Today’s Schedule – 3/21/13 Turn in Cold War Focus Questions Discussion: Cuban Missile Crisis Decisions PPT - The Vietnam War HW: – Continue reading Cold War Sections

Today’s Schedule – 3/22/13 PPT - The Vietnam War HW: – Continue reading Cold War Sections

PHASE 1 A WAR OF COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE AGAINST THE FRENCH

Indochina – WWII – Truman Ho Chi Minh French Defeat Geneva Accords – Minh vs. Diem US policy of containment Bao Dai Ngo Dinh Diem Ho Chi Minh

Buddhist Protests Against Diem

JFK & Vietnam Approval of coup – Death of Diem – Ineffective govt.

PHASE 2 AMERICAN ESCALATION AND MILITARY INVOLVEMENT

Johnson & Vietnam – Gulf of Tonkin Incident – Gulf of Tonkin Resolution LBJ’s “blank check” – All necessary measures to prevent further aggression

Ho Chi Minh Trail – Vietcong/Guerrilla warfare US underestimates Gen. Westmoreland’s belief in attrition – Hanoi 3 yr bombing – US POWs The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the conventional army loses if it does not win. -- M MM Mao Zedong

Tet Offensive – January 31, 1968 – Holiday attack – Saigon

America’s First Living Room War – My Lai – Agent Orange

America’s Response – Kent State – “Baby killers” – Credibility Gap – “Hey, Hey, LBJ how many kids did you kill today” 48% - 36% popularity – “Hell no we won’t go” – Sec. of Defense McNamara – 1968 Election of Nixon “Silent Majority”

Pentagon Papers – US role not containment but to avoid embarrassment Nixon’s Role – Vietnamization – Carpet bombing – Secret attacks in Cambodia Henry Kissinger’s Role – America’s withdrawal

PHASE 3 VIETNAM’S CIVIL WAR

Conditions: U.S. to remove all troops N. Vietnam could leave troops already in S.V. N. Vietnam would resume war Release of POWs Last American troops left S. Vietnam on 3/29/ : North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City Communist Khmer Rouge in Cambodia April 30, 1975

LESSONS LEARNED

1.Wars must be of short duration. 2.Wars must yield few American casualties. 3.Restrict media access to battlefields. 4.Develop and maintain Congressional and public support. 5.Set clear, winnable goals. 6.Set deadline for troop withdrawals.