Chapter 30:

1. Chapter 30: The Vietnam War Years

2. Who originally colonized Vietnam? • During the 1800s, the French conquered Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. • Led by Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh, the Vietnamese began to fight for independence. After being rejected by Wilson, Minh began receiving aid from China & the USSR. Thus, they defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu. • Under the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel. Ho Chi Minh set up a communist government in North Vietnam in Hanoi.

3. What was Eisenhower’s theory regarding communism? • Eisenhower believed that if one nation ‘fell’ to communism, then others around it also would. He called this the domino theory and used it as a justification for sending economic and military aid to anti-communist forces in South Vietnam.

4. Who was the president of South Vietnam? • Ngo Dinh Diem led the anti-communist government in South Vietnam from Saigon. • However, he was very unpopular because he was a harsh ruler who forced people to move under his strategic hamlet program. He was also a Catholic in a nation of predominately Buddhists. Monks began self-immolating in protest. Further, the Vietcong, a communist opposition group, began attacking Diem’s government. • Ho Chi Minh was very popular, however, because he redistributed land to peasants. In order to help the VC, the Ho Chi Minh Trail was developed to funnel weapons to resist Diem. Diem & Ambassador to Saigon Henry Cabot Lodge

5. What prompted LBJ to send troops to Vietnam? • When the USS Maddox reported enemy fire in the Gulf of Tonkin, LBJ asked Congress for approval to commit troops to Vietnam. They responded by granting the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. • However, the crew of the Maddox later reported that they hadn’t seen enemy fire. Further, LBJ had prepared the Resolution months earlier and was waiting for a reason to use it. • Under Operation Rolling Thunder, sustained bombing raids of North Vietnam commenced and 50,000 US soldiers were sent to fight.

6. Who were some members of LBJ’s administration who fought for escalation in VN? • LBJ’s Secretary of Defense was Robert McNamara; • Secretary of State was Dean Rusk; • American commander in South Vietnam was General William Westmoreland. • All urged escalation of American involvement in Vietnam. Dean Rusk, Robert McNamara, Bill Moyers (R-L)

7. Why was fighting in Vietnam so difficult? • Although the US thought that they would be able to quickly defeat the Vietnamese due to superior technology, the Vietnamese were determined to fight for independence. • Fighting in the jungle proved difficult due to the terrain and the use of guerrilla tactics, landmines, and secret tunnels. • Thus, the US dropped naplam and sprayed Agent Orange to burn up the jungle to expose VC hideouts. • However, these raids coupled with the search&destroy missions, which destroyed entire villages, made it near impossible to win over the ‘hearts&minds’ of the native people. Thus, many Vietnamese turned to the VC and the morale of US soldiers began to sink.

8. What effect did the war have on the Great Society? • In order to fund the Vietnam War, funds were diverted from the Great Society. Thus, programs, like the War on Poverty, ended. • Further, the war was shown on the nightly news, thus making this America’s first ‘living-room’ war. • The news seemed to contradict the government promise of a quick VC surrender. Thus, many critics charged that there was a credibility gap between what the government was telling people and what was really happening.

9. Why was the draft so controversial? • Under the Selective Service System, all males at age 18 had to register with the government. In the event of war, men ages 18-26 would be called into military service. • However, if a man was in college, he could get a deferment. But, most of college students in the 1960s were white and financially well-off. Thus, 80% of soldiers in Vietnam were from the lower classes. • Further, although they only made up 10% of the population, AAs accounted for more than 20% of the combat deaths. MLK called that a ‘cruel irony.’

10. What were two prominent New Left groups? • Although the Old Left did advocate socialist policies, the New Left did not. They did, however, fight for sweeping social changes in America. • Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) formed under Tom Hayden and Al Haber. • The Free Speech Movement (FSM) was led by Mario Savio. • Both organizations charged that corporations and governmental institutions had dominated the US. They called business influence, the American ‘machine.’ • Both led protests, first based on campus policies, but later, focused on civil rights, the draft, and the Vietnam War. • Those who supported the war became nicknamed hawks; while those who opposed the war were nicknamed doves. Clashes would erupt between the two groups throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s.

11. What happened on the Vietnamese New Year? • The Vietcong launched a major attack on over 100 towns & 12 air bases in South Vietnam. • This was called the Tet Offensive and continued for about a month before the US regained control. • It dealt a psychological blow to the US soldiers and government, proving that the VC were not about to surrender.

12. What happened during the 1968 election? • RFK and Eugene McCarthy entered the race for the Democratic nomination, as LBJ announced he would not run again. • MLK, JR was shot in April, while RFK was assassinated by Sihan Sirhan in June. • LBJ’s VP Hubert Humphrey seemed poised to get the nomination at the DNConvention in Chicago. • However, when thousands of anti-war protesters converged on the Convention, the police met them with nightsticks and Mace. Inside, the delegates began to fight over the war…all being broadcast on TV. • Thus, with his promise to restore ‘law and order,’ Nixon triumphed by winning over mainstream America whom had become tired of the rioting. • Third-party candidate George Wallace captured five Southern states on a segregationist platform and was dubbed the ‘white backlash’ candidate.

13. What was Nixon’s plan to withdraw from the war called? • Nixon, under the guidance of National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, developed Vietnamization. This called for the gradual withdrawal of US troops in order for the South Vietnamese Army to take over combat missions. • Although he promised in the election to quickly end the war, he resisted pulling out of Vietnam entirely. • He appealed to the silent majority, mainstream Americans whom he believed supported his war policies, to help him secure ‘peace with honor.’ • Secretly, he ordered massive bombing raids on Cambodia and Laos to interrupt VC supply routes.

14. What caused the public to turn against the Vietnam War? • In 1969, the NYTimes reported of a massacre led by Lieutenant William Calley in the My Lai village. Over 200 villagers, mostly innocent women, children, and elderly men, were gunned down. This led many to question what the US was doing there. • In 1970, Nixon announced that he had ordered US troops to invade Cambodia. After, college campuses erupted in protest. Although over 1.5 million students demonstrated and closed down 1,200 campuses, the situation at Kent State was the most deadly. The National Guard were sent in after students set the ROTC building on fire. They opened fire and killed four andd wounded nine.

15. What were the Pentagon Papers? • In 1971, former Defense Department Secretary Daniel Ellsberg leaked 7,000 page document, which came to be known as the Pentagon Papers. • It showed that as LBJ was promising not to coimmit troops to VN, his administration was drawing up war plans. • It also showed that the government never had any intention of withdrawing completely as long as the NV persisted. • It confirmed what many had thought: that the government was not being honest about the war.

16. How did the war end? • After Nixon’s ‘madman strategy,’ in which hundreds of thousands of bombs were dropped in 1972, calls to end the war resounded from campuses, Congress, Moscow, and Beijing. • Finally, Nixon signed the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam in 1973 and the last US troops were brought home. • However, NV overran SV immediately after and set any SV who had ties to the US to ‘reeducation’ camps. Many fled and became refugees. • In all, US combat deaths stood at 58,000, while Vietnam lost two million. Returning vets were often criticized and suffer from psychological problems. • The VN War touched off the Cambodian genocide, which resulted in the deaths of one million Cambodians.

17. How did Congress try to curtail the powers of the executive concerning war? • First, the draft was abolished. • Second, the War Powers Act was passed. It stipulated that the president must inform Congress within 48 hours of sending forces into a hostile area without a declaration of war. Further, they may remain there no longer than 90 days unless the Congress approves it or declares war. • Overall, the Vietnam war divided the nation and led more Americans to be suspicious of their government, especially in times of war.