2. Names  The Vietnam War/ Vietnam Conflict or in Vietnam…  The American War

3. Vietnam War  Nov 1955 – April 1975  Over 58,000 Americans killed  Over 303,000 Americans wounded  The U.S. did not declare war officially  War was fought in Cambodia and Laos too

4. Indochina  Was part of the French territories in Asia  Was captured by Japanese during WWII  Post-World War left France unable to maintain it  12,000 troops will be captured by communists, only 3,000 will survive to return home

5. Early Leaders  Ho Chi Minh  Saigon will be named after him  Ngo Dinh Diem  Will be assassinated in ‘63

6. Eisenhower  From 1950-54, $1 Billion spent to help French  Part of containment and Domino Theory  Kept us out of a general land war

7. JFK  Reluctance to send troops  Will send training personnel  OK with Diem being assassinated  Increases troops to 16k for observing and training REALLY BAD army there  (right there with Afghan Army and the French)

9. Lyndon B. Johnson

10. JOHNSON’S GREAT SOCIETY (1963-1969) Domestic Program to End War, Eradicate Poverty & Racial Injustice, Dispel Ignorance, Overcome Disease, and Revitalize Cities “War on Poverty” Tax cuts Economic Opportunity Act (1964): Job Creation Medicare & Medicaid Funding for Housing

11. Gulf of Tonkin incident  USS Maddox and later USS Turner Joy report being followed and fire upon stalking ships  Evidence of support is questionable; at the time, it allows Johnson to up the ante and manipulate the American People

12. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)  “take all necessary measures…”  Congress allows the President to conduct whatever measures necessary in S.E. Asia  Follows it up with 3,500 Marines in 1965 (start ground war)

13.  “If the Americans want to make war for twenty years then we shall make war for twenty years. If they want to make peace, we shall make peace and invite them to afternoon tea.” – Ho Chi Minh (Ho Chi Minh. Letter to Martin Niemoeller. December 1966. quoted in Marilyn B. Young. The Vietnam Wars: 1945–1990. New York, New York. Harper, 1991, p. 172.)

14.  Airstrikes into the North

15. US General  Gen William C Westmoreland  (1964-68)

16. Agent Orange  Herbicide  5 million acres of forests destroyed  Concerns over side effects to humans  Later justified  Also other agents  Blue  Purple  Pink

17. Tet Offensive  Tet – Holiday in Vietnam (Lunar New Year)  Took place in January 1968  Attack on over 100 cities by Viet Cong Rebels  Counter-attack along with initial attack left 80% of cities in ruin

18. Johnson Embarrassed  Polls sunk as he promised things going well, and the Tet offensive took place  Did not seek reelection

19. Richard Milhous Nixon

20. Vietnamization  Vietnamese fight the Vietnam war  Train troops  Try to negotiate a peace

21. Issues  My Lei Massacre – raping and killing  Green Beret Affair – murder of suspected double agent  Bombing raids into Cambodia to attack Communists using country as launch site

22. FOREIGN AFFAIRS UNDER NIXON  Invasion and Bombing of Cambodia and Laos  The Paris Peace Accords of 1973: Ceasefire and U.S. Withdrawal  War Powers Resolution (1973)

23. 1972 Election

25. Evacuation of Saigon  April 29-30, 1975  7,500 American and at-risk Vietnamese personnel taken to U.S. ships waiting  Communists enter the 30 th  War ends with victory for Hanoi

26. Keys  U.S. was not completely committed at all times; USSR and China was  South Vietnam had unstable leadership throughout its existence; North Vietnam was stable, even after Ho Chi Minh died  Cambodia and Laos will eventually fall

27. Casualties South  361,000-2,000,000 civilian dead  military dead: 220,357 (lowest est.) – 316,000 dead (highest est.); 1,170,000 wounded North  50,000 - 2,000,000 civilian dead  1,176,000 military dead or missing; 600,000+ wounded

28. Nixon visits China  Feb. 1972 - Met with Chairman Mao Zedong  First time a US president visits the nation  His visit greatly helped to smooth relations over  Soviet Union was left out of the loop