1. The Vietnam War- Historical Background
Vietnam controlled by outside powers for centuries.
China (111 BC-1771)
France ( )
Japan ( )

2. French Colonial Rule Vietnamese were second class citizens
Vietnamese developed “nationalist” feelings
Uprisings against the French were not uncommon

3. Japanese Occupation Japan invaded and occupied Indochina in 1941
Resistance against Japan led by Ho Chi Minh
Vietminh- Vietnamese Independence League
•Japan withdrew at end of WWII (1945)
•In 1946, France comes back to reclaim Vietnam

4. Ho Chi Minh Nationalist 1st/ Communist 2nd
War hero in Vietnam (fought the French, the Japanese & later the Americans)--very popular

5. Independence Movement
Vietnamese D of I --Sept 2, 1945 (read this)
France rejected D of I
Leads to 8 year war “French Indochina War” ( )

6. Role of U.S. Ho Chi Minh sends Truman 8 letters asking for support
Truman Admin sends military support to …
Continues under Eisenhower Admin
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson (LBJ)
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford

7. End of French-Indochina War
Despite U.S. aid, (80% of French effort paid for by the US), France loses in 1954
Geneva Accords negotiates a settlement b/w France and Vietnam
Divides Vietnam temporarily until elections in (eventual war will be b/w the N & S)

8. Ngo Dinh Diem US installs Diem to head the South
Eisenhower cancels elections knowing that Ho Chi Minh would win

9. JFK & Vietnam Continues Eisenhower’s policy CIA in Vietnam Aids Diem
Increases involvement:
Sends military “advisors” & special forces
Read “importance of Vietnam”

10. US’ deepening involvement
Diem became problematic for the US
Oppressed Buddhist majority
Made the US look bad
Is assassinated in a coup by S. Vietnamese generals (w/ support from US) on Nov. 1st, 1963

11. NLF (VC) NLF National Liberation Front Formed in 1960
Military wing of Vietminh
Called Vietcong by Americans (VC)

12. Tonkin Gulf Incident
Pres Johnson claimed that 2 US destroyers had been attacked by NVM
Pretense for war
Leads to passage of “Tonkin Gulf Resolution” whereby Congress gave the Pres authority to wage war

13. Operation Rolling Thunder
1st phase of war
Bombing raids
Introduction of 200,000 ground troops into Vnam
•war is “escalated” each year until 1968

14. Nixon 1968-1973 “Vietnamization policy” Increased bombing campaigns
Secretly started bombing Cambodia & Laos
Kent State (1970)

15. End of War Paris Peace Talks January 1973 end US combat role
Nixon resigns due to scandal
Ford never able to get funding to continue aiding SVM
NVM wins war and unites country on April 30, 1975

16. Role of Anti-War Movement in ending war
Exerpt from Nixon’s Memoirs
“Although publicly I continued to ignore the raging antiwar controversy…I knew, however, that after all the protests and the Moratorium, American public opinion would be seriously divided by an military escalation of the war.”

17. Impact of War (Veterans)
58,000 Americans died/ 300,000 wounded
20, ,000 committed suicide
PTSD—30%

18. Impact on budget War cost $200 billion
Jeopardized LBJ’s poverty programs
Created inflation of 1970s

19. Impact of war on US public
Distrust of Gov’t
Pentagon Papers
Published in 1971
Revealed what gov’t was actually doing in Vietnam
Discrepency with what the people were told

20. Lesson for US Gov’t
Exerpt from In Retrospect by Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
“If we had had more Asia experts around us, perhaps we would not have been so simple minded about China and Vietnam. We had that expertise available during the Cuban Missile Crisis; in general, we had it available when we dealt with Soviet affairs; but we lacked it when dealing with Southeast Asia.”

21. Quote from Melvin Laird, Sec of Defense under Nixon
“Both the Vietnam War and the Iraq war were launched based on intelligence failures and possibly outright deception. The issue was much more egregious in the case of Vietnam, where the intelligence lapses were born of our failure to understand what motivated Ho Chi Minh in the 1950s. Had we understood the depth of his nationalism, we might have been able to derail his communism early on.”

22. Other Lessons No draft Greater censorship “Embedded Journalists”
Drones
Fewer group troops