 How did the tactics of MLK and Malcolm X differ?  Which one was more successful? Explain.

 The Vietnam War provided another issue that split conservatives and liberals.  The war in Vietnam developed as a result of Cold War fears and the containment policy.

 The Geneva Accords provided that Vietnam be divided at the 17th parallel until elections could be held.  Claiming that the followers of Ho Chi Minh were communists and citing the domino theory, the United States backed an unpopular and corrupt government in South Vietnam.

 The South Vietnamese refused to hold the elections because Ho Chi Minh would have won and the Eisenhower supported the South Vietnamese  The Viet Cong were formed as a resistance movement to the South Vietnamese.

 The US supplied military aid and military advisers to South Vietnam.  North Vietnam supplied support to the Viet Cong and were backed by China.  Determined to contain communism, Kennedy steadily increased the number of military advisers sent to South Vietnam.

 LBJ took office in November 1963 and continued the policies in Vietnam.  In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which authorized the buildup of American troops in South Vietnam without approval by Congress.

 Congress never officially declared war.  Not wanting to lose the war for fear of being called “soft on communism” by his Republican opponents, Johnson initiated a bombing campaign against North Vietnam and continued to send more ground troops to the region.  By 1967, there were 500,000 American troops in Vietnam.

 Opposition to the war also grew.  The draft was seen as unfair because some young men were granted medical exemptions and college deferments or enlisted in the National Guard to avoid going to Vietnam.  African Americans served in large numbers as ground troops.

 Returning soldiers joined protests.  As protests became stronger, including the burning of draft cards, protesters lost public support.  Extensive TV coverage of the war and the protests divided the nation into hawks and doves.

 Protests continued with a massive peace march in Washington.  When the Nixon initiated a lottery system, the protest intensified again when US troops invaded Cambodia  Resulting protests led to the Kent State Massacre.

 In January of 1968, media coverage of the Tet Offensive showed that the Viet Cong forces could attack anywhere and anytime, thus leading to a shift in public opinion against the war.

 Public opposition and a split within the Democratic Party over the war led Lyndon Johnson to withdraw his name from the 1968 election.  Richard Nixon was elected in 1968 and voters understood that he would end the war.  However, Nixon was unable to admit that the war in Vietnam could not be won.

 While dealing with Vietnam, Nixon started a secret, massive bombing campaign to Laos and Cambodia.

 58,000 soldiers died or are missing  It was a cultural phenomenon that questioned American values, the use of Agent Orange and napalm, the heavy use of drugs among the troops, and the mistreatment of returning veterans.

 In 1972, Nixon announced that they had reached an agreement with North Vietnam.  Troops were withdrawn and American prisoners of war (POW) returned home in  In 1975, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese and the war was over.  The containment policy had failed in Southeast Asia.

 Nixon opened a dialogue with China in hopes of undermining Chinese support for the North Vietnamese.  He also followed a policy of detente (easing tension) with the Soviet Union in hopes of splitting these two powerful communist countries.

 Nixon was worried the Democrats would beat him in the election, so he employed the ‘plumbers’ and authorized the break-in into the Watergate offices of the Democratic Party.  The break-in led to the Watergate scandal, impeachment hearings, and Nixon’s resignation and further mistrust of government.

 Vietnam affected government power and foreign policy.  The Congress took action to curb the President’s war-making powers with the passage of the War Powers Act.

 Why did the development of the war in Vietnam impact American government and politics?  What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?  How did the policies of the Johnson administration, protests and opposition to the war, the role of the media led to a new culture?  What were the policies of the Nixon administration, and how did the growing credibility gap led to the Watergate scandal?