1. The Vietnam Era: A Nation in Turmoil
Vietnam represented a turning point in American politics, society and foreign policy.

2. I. The French Phase of the War

3. A. World War II Japanese invasion of French Indo-China and its impact
French resistance to giving up Indochina
The Vietminh and their desire for independence
Ho Chi Minh

4. B. Post-War Fighting French reassert their control of Indochina
Vietnam drifts into the Cold War
Inconclusive fighting
U.S. reaction
Ho Chi Minh: Nationalist or Communist?
Containment leads U.S. to support French in Vietnam

5. C. Dien Bien Phu (1954) The location and strategy of Dien Bien Phu
Problems with this strategy
Apparent French loss creates U.S. dilemma
Eisenhower’s decision

6. D. The Geneva Conference (1954)
18 nations attended this Conference
The Geneva Accords
--Temporary division along the 17th parallel
--nationwide free elections in 1956
No one signed the Accords

7. II. The Beginning of U.S. Involvement

8. A. The Eisenhower Years Post-Geneva U.S. position
New leader in the South: Ngo Dinh Diem
Diem’s mixed record
Diem’s refusal to participate in 1956 elections
Armed resistance against Diem grows in South Vietnam

9. A. Eisenhower Years (cont.)
Southern resistance fighters are known as the “Viet Cong” (VC)
VC use of “selective terror”
VC relatively independent of the North Vietnamese army
Increasing disorder and confusion in South Vietnam

10. B. The Kennedy Years JFK increases the number of military advisors
Diem government became increasingly remote and corrupt
Vietnamese Buddhist priests protest Diem’s rule
U.S. sanctions assassination of Diem and a change in government

11. C. The Johnson Years Johnson’s background and political skills
-- “The Johnson Treatment”
Fluidity of Vietnam policy in the fall of 1963
Vietnam seen as a traditional containment problem

12. C. The Johnson Years (cont.)
LBJ keeps all of Kennedy’s advisors
LBJ meets with Henry Cabot Lodge 2 days after JFK’s death
Keeping Vietnam “quiet”
By 1964, NVA troops are moving into South Vietnam

13. III. The 1964 Presidential Election
Republican party falls into the hands of the conservative right
Barry Goldwater’s unique ability to frighten voters
Johnson appears moderate by comparison
North Vietnamese attack on the USS Maddox in August of 1964

14. III. The 1964 Election (cont.)
LBJ bombs torpedo boat bases
“The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution”
LBJ’s landslide victory
New Liberal Democratic congressmen break the conservative stranglehold
Johnson’s “mandate” for change

15. IV. The Great Society Johnson’s “War on Poverty”
Harrington’s The Other America (1962)
“Great Society” programs
Medicare, Medicaid and Federal aid to education
New immigration laws
Problems with the “Great Society” legislation

16. V. The Commitment of U.S. Ground Forces to Vietnam
The opportunity to get out of Vietnam in 1964
The “Domino Theory” in Southeast Asia
U.S. “message” that would be sent with ground troops
“Rolling Thunder” (winter of )
Inability to stop bombing

17. V. U.S. Ground Forces (cont.)
Need for air bases for bombing campaign
Need for marines to protect the air bases (March 8, 1965)
“Search and Destroy” patrols
Escalation of the War on both sides

18. VI. An Overall Strategy in Vietnam?
William Westmoreland claims that U.S. has a strategy
No plans to invade and take over North Vietnam
Limited U.S. commitment from the beginning

19. VI. Overall Strategy? (cont.)
U.S. support for the war eroded faster than North Vietnamese will to fight
--Fulbright hearings (1966)
Military regrets over the conduct of the war
LBJ’s predicament
Vietnam as a “limited war” of body counts

20. VII. Increasing Costs of the Vietnam War
U.S. seen as an international bully
Less and less concern for South Vietnam
South Vietnamese economy was destroyed
War refugees and the unpopularity of the South Vietnamese government
U.S. military loses prestige
Presidential prestige was damaged
The “Great Society” reform was sidetracked

21. VIII. “The Awful Realization”: 1968 Tet Offensive
American belief that we were winning the war
The Tet Offensive (January, 1968)
The consequences of the Tet offensive
The American press turns against the war effort
--The significance of Walter Cronkite’s comments

