1. American History II - Unit 7
Civil Rights & Vietnam
American History II - Unit 7

2. CONFLICT IN VIETNAM
Lesson Mr. Duncan

3. France and Vietnam
Formerly known as French Indochina – a French colony
Post-WWII Indochina wanted independence → French army vs. Vietminh
Vietnamese freedom fighters led by communist Ho Chi Minh

4. US and Vietnam
US didn’t support French colonialism, but also did not support Ho Chi Minh’s communism
US stayed out of the conflict until China and North Korea became communist by 1953 → financial aid to France to fight Vietminh
Post-WWII presidents believed in the Domino Theory – the idea that if one country falls to communism, the surrounding countries will fall too.
Provides support for US containment policies

5. Geneva Accords
1954 – Meeting in Geneva between French and Vietminh (plus US, GB, USSR, and China)
Indochina → 3 countries
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Vietnam → 2 sections
North Vietnam (NV) – Communist, led by Ho Chi Minh
South Vietnam (SV) – Pro-western nationalist, led by Ngo Dinh Diem

6. US and Diem
Elections in Vietnam set for 1956 to unify the north and south BUT Diem refused to hold elections
Feared Ho would win and Vietnam would be communist
US (Eisenhower) supported Diem
Believed he could turn SV into a strong independent nation
Supplied financial aid
Diem was a terrible leader
Corrupt administration
No opposing views

7. Vietcong
emergence of the Vietcong - Communist rebel group in SV
Fought against Diem in SV
Supported by Ho and NV
Received NV weapons via the Ho Chi Minh Trail - intricate system of paths running between NV and SV
Effective with guerilla warfare → Diem looked to the US to help fight Vietcong

8. Diem’s Unpopularity No follow-through on promised land reforms
Seen was weak for not defeating Vietcong
Suppressed opposing views
Diem was Catholic and persecuted Buddhists
Destroyed temples, imprisoned Buddhists
In response, some Buddhist monks committed self-immolation – killing oneself as a sacrifice (usually by fire)

9. JFK and Vietnam
1960 – JFK as POTUS, needed to appear tough on communism → increased aid to Vietnam and urged Diem to make democratic reforms (little effect)
As SV became more unstable, JFK’s administration agreed Diem should step down → Nov. 2, 1963 – US CIA supported SV military leaders overthrow Diem and executed him
Execution was against JFK’s wishes
Nov. 22, 1963 – JFK assassinated… LBJ inherits Vietnam crisis

10. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Diem’s successors were not successful either, but LBJ continued to supply aid
Contradictory to JFK’s plans to begin withdrawing aid to SV
LBJ determined not to let SV fall to communism
August 2-4, 1964 – LBJ informed that NV ships fired on US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin twice and US ships fired back
LBJ wanted to begin a bombing campaign on NV, but needed a provoking incident and permission from Congress (war powers)

11. Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Tonkin Gulf Resolution – August 7, Congress granted LBJ military powers in Vietnam without a declaration of war
Authorized the president to “take all necessary measure to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent future aggression.”
Essentially begins the “Vietnam War”
2005 declassified report revealed that the 2nd attack never happened
Feb 1965 – 8 Americans killed by Vietcong in SV → “Operation Rolling Thunder” – 1st sustained bombing campaign of NV
By June 1965, over 50,000 US troops in SV fighting the Vietcong

12. LBJ Increases Involvement
US troops in Vietnam under command of General William Westmoreland
End of 1965 – more than 180,000 US troops in Vietnam
Westmoreland not impressed by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) – SV’s fighting force
End of 1967 – 500,000 US troops in Vietnam

13. Early War at Home
More troops and money in Vietnam → economy and Great Society programs suffering
At first, Americans supported the war, however TV changed public opinions
Johnson told Americans the war was going well BUT TV told a different story with horrific and brutal scenes on the nightly news
Created a credibility gap - a lack of popular confidence in the truth of the claims or public statements made by the federal government

14. A “Manipulatable” Draft
Most soldiers were called to combat under the Selective Service System, or draft – system for requiring citizens to serve in the military
Established during WWI, males 18-26
Thousands of men found ways around the draft…
Medical exemptions from sympathetic doctors
Changed residences to go before a more lenient board
Joined National Guard or Coast Guard – deferment from draft
Enroll in university for a college deferment

