Aim: Why did the Vietnam War
become so controversial?
• Do Now: What is a proxy war? Which proxy
wars have we learned about in class so far?
Where is Vietnam?
North Vietnam:
communist
South Vietnam:
dictator (U.S.
supported)
Assignment
• You will be assigned a specific part of the
reading – you must create a 20 word GIS
• Everyone: Read Intro: How the War Started
• Row 1: Section 1
• Row 2: Section 2
• Row 3: Section 3
• Row 4: Section 4
• Row 5: Section 5
Assignment Part 2
• After you create your GIST, create a team of at
least one person from each row.
• Everyone shares their GISTs with the team.
• On index cards, each team will submit a brief
summary of the causes, events, and impacts of
the Vietnam War (must fill FRONT AND BACK of
the card)
• Extra Credit: create two short answer questions
on the war based on your reading (3 points for
each team member on the next exam)
Vietnam War – 1954-1973
• Vietcong: South Vietnamese communists led
by Ho Chi Minh that started a guerilla war
against the government of South Vietnam
The War Under President Lyndon B.
Johnson, 1963-1968
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: passed by
Congress, gave LBJ full military powers to stop
the Viet Cong (blank check)
600,000
U.S. Troop
Deployments
in Vietnam
500,000
400,000
U.S. Troops
300,000
200,000
100,000
1961 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968
0
The War Under President Richard
Nixon – 1969-1973
• Vietnamization: gradual withdrawal of U.S.
forces from Vietnam; “peace with honor”
President Nixon and his
Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger
My Lai Massacre - 1968
• American soldiers murdered
nearly 500 civilians
• Americans at home began to call
the war unfair, destructive, and
unwinnable.
Anti-War Demonstrations
•
•
•
•
Kent State University
Kent State Massacre
May 1970
4 Students shot dead.
11 Students wounded.
Legacy of the Vietnam War
• War Powers Act (1973): set limits on the
power of the President; overturned Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution
• 26th Amendment: 18 year olds can vote
Vietnam War Memorial – Washington,
D.C.
AND TODAY…..The “Light” at the End of This
Tunnel?
2003 to 2010: “Operation Iraqi Freedom”
2010 to ???: “Operation New Dawn”
2001 - ???:”War in Afghanistan”
6800+ American dead and counting…?
Another
Vietnam?
OR
A transformation of the
Middle East?
Only time & history can
tell!