The Vietnam War and Its
Impact on American Culture
Alan B. Grindal
Vietnam is still with us. It has created doubts about American
judgment, about American credibility, about American power- not only
at home, but throughout the world. So we paid an exorbitant price for
the decisions that were made in good faith and for good purpose.
Henry Kissinger
We would have fought for 100 years, regardless of costs. In war there
are two factors-weapons and human beings. In the end it is human
beings that are the decisive factor. We sought to break the will of the
American government.
General Giap
For too long, we have lived with the Vietnam Syndrome---it is time we
recognize that ours was, in truth, a noble cause. There is a lesson for all of us
in Vietnam. If we are forced to fight, we must have the means and
determination to prevail.
Ronald Reagan 1980
The Vietnam war shattered the central tenet of American national identityThe broad faith that the United States is a unique source of good in the
world. The war exposed American exceptionalism as a dangerous myth.
Christian Appy: American Reckoning 2015
Recommended Reading
• America’s War in Vietnam: A Short History. Larry Addington. (2000)
• Vietnam: A History. Stanley Karnow ( 1983 )
• Embers of War. Fredrik Logevall ( 2012 )
• American Reckoning. Christian Appy ( 2015 )
• The Quiet American. Graham Greene ( 1955 )
• Dispatches. Micheal Herr ( 1977 )
Movies and Documentaries
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Apocalypse Now ( 1979 )
The Deer Hunter ( 1979)
Coming Home ( 1978 )
Platoon ( 1986 )
Rambo First Blood Part 2 (1985 )
• Hearts and Minds ( 1974 )
• The Fog of War ( 2004 )
• The Last Days of Vietnam ( 2014 )
Outline
• Origins and French Colonial History- March 9
• Early American Involvement 1945-1963- March 16
• Johnson’s War 1963-1968- March 23
• Nixon’s War 1968-1973- *March 30 start at 2:00
• The Aftermath 1973 on- April 6
• Gulf of Tonkin, The Tet Offensive, My Lai- April 13
• Antiwar movement and the “grunts”- April 20
• What are the lessons- April 27
“ Two rice bowls at opposite ends of a pole”
Populations and Geography circa 1960
• North- 16 million. Hanoi -600,000 . Red River delta
• South- 14 million. Saigon-1.6 million. Mekong delta
• Central highlands separates. Thinly populated.
• Narrow waist at the 17th parallel.
• Primarily agrarian farming.
• Rice and rubber
Early History
• Viet kingdoms frequently divided
between north and south.
• Ancient India settled the south
called Champa with the north
primarily settled and invaded by
China.
• Most of Vietnam under control of
China for almost two centuries.
• Early experience with guerilla
warfare.
• Overthrow of Chinese domination
in 1418
The Early French Involvement
• 1612 French Catholic
missionaries
• Assist Gia Long in uniting
Vietnam with capital in Hue in
mid 19C.
• French establish control
primarily in south.
French control
• Indochina ( Vietnam, Cambodia,
Laos)
• Primarily Buddhist and
Confusian.
• Viet mandarins educated by
French converted to Catholicism.
• French control exports rice,
rubber and opium.
Ho Chi Minh ( He who enlightens)
• Left Vietnam at 21. Lived abroad
for 30 years. ( US, France, China,
Russia)
• Letter to Woodrow Wilson.
• Nationalist, anti-colonialist and
communist.
• Wrote and recruited abroad.
• Returned in 1941 to fight
Japanese. Establishes Viet Minh
World War II
• Japan invades in 1940.
• Seeks rice, rubber and bases to
move south into British and
Dutch colonies.
• Vichy colonial government
administrates.
• Viet Minh works with OSS to
rescue American flyers.
• Assumes Americans will support
“self-determination” post war.
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
• “ All men are created equal and are
endowed by their creator with
certain inalienable rights including
life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness” Ho Chi Minh
September 2, 1945
• Vietnam establishes independence
following armistice.
• Emperor Bao Dai abdicates
authority to Ho.
Post War Negotiations
• U.S.-Need to stabilize and support France.
• Truman promises DeGaulle return of Indochina colonies.
• Potsdam- China administrate the North. Britain the South.
• Brits and Chinese turn over administration to French.
• DeGaulle trades Chinese ports for control of North.
• Ho agrees that DRV an independent state in the French Union. ”The
worst mistake of my life”
• DRV strength in the North. French in the South.
• Conflict and guerilla war follows.
Fear of Spreading Communism- The Cold War
• 6/1948- Berlin blockade.
• 8/1949- Soviets atomic bomb.
• 10/1949- Mao proclaims the PRC
• 2/1950- McCarthy campaign
• 6/1950- Korean War
State of Vietnam SOV
• US pressures France to create a
independent stare of Vietnam.
• Bao Dai decendant of Gia Long
the ancient ruler.
• ‘The Bao Dai Solution’- Puppet
government under French
control.
• 1950- The US recognizes the
SOV.
Truman Doctrine
• Response to Greek insurgency.
• US would support free peoples
who resist subjugation by armed
minorities or outside pressures.
• Cited as justification of US
assistance to anti-communists in
Indochina.
• Viet Minh guerilla activity in
North and South
French War 1950- 1954
• US pays 80% of war costs.
• Viet Minh turn the tide.
• Dienbienphu surrounded by
Giap.
• US decides not to intervene
because Britain would not
support.
• 5/7/54 French surrender. 7000
casualties.
Dienbienphu- A Humiliating Defeat