 Fertile River Valleys  B.C. – 900 A.D., China  900 – 1500, Independent  1500’s – 1941 French

 French › French Catholic missionaries › 5% converted › Buddhists resentful of Catholics  Missionaries murdered  French Control › stripped natives of land › large rice plantations (natives tenant farmers) › monopoly on opium and alcohol  Attempted revolts squashed

 Independence movement  Led by Ho Chi Minh › Educated in France, Russia, and China › Priority: independence › became communist in 1920's.

 1941 – 1945 › Japan took over Vietnam › Vietminh formed › Fought with Allies › Expected independence › Led by Ho Chi Minh  1946 –1954 › Ho Chi Minh declares independence › President Truman ignores Ho Chi Minh › French return › Vietminh begin fighting French › U.S. supports French with weapons and money

 1954 – MAJOR CHANGES  Eisenhower – Domino Theory › Countries will fall to communism if not stopped  Vietminh overrun Dien Bien Phu › French surrender  Geneva Accords › Split Vietnam › Communist North (Ho Chi Minh) › Non-communist South (Ngo Dinh Diem) › Reunification elections in 1956

 1956 – 1963  Elections cancelled (by Diem) Why?  Vietcong (S.V. communists) begin attacks  Diem very unpopular  Catholic (5% minority)  Anti-Buddhist laws  Overthrown in coup (Nov. 1963); US did nothing

 1964 – 1965  Gulf of Tonkin Incident › U.S.S. Maddox “fired” upon (Aug. 2, 1964) › Aug. 4 – 2 nd “attack”  Led to Gulf of Tonkin Resolution › Johnson’s “blank check”

 TONKIN GULF RESOLUTION  Johnson asks Congress for authority to retaliate  Congress gives full authority to do whatever he needs to in Vietnam  Good idea? Bad idea? Constitutional issues?  Passed House  Passed Senate 98-2  We find out years later it was a lie – there was no attack

 1965 – OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER IS LAUNCHED › Heavy bombing of North Vietnam by the US › Goal: bomb North Vietnam so much that they would give up  Where had that been tried before?

 The U.S. had provided the South Vietnamese with: › Weapons › Money › Military advisors (15,000 by 1963)  Operation Rolling Thunder was not working › North Vietnamese (northern communists) and the Vietcong (southern communists) were continuing to fight – and growing stronger  As President, you have four choices...

 Remove all U.S. troops from Vietnam › Positives/Negatives?  Declare war on North Vietnam › Positives/Negatives?  Continue to provide defensive help for important South Vietnamese installations › Positives/Negatives?  Join the South Vietnamese and commit ground troops to the war › Positives/Negatives?

 Remove all U.S. troops from Vietnam › Positives: no money being spent or lives lost in a foreign war › Negatives: would let down our allies, would look weak for not stopping communism  NOT AN OPTION  Declare war on North Vietnam › Positives: we will be engaging the enemy on their own turf, the war is “official” › Negatives: we may engage North Vietnam’s allies, China and the Soviet Union, which may lead to nuclear war  NOT AN OPTION

 Continue to provide defensive help for important South Vietnamese installations › Positives: we will only be helping the South Vietnamese, it will cost less money, it will put fewer American soldiers in harm’s way › Negatives: it’s what we’re currently doing and it’s not working  NOT AN OPTION  Join the South Vietnamese and commit ground troops to the war › Positives: we will be taking out the Vietcong, General Westmoreland says it will take 120,000 troops and be over by 1967 › Negatives: it will cost more money and more lives  THE ONLY OPTION

 Ground commander  Tells Johnson... › enemy will be defeated by 1967 › Need 120,000 troops

 Kennedy: 1,500 military advisors in South Vietnam (1961)  At death: 15,000 military advisors in South Vietnam (1963)

 Civil War › Vietnamese fighting Vietnamese  Guerilla War › Enemy blends in › Ambush › Hit and run attacks › Use of tunnels  Vietcong supplied by North Vietnam via Ho Chi Minh trail  supported by Chinese and Soviets  WHY THIS STYLE OF WAR?

 Get rid of Viet Cong  Eliminate hiding places › Napalm (burn down the jungle) › Agent orange (defoliate the jungle)

 Pacification › Remove loyal villagers › Eliminate the Viet Cong › Allow the villagers to return

 Most apathetic  at war since 1941  Tired of corrupt governments  Most rural people don’t care communist or not  Becomes a war of attrition › Viet Cong don’t have to win; simply must outlast Americans

 Westmoreland claims victory is close!  Leads to a credibility gap

 Who is eligible? › year old men  Who’s eligible for deferment? › College students › Medical conditions › National Guard › Conscientious objectors  How else could you avoid the draft? › Flee the country › Burn draft card › Have right “connections”  Who is left to fight?

 Who are the protesters? › Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) › College aged people › Called “Doves”  How are they protesting? › Refuse to go › Burn draft cards › Marches › Music

 October 21, 1967 › 100,000+ march at Pentagon  1967 Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara resigns  Clark Clifford: new Secretary of Defense  war is “unwinnable”  Now what?