Vietnam War 1964 - 1973

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Vietnam War 1964 - 1973
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Ho Chi Minh- leader of Vietnamese Independence
movement. Later led Communist South Vietnam
against North Vietnam to reunite the country.
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Dien Bien Phu- The French defeat will lead to the
Geneva Accords and French withdrawal from
Vietnam.
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Geneva Accords 1956 divides Vietnam into North
(Communist) and South (non-communist)
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Domino Theory- developed during the Eisenhower
presidency. If one Asian country falls to
Communism, then others will soon follow.
Americas policy of Containment and the belief in
the Domino Theory will ultimately lead the U.S.
into a war in Southeast Asia (Vietnam)
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Vice President Lyndon Johnson being sworn in on
Air Force One. LBJ will begin to increase U.S.
military involvement in Vietnam soon after
becoming President.
President John Kennedy with wife Jackie, seconds
before being assassinated in Dallas Texas
November 22, 1963
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Congress gives LBJ
authority to use military action in Vietnam after
it is reported that a North Vietnamese gunboat
attacked an American warship in the Gulf of
Tonkin near Vietnam.
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Tet Offensive North Vietnamese army (Vietcong)
attack American bases throughout South Vietnam on
New Years Day (Tet) 1968. This surprise attack
is repulsed by American and S. Vietnamese troops,
but the attack goes against what LBJ has been
telling the American public, that the Vietcong
were on the verge of defeat. The Tet offensive
will lead to an increase in anti-war protesting
in the United States and a credibility gap with
the government.
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My Lai Massacre American troops under command
of Lt. Calley kill over 200 villagers at My Lai
which is supected by the military to be harboring
enemy combatants. Calley is later convicted of
war crimes and serves a 5 year sentence in
prison. This incident fuels greater anti-war
protest and more Americans ask what is the
purpose of U.S. troops in Vietnam
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Nixon Misleads

• Nixon orders the secret bombing and invasion of
  neighboring Cambodia and Laos as a way to disrupt
  enemy supply lines (Ho Chi Minh Trail)
• The American public becomes upset because he
  denied it.

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Kent State Shooting - Ohio National Guardsmen
shoot and kill 4 students and wound others during
an anti-war protest. Similar incident occurs at
Jackson State College in Mississippi
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President Richard M. Nixon (Nixon vs. NY
Times)
President Nixon tried to stop the New York Times
from publishing a secret Document about JFK and
LBJs policies regarding the early part of the
war. The Supreme Court ruled that freedom of the
press outweighed national security concerns in
this case.
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Vietnamization and American Troop Withdrawals
Nixon decided that the fighting should be turned
over to the South Vietnamese and began to
withdraw American troops in 1970. By early 1973,
the last fighting troops left Vietnam. This
photo shows an American helicopter evacuating
Vietnamese refugees from the American embassy as
Communist North Vietnam forces have taken over
Saigon (S. Vietnam capital) in 1975
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Vietnam War Legacy

• War Powers Act 1972
• Credibility Gap
• Agent Orange
• End of the Draft-
• (all volunteer army)
• Iraq and Afghanistan