1. The Vietnam War Era
20.1= Origins

2. Major Figures

3. Vietnam

4. Ngo Dinh Diem
“Puppet” leader of S. Vietnam, controlled by USA; VERY UNPOPULAR in both North & South Vietnam

5. Gulf of Tonkin

6. The Vietnam War Era
20.2= U.S Involvement Grows

7. Operation Rolling Thunder
Response to Vietcong attack against U.S soldiers at Pleiku

8. American Strategies
Increased American presence due to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara & General William Westmoreland, commander in S. Vietnam
= 6 million tons of bombs dropped on enemy positions, conventional bombing and use of napalm (jellied gasoline)
Agent Orange= Herbicide meant to kill plant life, sprayed to destroy food of the enemy; Caused cancer & physical problems in American soldiers and Vietnamese civilians

9. Ho Chi Minh & the Enemy
Large-scale battles were not typical of Vietnam War, rather small engagements at night were the norm;
Ho Chi Minh= Described his troops as tigers & American military as an elephant; Never fight to your enemy’s advantage, fight on your own terms
Traveled light (Rifle/rice), dug tunnels to hide in during the day/night, set booby traps

10. Costly & Frustrating War
No real objectives for troops, U.S afraid of Soviet & Chinese involvement; Fighting for survival & development of S. Vietnam
Vietcong (S. Vietnamese Communist supporters), North Vietnamese (Communist soldiers); Hard for Americans to know who their allies & enemies were
Morale of troops & citizens declined as War continued

11. U.S Home front, Doubt Grows
Americans expected quick victory, more power & technologically advanced than North Vietnam
President Johnson & kept assuring a U.S victory, but never occurred
War weakened the economy, Johnson had to cut on Great Society reform plans
Antiwar Movement forms, 1966
Congress splits into two groups, Hawks (conservatives who supported the war) & Doves (Liberal politicians, pacifists, student protesters, civil rights leaders who questioned the war)

12. Antiwar Protests

13. The Vietnam War Era
20.3= War Divides America

14. The Tet Offensive
Nov. 1967= U.S citizens assured that Vietcong were declining in strength, couldn’t launch a major offensive
January, 1968= Coordinated assault on 36 provincial capitals, 5 major cities, & U.S Embassy
Not successful:
1) Pushed U.S to seek peace
2) Johnson pulls out of 1968 election

15. Election of 1968
Election impacted by assassinations of two major figures
MLK & Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy (JFK’s brother)
Election of 1968= Hubert Humphrey (Democrat, Johnson’s VP) vs. Richard Nixon (Republican)
Aug. 1968= Violence Democratic Convention in Chicago; Antiwar protests vs. police & National Guard troops
Richard Nixon nominated by Republicans in Miami; Focused on the “silent majority” (Described as the unpoor, unblack)
George Wallace, Alabama governor, ran as an independent; Represented southerners and southern values (Jim Crow, segregation, racism)

16. Election 0f 1968

17. The Vietnam War Era
20.4= War’s End & Impact

18. Peace Talks
Nixon during campaign of 1968, spoke of attaining a “peace w/honor”
Vietnamization= Process of withdrawing U.S. forces & handing responsibility of war to South Vietnam’s military (ARVN)
But war expanded, Nixon secretly ordered bombing of Ho Chi Minh trail in Cambodia, April 1970
Done to reduce flow of Communist supplies to Vietcong

19. Troubles at Home
With expansion of war into Cambodia, came more protests
BUT, protests were met with violence from the government
Kent State (1970)= 4 students killed by National Guardsmen during antiwar protest
Jackson State University= 2 students killed at a rally
1971= Info released about My Lai Massacre (Occurred in 1968)
Between Vietnamese civilians killed by U.S troops
Pentagon Papers, 1971= N.Y Times, confirmed that U.S leaders lied to American people about aspects of the War

20. Troubles

21. Paris Peace Accords
January, 1973= Agreement is reached b/t North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Vietcong, & U.S; Cease-fire is signed
Saigon is taken over in 1975 by North Vietnamese forces, Vietnam unified under communism
Impact:
1) SE Asia in turnmoil= Cambodia & Vietnam
2) Mistrust of gov.; Leads to War Powers Act
3) Veterans return home, mixed reactions