American History II - Unit 7 Civil Rights & Vietnam American History II - Unit 7

CONFLICT IN VIETNAM Lesson 7.3 Mr. Duncan

France and Vietnam Formerly known as French Indochina – a French colony Post-WWII Indochina wanted independence → French army vs. Vietminh Vietnamese freedom fighters led by communist Ho Chi Minh 1945-1953

US and Vietnam US didn’t support French colonialism, but also did not support Ho Chi Minh’s communism US stayed out of the conflict until China and North Korea became communist by 1953 → financial aid to France to fight Vietminh Post-WWII presidents believed in the Domino Theory – the idea that if one country falls to communism, the surrounding countries will fall too. Provides support for US containment policies

Geneva Accords 1954 – Meeting in Geneva between French and Vietminh (plus US, GB, USSR, and China) Indochina → 3 countries Vietnam Cambodia Laos Vietnam → 2 sections North Vietnam (NV) – Communist, led by Ho Chi Minh South Vietnam (SV) – Pro-western nationalist, led by Ngo Dinh Diem

US and Diem Elections in Vietnam set for 1956 to unify the north and south BUT Diem refused to hold elections Feared Ho would win and Vietnam would be communist US (Eisenhower) supported Diem Believed he could turn SV into a strong independent nation Supplied financial aid Diem was a terrible leader Corrupt administration No opposing views

Vietcong 1957 - emergence of the Vietcong - Communist rebel group in SV Fought against Diem in SV Supported by Ho and NV Received NV weapons via the Ho Chi Minh Trail - intricate system of paths running between NV and SV Effective with guerilla warfare → Diem looked to the US to help fight Vietcong

Diem’s Unpopularity No follow-through on promised land reforms Seen was weak for not defeating Vietcong Suppressed opposing views Diem was Catholic and persecuted Buddhists Destroyed temples, imprisoned Buddhists In response, some Buddhist monks committed self-immolation – killing oneself as a sacrifice (usually by fire)

JFK and Vietnam 1960 – JFK as POTUS, needed to appear tough on communism → increased aid to Vietnam and urged Diem to make democratic reforms (little effect) As SV became more unstable, JFK’s administration agreed Diem should step down → Nov. 2, 1963 – US CIA supported SV military leaders overthrow Diem and executed him Execution was against JFK’s wishes Nov. 22, 1963 – JFK assassinated… LBJ inherits Vietnam crisis

Gulf of Tonkin Incident Diem’s successors were not successful either, but LBJ continued to supply aid Contradictory to JFK’s plans to begin withdrawing aid to SV LBJ determined not to let SV fall to communism August 2-4, 1964 – LBJ informed that NV ships fired on US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin twice and US ships fired back LBJ wanted to begin a bombing campaign on NV, but needed a provoking incident and permission from Congress (war powers)

Tonkin Gulf Resolution Tonkin Gulf Resolution – August 7, 1964 - Congress granted LBJ military powers in Vietnam without a declaration of war Authorized the president to “take all necessary measure to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent future aggression.” Essentially begins the “Vietnam War” 2005 declassified report revealed that the 2nd attack never happened Feb 1965 – 8 Americans killed by Vietcong in SV → “Operation Rolling Thunder” – 1st sustained bombing campaign of NV By June 1965, over 50,000 US troops in SV fighting the Vietcong

LBJ Increases Involvement US troops in Vietnam under command of General William Westmoreland End of 1965 – more than 180,000 US troops in Vietnam Westmoreland not impressed by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) – SV’s fighting force End of 1967 – 500,000 US troops in Vietnam

Early War at Home More troops and money in Vietnam → economy and Great Society programs suffering At first, Americans supported the war, however TV changed public opinions Johnson told Americans the war was going well BUT TV told a different story with horrific and brutal scenes on the nightly news Created a credibility gap - a lack of popular confidence in the truth of the claims or public statements made by the federal government

A “Manipulatable” Draft Most soldiers were called to combat under the Selective Service System, or draft – system for requiring citizens to serve in the military Established during WWI, males 18-26 Thousands of men found ways around the draft… Medical exemptions from sympathetic doctors Changed residences to go before a more lenient board Joined National Guard or Coast Guard – deferment from draft Enroll in university for a college deferment

