Transcript The Vietnam War:

The Vietnam
War:
The War Officially
Begins
I. An Imminent War Begins
A. Viet Cong rebels already controlled vast
areas of South Vietnam’s countryside.
B. Domino Theory: If one country fell to
Communism then others would follow.
C. “Attack on the Maddox”: on 8/14/64, the
ship reported that it had been fired on due
to its radar record. Blame was put on a
North Vietnamese patrol boat.
II. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
A. Definition: Document that gave President
Lyndon Johnson, the authority to intervene
in Vietnam.
B. Was not a declaration of war, but it gave
the president a lot of power since he could
expand the war without the permission of
Congress.
III.
Operation Rolling Thunder A. Invasion launched by the US to begin
bombing North Vietnam.
B. Was to force the Viet Minh to stop
supplying Viet Cong rebels in the
South.
IV. Escalation Begins A. President Johnson believed that the
U.S. would defeat the Viet Cong due
to our military supremacy.
B. In the mid 1960’s most Americans
agreed with Johnson because they
believed that communist nations
should be dealt with strongly.
Many people believe
that Lyndon Johnson
(a democrat)
escalated the
Vietnam War to make
the point that a
Democrat could be
strong on
Communism and on
threats to the United
States.
Johnson was the 36th President of
the United States and took over
when John F. Kennedy was
assassinated.
V. The Soldiers War
A. The goal of the U.S. and the Viet Cong
was to inflict as many casualties on the
enemy as possible.
B. American advantages: The American
military was more advanced.
C. American disadvantages:
1. The Viet Cong had the advantage
of fighting on their own land.
2. The Viet Cong were motivated to
win because they viewed it as a
war for independence.
3. The U.S. had the disadvantage of
fighting again the Viet Cong and
the North Vietnamese army.
4. It was difficult for the
American soldiers to identify the Viet
Cong guerrillas because women,
children and the elderly acted as if
they were guerrillas.
5. The policy of using draftees hurt the
American military because many of
them did not want to fight in the
war
due to the negative press
coverage
about the war.
6. Not used to jungle warfare.
7. Weapon’s testing.
8. Lack of morale.
9. No declaration of war.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
V I. The Media’s War
A. The Vietnam War was known as the
first television war.
B. At the beginning of the war, television
coverage of it was favorable.
C. The media portrayed peace
demonstrators as negative.
VI. As the war continued, coverage of the
war began to show people what it really
looked like. People were horrified
because they had never seen an
uncensored account of a war.
VII. Reporters chose to check other sources
instead of only relying on military
reports because the reports were seen
as overly optimistic.
VIII. The Tet Offensive
A. In 1967, Defense Secretary
Robert S. MacNamara decided to
leave the administration because
he believed that South Vietnam
could not be saved.
B. The US embassy as Saigon was
attacked during the Tet Offensive.
C. After the news of the Tet
Offensive Americans were shocked
at the level of military power that
the Viet Cong showed.
D. The Tet Offensive left Johnson’s
presidency in ruins because Tet’s
news increased opposition to the
war and Johnson’s handling of
Vietnam became questioned.
E. General Westmoreland believed
that increased the number of
troops in Vietnam could bring
victory.
F. Escalations prior to the Tet
Offensive would have been
unpopular with the public because
casualties may have increased
and China or the USSR may have
been encouraged to get involved.
G. Instead of escalating the war
Johnson decided to stop bombing
North Vietnam in hopes of opening
up talks with the Viet Minh.
H. On March 31, Johnson announced
that he would not seek re-election
as president.
IX. Peace with Honor: Nixon’s campaign
slogan was directed to end
involvement.
A. Vietnamization:
a. In November of 1969 Nixon
announced a new strategy in
Vietnam that he called
Vietnamization.
b. The goal of Vietnamization was to
make the South Vietnamese more
responsible for their own defense.
B. Invasion of Cambodia
a. When students heard that
American forces had invaded
Cambodia harsh protests broke out
across the country.
b. Congress was furious about the
invasion of Cambodia because
Nixon did not consult them before
the invasion.
X.
The War Ends
A. Paris Peace Accords (Treaty that
ended the war)
1. The North Vietnamese agreed to
officially recognize South
Vietnam’s government.
2. North Vietnam released all
prisoners of war in exchange for
the American withdrawal.
B. In 1975 South Vietnam totally
collapsed, when North Vietnam
invaded it.
C. Aftermath and Effects of the War:
1. Vietnam’s neighboring countries
Cambodia and Laos also experienced
communist revolutions.
2. Approximately 57,000 Americans were
killed in the Vietnam War.
3. Agent Orange was a defoliant gas that
caused American servicemen to have
poor health and to grow cancerous
tumors after the war.
4. The Vietnam War cost the U.S. $200
billion.
Violence at Home Erupts at Kent State
5. About 2 million Vietnamese people were
killed in the war.
6. The war divided the American people
including family and friends.
7. Leaders became more cautious when
getting involved in foreign affairs.
8. The cost of fighting in Vietnam was so
painful for Americans because nothing of
value could be gained.
9. Caused many Americans to have a
distrust for the government and the
Presidency.