1. U.S. Involvement and Escalation
The Vietnam War

2. Decisions for U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

3. Lyndon B. Johnson Determination to contain Communism
Did not want to send troops in ’64
He gave into his foreign policy advisors in March of ‘65

4. Robert McNamara Secretary of Defense
Advised Johnson on the escalation in Vietnam
By 1967, he openly supported a peaceful solution to the conflict.

6. Dean Rusk Secretary of State
As Secretary of State he was consistently hawkish, a believer in the use of military action to combat Communism.

7. General Wm. Westmoreland
American Commander in S. Vietnam.
By 1967 he had requested more than 450,000 troops.

8. Under Westmoreland's leadership, the United States "won every battle until it lost the war."

9. Westmoreland was convinced that the Vietnamese communists could be
destroyed by fighting a war of attrition that, theoretically, would render the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese unable to fight. His war strategy was marked by heavy use of artillery, airpower and attempts to engage the communists in large-unit battles.

10. U.S. Congress
Approved Johnson’s Policies.

11. American Public Opinion
Supported Johnson’s policies at first because of the idea of containment.

12. U.S. Military Strategies

13. American Advatages
Superior Weaponry

14. Knowledge of the Jungle Terrain. Ability to blend in with civilians
Vietcong Advantages
Knowledge of the Jungle Terrain.
Ability to blend in with civilians
The willingness to pay ANY price for victory.

16. American Strategies Bombings The use of Napalm and Agent Orange
Prevention of the Vietcong from winning the support of S. Vietnam’s rural population.
The use of search-and-destroy missions

17. Strategies of the Vietcong
Hit-and-Run ambushes
Booby Traps and Land Mines
Surprise Attacks
Guerrilla Warfare

19. Public Support begins to faultier as a “credibility gap” grows
The roles of key factors that played a part in changing public support of the war.

20. The U.S. Economy
The cost of the war lead to increased inflation and taxes, as well as to a reduction in spending for Great Society Programs.

22. Television Brought the war into U.S. Living Rooms.
Contradicted Johnson’s optimistic war scenario.
                                                                                                  

23. The Fulbright Hearings
The Fulbright Hearings were U.S. Senate hearings in 1971 relating to the Vietnam War. By April 1971, with at least seven pending legislative proposals concerning the war, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Democratic Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas began to hear testimony. The 22 hearings, titled "Legislative Proposals Relating to the War in Southeast Asia", were held on eleven different days between April 20, 1971 and May 27, The hearings included testimony and debate from several members of Congress, as well as from representatives of interested pro-war and anti-war organizations.

24. The hearings contributed to the average American’s growing ambivalence about the war.