 Ho Chi Minh Born in Vietnam, lived in France, lived as a party functionary in the Soviet Union, China, Thailand and Vietnam.  The French Not interested in giving up empire.  Americans

 Truman: Key word -- Containment Initially urged France to end the war. Refused support. Then changed his tune. Did not want to lose French support for European strength building. Policy based on exaggerated notions of Viet-Soviet partnership and possible aid from China. U.S. devolves into a Cold War culture of fear, paranoia and militant anticommunism (McCarthy era). Truman admin beaten up for “losing China.” Feel compelled to show that they are holding the line somewhere. Extend aid to the French. Paying 1/3 by 1953.

 American perspective: Vietnam the key to keeping Southeast Asia out of Communist hands.  Investing heavily in state building to buttress Bao Dai’s legitimacy: agriculture, hygiene, food and clothing + propaganda: History of the United States French acting as obstructionists American Vietnam policy still hostage to European policy.

 Eisenhower Republican administration embraced the “Domino Effect” thinking of democratic predecessor. Increased aid until paying ½ of war costs. Should Indochina fall, the rest of Southeast Asia would go over very quickly, like a row of dominos when the first one is knocked down, causing much greater losses of raw materials and people, jeopardizing America’s strategic position in the Far East, and driving Japan into the communist camp. So the possible consequences of the loss are just incalculable to the free world.

 1954 Dien Bien Phu 12,000 French garrisoned Ho Chi Minh moves an army of 50,000 to surround them Americans left French to their fate:  French surrender after 55 publicized days  French 1,500 killed 4,000 wounded  Vietminh 10,000 killed 25,000 wounded

 French feel betrayed  Americans believe French army simply incompetent Ignored possible lessons learned  Geneva Conference Divide into 3 sovereign states: Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam Vietnam “temporarily” divided at 17 th parallel: Vietminh regroup North, forces loyal to French Union – South Americans sure that Ho Chi Minh would win immediate vote, but believe can disrupt chances over two year time frame.

 Devout Catholic  Staunch anti-communist  Left during French occupation, moved to New Jersey  High doses of integrity, but inflexible  Love for country in abstract, but out of touch elitist  No vision for building a modern nation

 As Senator, clear proponent of Domino Theory: “The fundamental tenets of this nation’s foreign policy…depend in considerable measure upon a strong and free Vietnamese nation…Vietnam represents the cornerstone of the Free World in Southeast Asia, the keystone in the arch, the finger in the dike” against the “red tide of Communism.”  ENORMOUS nation building efforts.  “To have constructed a viable nation in southern Vietnam, [however], would have required the most enlightened, imaginative, and determined Vietnamese leadership, an ingredient the United States could not provide.” -- Herring

 Erroneous assumptions: Underrated Vietcong statement that it was the duty of their generation to die for their country. Believed Vietcong in “black pajamas” a “fake” army and the South Vietnamese a “real” army. Not Korea, not a conventional war.  17,000 Americans serving in Vietnam

1964 – “Johnson remained profoundly insecure, especially in the area of foreign policy, and he viewed the emerging crisis in Vietnam as a crucial test of strength for his personal prestige, his authority as President of the United States and leader of the Free World, indeed for his manhood.” – Herring Obsessed with appearing weak. Could not accept being president the first time “we’ve ever turned tail and been shoved out of a place.”

American goals (Pentagon Papers): 70% -- To avoid a humiliating U.S. defeat 20% -- To keep S.Vietnamese territory from Chinese hands 10% To permit the S. Vietnamese people to enjoy a better, freer way of life. Gulf of Tonkin incident Bombing retaliation – 25 patrol boats & oil depot 1964 – Johnson running for re-election Escalation by stealth Feb Vietcong attack American barracks. 8 Americans killed. Johnson responds with full scale bombing of N. Vietnam.

 Operation Rolling Thunder fails  Ho Chi Minh escalates infiltration on the ground  Administration sees only one option: Authorizes combat troops to Vietnam March  First 2 Marine units, then 50,000 men, then 80,000, then 200,000.  Vietnam a “major American war”  One reporter wrote of Pres. Johnson:  “The President is a desperately troubled man resisting the awful pressures to plunge deeper into the Vietnam quagmire—resisting them as instinctively as an old horse resists being led to the knackers. The President bucks, whinnies and shies away, but always in the end the reins tighten—the pressures are too much for him.”  White House = fortress.  Doubters = enemies.

 Versed in conventional warfare.  Emphasis on firepower.  600,000 troops by 1967  Hanoi meets every American escalation with escalation of own: “A great power of 200 million people fighting a limited war found itself stalemated by a small Asian nation of 17 million fighting a total war.”  Tet Offensive January ,000 NVA and VC attack 105 cities.  Johnson announces a bombing halt and withdraws from Presidential race.

From Corson: “The men I wanted to come into the CAP program had to have line experience. They had to know what it meant to take another human being’s life, and how to shoot, move, and communicate. That is not to say I was looking for the kill-crazy types or psychotics. On the other hand, I wasn’t looking for bleeding heart liberals, either. I was looking for well trained Marines. Marines that hadn’t gone so far into the bamboo that they were unable to empathize with the Vietnamese people. If they entered the job with an ethnocentric attitude, they would not succeed.”

 Neutralize the VC threat in the village or hamlet.  Provide security and help maintain law and order.  Protect local Vietnamese authorities.  Guard important facilities and lines of communication within the village and hamlet.  Conduct combined operations with other allied forces.  Participate in civic-action and psychological operations.  Assist in economic and social development.  Provide military training to the PFs.  Collect intelligence

 “Peace with Honor”  Vietnamization  Withdrawal begins June 1969  Communists stepping in where Americans recede  Reaction: attack Communist sanctuaries – Laos & Cambodia, increase bombing  1972 North Vietnamese launch major offensive.  1972 renews bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong at unprecedented levels.

 North Vietnam feels abandoned by allies.  Irony – détente with China and USSR (Big Daddy Communism) and at war against a small peasant country -- Vietnam – because Communist.  Peace talks/bombing  January 23, 1973 cease-fire, full withdrawal  Paris Accords = reversion to Geneva Accords status. Full circle.  1975 – South Vietnamese army collapses. Communists take S. Vietnam in weeks.

 58,000 Americans dead  Millions of Vietnamese dead  Devastation of topography and generational contamination of living space Relentless bombing of the North Napalm Agent Orange

 What did we gain?  What did we learn? About counterinsurgency? About nation building?