Vietnam War (1964-1975)

Colonial Background-Vietnam 1800s -1954 French ruled Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) 1954-French Defeated Vietnam becomes a Cold War concern Geneva Accords (1954) Vietnam is divided @ 17th Parallel following French Exit North (Communist) South (non-communist) Vietnam lost its independence during European Imperialism in the mid 1800s In 1883 Vietnamese were forced to grant France complete control Franc later combined Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to form French Indochina Geneva Accords attempt to find a way to unify Vietnam and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina The Soviet Union, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the People’s Republic of China were participants carefully worded the division of northern and southern Vietnam as a "provisional military demarcation line"

Ho Chi Minh Minh supports Viet Cong Spent 30 years abroad Embraced communism Returned to Vietnam-1941 Established Viet Minh Worked with US during WWII against Japan Sought US support from Truman, was denied French lost fight with Viet Minh in 1954 Supported by USSR/China Minh supports Viet Cong Communist insurgents in the south -For 30 years Ho Chi Minh lived and worked in the US, Britain, France, USSR, and China working for vietnamese independence -Embraced Communist Ideals- Some formal education in Moscow -organized a resistance movement called League for Independece of vietnam or Viet Minh When the japanese withrew from indochina after surrendering to the allied powers, the vietminh declared independence He echoed Declaration of independece in his speech By 1946, french and Viethinh were fighting over Vietnam again – US supported France, afraid communism would engulf asia Viet Cong – rebel force fo Vietnamese communists

US Involvement in Vietnam Eisenhower (1954) & Kennedy (1962) Domino Theory US provided aid first to French Later to Democratic S. Vietnam MACV Kennedy sends aid and 15,000 military personnel Advise and train S. Vietnamese troops U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was a joint-service Command of the United States Department of Defense. MACV was created on 8 February 1962, in response to the increase in United States military assistance to South Vietnam. U.S. commitment to the war in Vietnam, and American assistance to the South Vietnamese doubled between 1961 and 1962.

Escalation Gulf of Tonkin Resolution-1964 Reaction to the firing upon of US ships by the North Vietnamese President can use all necessary force to protect US interests Johnson orders 500,000 troops to South Vietnam - On August 2, 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox, while performing a signals intelligence patrol, engaged three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats of the 135th Torpedo Squadron. A sea battle resulted, One US aircraft was damaged, one 14.5 mm round hit the destroyer, three North Vietnamese torpedo boats were damaged, and four North Vietnamese sailors were killed and six were wounded; there were no U.S. casualties. Johnson is granted authority to assist any South East Asian country whose government was considered to be jopardized by communist aggression = legal justification for deploying us forces in open warfare against N. Vietnnam WITHOUT formal declaration f owar by congress

Downfall of the Great Society The cost of the war in Vietnam The cost in $$ The cost in lives The big protest movement Massive upheavals in society Civil Rights Movement Chaos in the Democratic Party-Assassination of RFK LBJ was more interested in domestic policy, however foreign policy demanded his attention By spring of 1965, Johnson’s focus had shifted to fighting in vietnam, In 1966, government spent 18 times more on vietnam than they did on war on poverty MLK jr complained the great society had been “shot down on the battlefields of vietnam” The movement against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began small--among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses--but gained national prominence in 1965, after the United States began bombing North Vietnam in earnest. Anti-war marches and other protests, such as the ones organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), attracted a widening base of support over the next three years, In the frigid fall of 1969, more than 500,000 people marched on Washington to protest U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. It remains the largest political rally in the nation's history. RFK – June 5, 1968 Democratic campaign for president shot by Sirhan Sirhan, 24 year old palestinian immigrant Hubert Humphrey won democratic nomination, but lost to Nixon for president in 1969

Downfall of the Great Society Cont. Assassinations of John F. Kennedy Robert F. Kennedy Martin Luther King Jr. Counterculture-rejected materialism and work ethic Hippies Widespread drug use Opposition to Vietnam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUc2eLe-ruI JFK – Nov 22, 1963 Malcom X – feb 21 1965 MLK jr – April 4, 1968 RFK – June 5, 1968 Counterculture of 1960s was a cultural phenomenom that developed in US and UK and spread throughout much of w world. Gained momentum during vietnam war Pop music – british bands like beatles and rise of hippie culture

Richard Nixon 1969 - 1974 Lost to Kennedy in 1960 Came back in 1969 to win!! Promised to end the Vietnam War “ We have endured a long night….let us gather the light” Johnson became more worried about his failing health and was concerned that he might not live through another four-year term. Therefore, at the end of a March 31 speech, he shocked the nation when he announced he would not run for re-election by concluding with the line: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.“ --- backed Hubert Humphrey Nixon won republican nom – was Einsenhowers VP and ran for pres in 1960 but lost to kennedy Humphreys was LBJ’s vice pres Nixon beat Humphrey by less than 500,000 votes Nixon campaigned on a platform designed to reach the "silent majority" of middle class and working class Americans. He promised to "bring us together again," and many Americans, weary after years of antiwar and civil rights protests, were happy to hear of peace returning to their streets

Nixon’s Vietnam War Strategy Vietnamization Policy to end US involvement in the war Shift the burden of war to the South Vietnamese Promised the public de- escalation of the war Helped him win 1968 election Privately promised S. Vietnam he would escalate the conflict Pentagon Papers New York Times found out – US citizens began to mistrust US government Plan to fulfill the campaign pledge to end the war, part of plan was vietnamization Involved turning over the fighting to the south vietnamese while gradually pulling out troops Would bring peace “with honor” Hoped that S vietnam would set up stable anticommunist government Pentagon Papers – published in 1971 in NY Times and showed that Johnson Admin had “systematically lied not only to the public but also to Congress” More specifically, the papers revealed that the U.S. had secretly enlarged the scale of the Vietnam War with the bombings of nearby Cambodia and Laos, coastal raids on North Vietnam, and Marine Corps attacks, none of which were reported in the mainstream media Reporters criticized the government optimism and accused the US government of inflating enemy body counts to give the appearance of progress – Daniel Ellsberg was initially charged with conspiracy, epionage and theft of governement property but charges were later dropped after Watergate scandal - 2011 entire set of Pentagon papers were declassified and publicly released for the first time.