The Vietnam War APUSH – Spiconardi

I don’t see that we can ever hope to get out of there once we are committed…I am not going to be the president who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went. ~Lyndon B. Johnson (1964)

The Antiwar Movement As casualties mounted and it became apparent that the U.S. government was misleading the public, the antiwar movement strengthened

The Antiwar Movement The Draft Young men were burning their draft cards of fleeing to Canada to avoid conscription There was a disproportionate number of poor and black drafted 76% of men sent to Vietnam were from working class or lower middle class backgrounds In 1965 & 1966, blacks accounted for 20% of American casualties

The Antiwar Movement Vietnamization Nixon’s policy to equip and train South Vietnamese forces to take an increasing combat role in the war Called for reduction in U.S. ground combat troops However, increased U.S. Air Force bombings in Vietnam and Cambodia

The Antiwar Movement Veteran Opposition Vietnam veterans testified before the Senate to explain their opposition to the war. In 1971, thousands deserted the army Some soldiers experimented with heroin Many soldiers refused orders from superior officers

The Antiwar Movement Kent State In the spring of 1970, more than 350 college campuses experienced strikes At Kent State, four students were killed by the Ohio National Guard during an antiwar demonstration.

The Antiwar Movement My Lai Massacre The New York Times published details on the My Lai Massacre of 1968 in a 1969 report The report detailed the killing of 350 South Vietnamese civilians by American troops

The Antiwar Movement The Pentagon Papers In 1971, the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers, which were classified documents from the Department of Defense It showed how the U.S. was involved in Vietnam going back to World War II Revealed how Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon misled the American people about involvement in Vietnam

The Antiwar Movement New York Times Co. v. The United States Nixon claimed executive authority in hopes of halting publication of the documents Supreme Court ruled that the New York Times was protected under the First Amendment and Nixon’s national security claims were unfounded Justice Brennan reasoned that since publication would not cause an inevitable, direct, and immediate event imperiling the safety of American forces, prior restraint was unjustified

The War Powers Resolution [Act] To prevent another Gulf of Tonkin, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution in 1973 The president had to seek congressional approval in order to commit American troops overseas In 2014, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) proposed repealing the War Powers Resolution and replacing it with a stricter one U.S. last declared war in 1941, but had committed troops overseas several times

The End of the Vietnam War In 1973, Nixon’s Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger was able to negotiate a cease fire Legacy First war the U.S. definitively lost Americans killed: 58,000 Cost: $100 billion American’s lost confidence in the government and American institutions American ideals and long-standing beliefs were challenged

“…we didn’t know our ally. Secondly, we knew even less about the enemy “…we didn’t know our ally. Secondly, we knew even less about the enemy. And, the last, most inexcusable of our mistakes, was not knowing our own people.” ~ Gen. Maxwell Taylor