African Americans in Vietnam Draft dodgers were from affluent families → “working class war,” disproportionate number of blacks and people of low socioeconomic levels drafted MLK refrained from speaking out on Vietnam, believing it would draw attention away from the movement, until 1967 when fighting in Vietnam increased High racial tensions and violence in platoons → decreased morale

The New Left By the late 1960s, many college students were already politically and socially active → growing movement known as the New Left Youth protest movement during the Vietnam War Demanded changes in American society and withdrawal from Vietnam College campuses = hotbeds of activism and protest Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) – Most prominent protest group of the New Left Claimed corporations and large gov’t institutions had taken over America Called for a restoration of “participatory democracy” and greater individual freedom Free Speech Movement – New Left group at UC Berkeley Grew out of a dispute between students and administration concerning free speech on campus

Emerging Protest Movement By 1967, protest marches and rallies against the draft and the war occurred in most large cities Early 1970s - Nixon phased out the draft, but not before… 200,000 men were charged with draft resistance 4,000 draft resisters were jailed 10,000 Americans fled the country Oct 1967 – March on the Pentagon Anti-war demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial with 67,000 protesters 30,000 demonstrators marched on the Pentagon and broke past military police Met with tear gas and clubs, 1,500 arrested and 700 injured

Vietnam Tests Johnson Johnson attacked by doves and hawks but was dismissive of both groups’ arguments → continued slow escalation By the end of 1967, Johnson’s policy created turmoil in his administration → Sec. of Defense McNamara resigned, replaced by Clark Clifford “It didn’t add up…What I was trying to find out was how the war went on year after year when we stopped the infiltration or shrunk it and when we had a very high body count and so on. It just didn’t make sense.” Prelude to the tumultuous year of 1968…

January/February – Tet Offensive January 30 = Vietnamese New Year known as Tet, a 2-day truce in fighting was called Peasants crowded the streets of SV in celebration, but many of the peasants were actually Vietcong rebels → Tet Offensive - massive Vietcong attack on over 100 SV cities (including Saigon) and 12 US air bases Westmoreland declared the Tet Offensive a US victory Right – militarily a victory for the US 32,000 Viet Cong casualties > 3,000 US/SV casualties Wrong – politically a loss for the US Media began to openly criticize the war

January/February – Tet Offensive South Vietnamese general executed suspected Viet Cong soldier IN FRONT of US film crew… showed later on the nightly news → Americans horrified and less supportive of SV troops

April – MLK Assassinated April 4 – MLK assassinated → violence broke out in major cities

June – RFK Assassinated June 5 – RFK won a major victory in the California Primary, addressed his supporters at a hotel Left the hotel through the kitchen, despite his bodyguards warning him not to → shot by Sirhan Sirhan 3 times, Palestinian angry over RFK’s support of Israel Americans shocked due to 2 assassinations in 2 months

January-June – Growing Protests on College Campuses Jan-Jun – almost 40,000 students on more than 100 campuses took part in over 200 major demonstrations Protested involvement in Vietnam Clashed with university officials over campus and social issues April – Massive demonstration at Columbia University 1 week, students took over several university buildings Police arrested 900 protestors

August – Violence at the Democratic National Convention Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey (LBJ’s VP) vie for the Democratic POTUS bid McCarthy had little chance of beating Humphrey due to party and LBJ’s support Late August – delegates arrived at the DNC in Chicago while 10,000 protesters traveled to Chicago Some angry about Vietnam, some disliked Humphrey, some wanted violence to break out to discredit the Democratic party Chicago’s mayor determined to keep peace, called for 12,000 police officers and 4,000 National Guardsmen August 28 – Violence at the DNC delegates voted for Humphrey’s candidacy protesters gathered downtown to march on the DNC Chicago police moved on the crowd, spraying mace and beating them with nightsticks

Fall 1968 – Presidential Campaign and Election Democrat – Hubert Humphrey Continue fighting in Vietnam until necessary American Independent – George Wallace Backed by Dixiecrats, “white backlash” Advocated for school segregation and states’ rights Republican – Richard Nixon Promised to restore law and order to end riots and frustration Promised, in vague terms, to end the war in Vietnam 37th POTUS - Nixon OTHER 1968 EVENTS