The Stormy 1960s Vietnam & the Great Society

Lyndon B. Johnson  LBJ’s hero was FDR  Former Senate Majority Leader  Wanted to enact groundbreaking reform legislation= saw JFK’s assassination, his presidency & the Vietnam War as an opportunity to improve American society

 LBJ used national sadness over JFK’s death to pass Civil Rights reform= Civil Rights Act of 1964: outlawed discrimination in employment or public facilities based in race, color, religion or gender  Also used intimidation & his status as a southerner

 LBJ is re-elected in 1964  Goal= pass his domestic agenda called the “Great Society”= foundation of modern welfare state –Declared a “War on Poverty”  Project Head Start  VISTA= domestic Peace Corps  HUD (Dept. of Housing & Urban Development)  Medicaid (medical care for poor)  Welfare & food stamps

 Problem= funding both the Great Society & the Vietnam War.

Start of Vietnam  Vietnam War started between Vietnamese & France at the end of WWII  Vietnamese wanted independence & France didn’t want to give it to them.  Result: Revolution led by Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh

the battle of Dien Bien Phu  During the French/Vietnamese war, President Eisenhower sent in military advisors to help the French  USA didn’t want another domino (Vietnam) to fall to communism  In 1956 the French lost to the Vietnamese in the battle of Dien Bien Phu

 After Dien Bien Phu, the French agreed to leave Vietnam, but to divide Vietnam between the North & South. –North Vietnam= Communist & led by Minh –South Vietnam- capitalist & led by Ngo Dien Diem –In 1960 there would be an election & the nation would be reunited under whoever won the election

Review Questions 1.What made the 1960 Presidential election different than any previously? Who won the election? 2.What are 2 examples of things President Kennedy (JFK) established as part of the New Frontier for America? 3.Which country fell to communism in 1959? Who led the communists in that country? 4.What did the Bay of Pigs invasion plan to do? Did it fail or succeed? 5.What was the Berlin Wall? 6.Which country put their nuclear missiles on Cuba? Why? 7.Who assassinated President Kennedy (JFK)? 8.Who took over as president after Kennedy was assassinated? 9.What was President Johnson’s (LBJ) plan for the USA called? What did it attempt to do? 10.After the French and Vietnamese ended their war, what happened to Vietnam?

Diem Regime  Problem: no one in South Vietnam liked Diem. He took away their rights & imprisoned anyone who opposed him  Diem kept pushing back the election in 1960 because he knew he would lose.

 To help Diem control South Vietnam, JFK sent in more military advisors & CIA agents  Still no one liked Diem –Communists in North Vietnam= Vietminh –Pro-communist guerillas in South Vietnam= Vietcong

 In 1963 JFK allows the CIA to help a coup to overthrow Diem  Diem is assassinated  2 weeks later JFK is assassinated & LBJ takes over  LBJ could have withdrawn troops, but refuses. Feels USA can overwhelm any opposition= increases “advisors” in South Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin Incident  In 1964 US Navy reports the North Vietnamese sank a US destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin  LBJ goes to Congress & asks for permission to respond  Congress passes the “Gulf of Tonkin Resolution” giving LBJ a “blank check” (authority) to do whatever he feels necessary to protect American interests

Escalation  Result: massive escalation –Congress never declares war= UN police action –Increased # of American troops –Increased bombing of North Vietnam –Americanization of the war= US took over war for South Vietnam –Americans told we’re winning the war & it will be over shortly

Turning Point  In 1968 the Tet Offensive occurs= massive Vietcong uprising in all major South Vietnamese cities  Shocks Americans who think war was almost over= realize the military exaggerated wins  Public opinion turns against the war because people feel lied to

War Protest  After Tet= war protests increase –Oppose the draft –Started at UC Berkeley & college campuses  New Left movement starts by the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) –Anti-war protesters called “doves”

LBJ  LBJ goes on TV & withdraws from the 1968 election  3 people run for the democratic nomination: –Eugene McCarthy (anti- war) –Robert Kennedy (JFK’s brother) –Hubert Humphrey (LBJ’s VP)

1968 Unrest  In April Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated  Riots break out in 150 cities to protest the assassination  In June democratic frontrunner Robert Kennedy is assassinated  Assassinations convince many peaceful change is impossible  In August riots & fights break out at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago

1968 Election  Republican= Richard Nixon  Democrat= Hubert Humphrey  Independent= George Wallace

 Nixon promised to end the Vietnam War & appealed to the “Silent Majority” who were not war protesters  Humphrey was depicted as being crazy & pro- nuclear war  Wallace ran on a pro- segregation, white supremacy campaign  Nixon won

Vietnamization  Nixon promised to end US involvement in Vietnam by replacing American troops with Vietnamese troops= “Vietnamization”  But he also increased the number of air strikes into North Vietnam & started bombing Laos & Cambodia  Public opinion started to turn against Nixon when by 1972 we still were not out of Vietnam  It looked like Nixon might lose the 1972 election to George McGovern

End of Vietnam  Secretary of State Henry Kissinger finally negotiated a peace agreement pulling US troops out of Vietnam in 1972 right before the election  Nixon wins in 1972

War Powers Act  In 1973 Congress passed the War Powers Act= ends blank checks to Presidents. Says Presidents must get approval from Congress for any military commitment lasting more than 60 days

 The Vietnam War finally ends in 1975 when North Vietnamese troops take over the South Vietnamese capitol of Saigon