15. African Americans in Vietnam
Draft dodgers were from affluent families → “working class war,” disproportionate number of blacks and people of low socioeconomic levels drafted
MLK refrained from speaking out on Vietnam, believing it would draw attention away from the movement, until when fighting in Vietnam increased
High racial tensions and violence in platoons → decreased morale

16. The New Left
By the late 1960s, many college students were already politically and socially active → growing movement known as the New Left
Youth protest movement during the Vietnam War
Demanded changes in American society and withdrawal from Vietnam
College campuses = hotbeds of activism and protest
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) – Most prominent protest group of the New Left
Claimed corporations and large gov’t institutions had taken over America
Called for a restoration of “participatory democracy” and greater individual freedom
Free Speech Movement – New Left group at UC Berkeley
Grew out of a dispute between students and administration concerning free speech on campus

17. Emerging Protest Movement
By 1967, protest marches and rallies against the draft and the war occurred in most large cities
Early 1970s - Nixon phased out the draft, but not before…
200,000 men were charged with draft resistance
4,000 draft resisters were jailed
10,000 Americans fled the country
Oct 1967 – March on the Pentagon
Anti-war demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial with 67,000 protesters
30,000 demonstrators marched on the Pentagon and broke past military police
Met with tear gas and clubs, 1,500 arrested and 700 injured

18. Vietnam Tests Johnson
Johnson attacked by doves and hawks but was dismissive of both groups’ arguments → continued slow escalation
By the end of 1967, Johnson’s policy created turmoil in his administration → Sec. of Defense McNamara resigned, replaced by Clark Clifford
“It didn’t add up…What I was trying to find out was how the war went on year after year when we stopped the infiltration or shrunk it and when we had a very high body count and so on. It just didn’t make sense.”
Prelude to the tumultuous year of 1968…

19. January/February – Tet Offensive
January 30 = Vietnamese New Year known as Tet, a 2-day truce in fighting was called
Peasants crowded the streets of SV in celebration, but many of the peasants were actually Vietcong rebels → Tet Offensive - massive Vietcong attack on over 100 SV cities (including Saigon) and 12 US air bases
Westmoreland declared the Tet Offensive a US victory
Right – militarily a victory for the US
32,000 Viet Cong casualties > 3,000 US/SV casualties
Wrong – politically a loss for the US
Media began to openly criticize the war

20. January/February – Tet Offensive
South Vietnamese general executed suspected Viet Cong soldier IN FRONT of US film crew… showed later on the nightly news → Americans horrified and less supportive of SV troops

21. April – MLK Assassinated
April 4 – MLK assassinated → violence broke out in major cities

22. June – RFK Assassinated
June 5 – RFK won a major victory in the California Primary, addressed his supporters at a hotel
Left the hotel through the kitchen, despite his bodyguards warning him not to → shot by Sirhan Sirhan 3 times, Palestinian angry over RFK’s support of Israel
Americans shocked due to 2 assassinations in 2 months

23. January-June – Growing Protests on College Campuses
Jan-Jun – almost 40,000 students on more than 100 campuses took part in over 200 major demonstrations
Protested involvement in Vietnam
Clashed with university officials over campus and social issues
April – Massive demonstration at Columbia University
1 week, students took over several university buildings
Police arrested 900 protestors

24. August – Violence at the Democratic National Convention
Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey (LBJ’s VP) vie for the Democratic POTUS bid
McCarthy had little chance of beating Humphrey due to party and LBJ’s support
Late August – delegates arrived at the DNC in Chicago while 10,000 protesters traveled to Chicago
Some angry about Vietnam, some disliked Humphrey, some wanted violence to break out to discredit the Democratic party
Chicago’s mayor determined to keep peace, called for 12,000 police officers and 4,000 National Guardsmen
August 28 – Violence at the DNC
delegates voted for Humphrey’s candidacy
protesters gathered downtown to march on the DNC
Chicago police moved on the crowd, spraying mace and beating them with nightsticks

25. Fall 1968 – Presidential Campaign and Election
Democrat – Hubert Humphrey
Continue fighting in Vietnam until necessary
American Independent – George Wallace
Backed by Dixiecrats, “white backlash”
Advocated for school segregation and states’ rights
Republican – Richard Nixon
Promised to restore law and order to end riots and frustration
Promised, in vague terms, to end the war in Vietnam
37th POTUS - Nixon
OTHER 1968 EVENTS