Chapter 14(C) Vietnam

Indochina: The Background to War

• The French had created Indochina in the 1800s from Cambodia, Laos, & Vietnam

• When the Japanese took control during WWII it allowed revolutionaries to gain control in the North

• In Sept. 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese independence Ho Chi Minh

Vietnam & LBJ• The Domino Theory• LBJ’s major goal in

Vietnam was to avoid losing it to communism

• The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was used by LBJ as a substitute for a declaration of war

• By the end of 1965 there were 184,000 US troops in Vietnam

Roy Benavidez

• In 1968 Benavidez facing constant fire he carried wounded members of his platoon to rescue-helicopters. He saved eight lives.

• He received the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1981.

Escalation in Vietnam• Escalation• War of Attrition—

Helicopter gunships, chemical defoliants, and napalm

• Stalemate—North would not give up and US would not invade the North

• Started to divide the Nation like the Civil War had

Nixon & Vietnam• When Nixon run for

president in 1968 he insisted that his policy would be to pursue “peace with honor”

• Nixon’s policy of “Vietnamization” was gradually reducing the number of American troops in Vietnam

• However, by 1970, Nixon extended the war by sending troops into Cambodia

Nixon and a Map of Indochina

Loudest Public Outcry: May 1970

• B/c of the Cambodian “incursion” led to the closing of 100s of colleges & universities

• At Kent State University the National Guard panicked and opened fire on rock-throwing demonstrators killing four student bystanders

The Pentagon Papers

• Daniel Ellsberg leaked them to the press

• These papers revealed that the Johnson administration had deceived the public in regard to war policy

• Congress had not gotten the entire story about the Gulf of Tonkin & more lies

Nixon & Kissinger

• Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s Sec. of State held talks with China, USSR, and North Vietnam.

• He wanted South Vietnam to take over the war. He called this Vietnamization.

Outcomes of the Vietnam War

• Many young Americans questioned the value of military service

• 58,000 Americans died• Saigon fell to the

Communist and became Ho Chi Minh City

• And there were deep divisions over foreign policy