1. Vietnam War Years Timeline
1969
U.S. troops begin their withdrawal from Vietnam
1964
LBJ becomes President
1968
M.L.King and Robert Kennedy are assassinated
1972
U.S. signs cease-fire with North Vietnam and Vietcong
1965
First major combat units arrive in Vietnam
1968
Nixon is elected President
1972 Nixon is re-elected
1970
Ohio National Guard kills 4 students at Kent State U.
1966
Mao Zedong begins Cultural Revolution in China
1975
Communists capture Saigon; South Vietnam surrenders

2. The Vietnam Legacy Bridge to government mistrust
Contradiction of core American values
Skepticism of foreign involvement
What actions led to government mistrust?
Did we actually win in Vietnam?
How do we know when we are being sucked into another Vietnam?

3. France’s Colony Ho Chi Minh
From the 1800’s until WWII, Vietnam was under French Control
It was valuable for rubber and rice
Trading post for the French in China
Vietnamese fought against Japan during WWII
Led by U.S. ally Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh establishes the Indochinese Communist Party
Created the Vietminh to expel foreign powers
Post-WWII Vietnam declared its Independence
Created the Vietminh, whose goal was to expel foreign powers
France returned to reclaim colony after WWII
Ho Chi Minh

4. US Aides France
President Truman sends nearly $15 million to aid France.
Over the course of the 4 year struggle, US spent $1 Billion to help
What political theory is Truman using to justify the financial support for fighting Communism in Vietnam?
Domino Theory
If one country in the region falls to communism all eventually will.
1954: France surrenders at Dien Bien Phu

5. France surrenders 1954: France surrenders at Dien Bien Phu
In 2004 (50th aniversery of N. Vietnam’s independece) Vietnam's ruling Communist Party made much of the anniversary in Dien Bien Phu itself, with parades involving thousands of troops and members of ethnic groups. These citizens are reenacting the surrender

6. Geneva Accords
July 1954
US, GB, France, Soviet Union, China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
Hammer out a peace agreement between the anticommunists and Ho Chi Minh
Split Vietnam along the 17th Parallel
An election will be held in 1956 to reunite the country
Sound familiar?
The Soviets declared they would hold free elections in the countries they controlled after WWII
How did that work out?

8. U.S. Military Involvement Begins
Repressive dictatorial rule by Diem
Diem’s family holds all power
Wealth is hoarded by the elite
Buddhist majority persecuted
Torture, lack of political freedom prevail
Realizing he would Diem backs out of elections.

9. U.S. Military Involvement Begins
The U.S. aided Diem’s government
Ike sent financial and military aid
675 U.S. Army advisors sent by 1960
The conflict in Korea had ended the previous summer, with an armistice that gave victory to no one. That divisive war, fought at a cost of nearly thirty thousand American lives and more than eighty thousand wounded, left Ike and most Americans with no appetite for a return engagement
Realizing he would Diem backs out of elections.

10. Cancelled Elections
South Vietnamese president, Ngo Dinh Diem, cancels elections
Ho Chi Minh became Nat’l Hero
Fought against French & Japanese imperialists
Divided land amongst the peasants in the North
Diem refused to take part in the elections.
US supported the cancellation
Promised Diem military training if he created a stable South Vietnam

11. PREPARE A DEBATE SENATORS!
You will be assigned one of 5 positions about Vietnam and the U.S. involvement. You will have 5 minutes to prepare a presentation, using logic, your knowledge
of history, and common
sense. May the best plan win!
Number yourselves 1 thru 5…

12. Pull out of Vietnam support Diem with money.
1963--What should the U.S. do at this juncture with the information that they have.
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Pull out of Vietnam support Diem with money.
Stay in Vietnam support Diem with money & troops.
Stay in Vietnam with troops & money but get rid of Diem.
Get out of Vietnam & get rid of Diem, replace him.
Send many American troops to destroy communism

13. JFK Escalates the War!
U.S. supported military coup toppled Diem’s regime
Diem was assassinated 1963
against Kennedy’s wishes!?!?
16,000 American Troops
Kennedy was soon assassinated

14. Gulf of Tonkin Determine what happened
What happened at the Gulf of Tonkin?
What does LBJ want congress to do?
What does LBJ believe the U.S. is fighting
for in SE Asia?
What is the final mission?

16. The Tonkin Gulf “Resolution”
August 2, 1964
North Vietnamese patrol boat fired a torpedo at American destroyer USS Maddox
Maddox returned fire and destroyed the patrol boat
LBJ asks for “all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the U.S.”
August 7, 1964 – Congress approves LBJ’s request
Gives full control over military powers in Vietnam
NOT a declaration of War –
Unlimited funding to support our troops