22. VIII. Tet Offensive (cont.)
Calls for more troops
Growing belief within the Johnson Administration that there is no hope for victory
Morale of U.S. troops plummets
-- “fragging” incidents
-- Increased drug use
--My Lai Massacre (1968)

23. IX. The 1968 Presidential Election
The Violence of 1968
Johnson’s Decisions to stop bombing and not to run for president
A scramble for the Democratic nomination
Republicans nominated Richard Nixon
-- “secret plan” to end the Vietnam war

24. IX Election (cont.)
The third-party candidacy of Governor George Wallace
-- “Segregation now . . Segregation forever”
The closeness of this election in the last few months
Final Result and its implications

25. X. Nixon and Vietnam U.S. strategy to get out of Vietnam
“Vietnamization”
Bombing to create a “bloody balance”
Changes in the draft reduce public protests of the War

26. X. Nixon and Vietnam (cont.)
1970 Invasion of Cambodia and subsequent protests
--Kent State
--Jackson State
Reaction against these anti-war protests
-- “The Silent Majority”
Kissinger’s negotiations with Le Duc Tho ( )

27. X. Nixon and Vietnam (cont.)
1972 election and social divisions at home produced shift in U.S. position
-- “Peace is at hand”
Savage B-52 raids and mining of harbors make North Vietnamese more flexible
Truce signed on January 27, 1973

28. X. Nixon and Vietnam (cont.)
Post-truce warfare
Last Americans leave in 1975
Casualties and cost of the Vietnam War
Questioning of Containment Policy
Remembering the “lessons” of Vietnam
Vietnam War Memorial

29. XI. The Nixon Years at Home
Nixon’s inability to influence a Democratic Congress
Nixon’s opposition to Civil Rights laws
--The Bakke decision (1978)
Nixon’s appointments to the Supreme Court
“Getting Tough on Crime” and Environmental Issues

30. XI. The Nixon Years at Home (cont.)
Economic problems plagued the Nixon White House
-- “Stagflation”
Causes of these economic woes
The “Nixon Recession”
Wage and Price Controls (1971)

31. XII. The 1972 Presidential Election
Nixon’s election seems assured
Main threat seemed to be George Wallace
Democrats nominate anti-war candidate George McGovern
McGovern’s campaign problems
Election Results
The dirty tricks of CREEP

32. XIII. The Watergate Scandal
Nixon’s preference for isolation
Nixon’s sensitivity to criticism
Nixon’s pattern of deceit
Agnew as “point man” and the “enemies list”
The Pentagon Papers

33. XIII. The Watergate Scandal (cont.)
Creation of the “Plumbers Unit” led by G. Gordon Liddy and H. Howard Hunt
The Ellsberg break-in
Plumbers caught breaking into Democratic headquarters at the Watergate hotel on June 17, 1972

34. XIII. The Watergate Scandal (cont.)
Nixon had no knowledge of the break-in, but he was part of the cover-up from the beginning
The cover-up begins to unravel
Senate Watergate committee is formed to investigate

35. XIII. The Watergate Scandal (cont.)
John Dean’s testimony and the existence of the Oval Office tapes
Year-long battle for the Nixon tapes
-- “Saturday Night Massacre”
Supreme Court rules that Nixon must hand over the tapes (July, 1974)

36. XIII. The Watergate Scandal (cont.)
Gaps in the tapes are discovered
House Judiciary Committee recommends three articles of impeachment
Nixon resigns on August 9, 1974

37. XIII. The Watergate Scandal (cont.)
Agnew’s resignation in October of 1973
Gerald Ford appointed by Nixon to replace Agnew
Ford succeeds Nixon as president
Controversy over the Nixon pardon

38. XIV. Lessons of Watergate
First resignation of a U.S. president
Most serious constitutional crisis since 1867
Whole episode disclosed the strengths and weaknesses of the American political system
Changing nature of presidential scandal

39. XIV. Lessons of Watergate (cont.)
Presidential prestige was significantly tarnished
The good and the bad aspects of investigative journalism were displayed
--Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
-- “All the President’s Men”

40. XIV. Lessons of Watergate (cont.)
Crisis displayed the importance of an independent federal judiciary
Congressional power is rejuvenated
-- War Powers Act (1973)
--Campaign Finance Reform (1974)
Public faith in politicians drops dramatically