiers that were exposed
“Search and Destroy” missions were another
way to find Viet Cong, but many innocent
civilians were killed during these missions
U.S. Morale Drops
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The Tet Offensive was a surprise attack by the
Viet Cong on the Vietnamese New Year
celebration known as Tet
Over 200 cities were attacked, teachers,
doctors, priests, gov't officials, and soldiers
were killed, the attack was the turning point in
the war – the U.S. decided to get out of it
My Lai massacre in 1968 also dropped U.S.
morale when 175-500 unarmed civilians were
rounded up and shot by U.S. troops under the
lead of William Calley, Jr.
Antiwar Movement
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Doves and hawks were constantly arguing
and protesting about the U.S. being involved
in the Vietnam War
At Kent State University in Ohio, a student
protest turned deadly when the National
Guard fired into the crowd – 4 dead, 12
wounded
Draft dodgers were people that felt the draft
was unfair and tried to avoid getting selected
for war, many enrolled in college to escape it
Vietnam War Ends – for the U.S.
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Nixon won the 1968 presidential election and
promised to “bring an honorable end to the
war in Vietnam”
He planned to train the South Vietnamese
soldiers to take over the fighting and bring all
of the U.S. soldiers home (vietnamization)
In 1973, Nixon secretly began bombing the Ho
Chi Minh trail in Cambodia which made
Americans very upset, but also brought the
last troops out of Vietnam
Legacy of Vietnam War
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After the U.S. left South Vietnam, the
communists in North Vietnam took over and
173,000 South Vietnamese fled to the U.S.
The 26th Amendment was passed in 1971,
which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18
The War Powers Act was also signed, which
limited the presidents power to go to war – it
stated that the president must report to
Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops
rather than 30 days