3. Lyndon B. Johnson

5. Video: taking office  Became President when Kennedy was assassinated  Would be the President that got the U.S. more involved in the war in Vietnam

6. Tonkin Gulf Resolution

9. Entering Vietnam 8 minEntering Vietnam 8 min.  The North Vietnamese attacked U.S. ships in the Tonkin Gulf  LBJ asked Congress to authorize military force to defend U.S. assets  Congress authorized the President to take “all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the U.S.”

10. Escalation

13.  LBJ called for a buildup of U.S. forces in Vietnam  Ordered the Selective Service to carry out a military draft  This began the U.S.’s direct involvement in the defense of South Vietnam against the communist North

14. Vietnam Draft

18.  The draft was conducted for the Vietnam War from 1969 through 1973  The draftees made up about 1/3 of the forces that fought in Vietnam  About 1.7 million men were drafted  There were large demonstrations against the draft, especially with college students

19. Operation Rolling Thunder

22.  A massive bombing campaign against military targets in North Vietnam  Goal was to weaken the enemy’s ability to fight

23. Ho Chi Minh Trail

25.  The name of the supply line from the north to the south  Much of the line ran through Laos and Cambodia  U.S. forces could not go to these areas to stop the supplies

26. Defoliants

28.  Chemical herbicides used to strip the ground of vegetation  Most common known as Agent Orange – named because of the orange stripe on the barrel for identification  Needed to clear the vast rainforests that hid the enemy

29. Napalm Video “Napalm Girl” 7 minutes

30. Napalm  A jellied gasoline substance that was first used in flamethrowers during World War II  In Vietnam, used in bombs against buildings and people.  Sticks to human skin and causes extreme burns.

31. Pacification

33.  U.S. troops moved villagers to secure areas and burned their towns to deny the enemy of places to hide

34. Doves

36.  People that opposed the war in Vietnam

37. Hawks

38.  People that supported the war’s goals  Often criticized the way the war was fought

39. Tinker v. Des Moines

41.  John and Mary Beth Tinker and their friend Christopher Eckhardt decided to wear black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War  All were suspended  The Court found that the students actions did not cause disruption and held that their activity represented constitutionally protected symbolic speech

42. Anti-War Movement

43. Video: Anti-War sentiment builds  The movement against the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam war.  This began in the U.S. with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years.  The U.S. became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam, and those who wanted peace

44. Students for a Democratic Society

46.  A student group that protested against the war  By wars end, there were 124 campuses that had active membership to this group

47. Kent State shootings

50.  A student demonstration that turned deadly when the Ohio National Guard opened fire into the crowd  Four students were killed and nine others were injured

51. Tet Offensive

54. Tet Overview Tet starts: Video  Tet is the Chinese New Year  Fighting usually stopped for the days leading to Tet  In 1968, the North Vietnamese launched a massive attack on the eve of Tet  In the end, 40,000 Northern Vietnamese troops died  1,100 US and 2,300 Southern Vietnamese troops died

55. Role of the media

58. Video DE  This was the first war fought on television in everybody's living room every day  Military leaders accused their critics of being "unpatriotic" and guilty of "helping the enemy."  Many believed that the biased reporting of the Tet Offensive convinced the American public that the war was being lost

59. Credibility gap

61. Video: Nixon takes over  Described public skepticism about the Johnson Administration's statements and policies on the Vietnam War  Originally used in association with the Vietnam War in the New York Herald Tribune in March 1965, to describe then-president Lyndon Johnson's handling of the escalation of American involvement in the war

62. Vietnamization

64.  The U.S. effort to turn the fighting over to the South Vietnamese  This would lead to the slow pullout of U.S. troops from Vietnam  Extra Note: was the policy of President Richard Nixon

65. Fall of Saigon

67. Video: Fall under Ford  The U.S.had removed all troops in 1973 and cut off funds and weapons to South Vietnam  By the end of April 1975, North Vietnam had taken most of the country  On April 29, 1975 the U.S. ordered all Americans be evacuated  On April 30, North Vietnam took over Saigon with little resistance

68. Pentagon Papers

69.  Documents that revealed the government had frequently misled the American people about the course of the war  Published in the New York Times in 1971

70. Roy Benavidez

72. Medal of Honor – 9 min  Army Master Sgt. Benavidez received the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Vietnam War. In May 1968, he saved the lives of at least eight men during a daring rescue in the jungles near Loc Ninh, Vietnam, and was critically wounded.  Benavidez promptly received the Distinguished Service Cross, but President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Medal of Honor in 1981 when the full story of his actions emerged.

73. 26 th Amendment

75.  Passed in 1971  Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18  Brought millions of 18-21 year olds into politics, but youth turnout has steadily declined since 1972....?

76. War Powers Act

77.  Reaffirms Congress’s constitutional right to declare war by setting a 60-day limit on presidential commitment of U.S. troops to foreign conflicts

78. Vietnam Veterans Memorial

82. Video: The Ghosts of Vietnam  A memorial located in Washington, D.C. to pay honor to those that died in Vietnam  More than 58,000 names are on the black granite wall

83. US Presidents during Vietnam War 1954-1975