1. The Vietnam War

2. Vietnam Struggles for Independence
Chinese Rule
Hundreds of Years (111 BC)
French Indochina (colony)
Late
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
Japan took over Vietnam during WWII

3. Ho Chi Minh
After WWI He Petitioned Allies to free Vietnam from French control
Denied by Allies (United States and President Wilson)
Became Communist after visiting Soviet Union
Created the Indochinese Communist Party (most didn’t like)
Created the Vietminh to fight against Japan
Included Communist and Non-Communists
Guerrilla war tactics
U.S. will give some aid at this point

4. French Re-Colonization
Japan loses Vietnam after losing WWII
France wanted to regain colony of Vietnam
U.S. faced with difficult decision:
Support France = Support Colonialism
Support Vietminh = Communism could spread

5. America Aids French Truman decides to aid the French WHY?
Cold War Containment (pg. 655)
China recently fell to Communism
The Korean War was beginning
Support Rebuilding of Japan (food and oil supplies)
Protect Strait of Malacca
Malaysian Rubber and Tin Industries ($$$)
Ho Chi Minh turns to USSR/China for help against French

6. President Eisenhower Continued Truman’s Policy of French Support
Domino Theory
If Vietnam falls, all other nations in SE Asia will fall
Don’t want to lose access to the Strait of Malacca

7. Vietnam Divides Geneva Accords
Vietminh defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu
What happened?
Geneva Accords
Geneva, Switzerland
Accord = Agreement
Divide Vietnam along the 17th parallel

8. Vietnam Divides North Vietnam Communist Ho Chi Minh
17th Parallel - DMZ
South Vietnam
Pro-West Control
Ngo Dinh Diem

9. Ngo Dinh Diem South Vietnam (Nationalist) Leader
Devout Catholic
Fiercley Anti-Communist
Geneva Accord mandated election to unite Vietnam
Diem and US did not permit election
Afraid of Ho Chi Minh winning

10. U.S. Involvement Grows Vietcong emerge
Army of communists in S. Vietnam
Vietcong used terror against civilians
Assassinate thousands of government officials
US aid to prevent communist takeover
Eisenhower sent in advisors to train S. Vietnam’s army
Diem was becoming more and more unpopular

11. President Kennedy Kennedy gave aid to Diem
Democrats needed to look tough on Communism
Why?
JFK-CIA coup overthrows Diem
He had banned Buddha’s birthday and burned flag
Buddhist Monks burned themselves in protest
Diem overthrown and executed by JFK administration
But now, we have a problem….leadership in S. Vietnam

13. President Johnson Vietnam success is crucial to LBJ The Gulf of Tonkin
“Get in or Get Out”?
The Gulf of Tonkin
U.S. Destroyer was attacked by North Vietnam
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Gave LBJ power to wage war without Congress
“take all necessary measures to prevent aggression”
LBJ DIDN’T mention that U.S. was spying and assisting raids against North Vietnam

14. U.S. Attacks (March 1965) Operation Rolling Thunder
Hopes to bring N. Vietnamese to peace talks…nope
US “advisors” begin to take active role in fighting
Vietcong attacks U.S. embassy in Saigon
Johnson’s Approval Ratings:
Jumped from 41% - 60%
~ 80% of Americans felt
S. Vietnam would fall to communism without our help
We needed to send troops to protect the area

16. A Bloody Stalemate U.S anticipated a quick war
More firepower / better troops
Underestimated guerilla tactics of the Vietcong
Jungle Warfare
Ambushes
Booby Traps
Blending with general population
Vietcong disappeared easily into jungles
“It was a sheer physical impossibility to keep the enemy from slipping away whenever he wished.”
“It’s a war where nothing is ever quite certain, and nowhere is ever quite safe.”

17. Search and Destroy Napalm
U.S. forces literally destroyed the landscape
Napalm
Jellied Gasoline

18. …from LIFE Magazine

19. A chemical defoliant - Strips ALL foliage from trees
Search and Destroy
Agent Orange
A chemical defoliant - Strips ALL foliage from trees

20. Agent Orange Side Effects

21. Agent Orange Side Effects

23. The Ho Chi Minh Trail Vietcong needed supplies
Trail passed through Cambodia and Laos
Why?
LBJ refused to attack trail
Consequences?