Chapter 24 WAR IN VIETNAM

1
Chapter 24 WAR IN VIETNAM

• Section 1 Background to Conflict
• Section 2 The War Escalates
• Section 3 A Turning Point
• Section 4 The War Ends

2
Objectives
Section 1 Background to Conflict

• Why did China and France want to control Vietnam?
• Why did the United States refuse to support
  Vietnamese independence in the 1940s and 1950s?
• Why did President Kennedy increase U.S.
  involvement in Vietnam?

3
Reasons for wanting control of Vietnam
Section 1 Background to Conflict

• China wanted Vietnams agricultural resources.
• France was imperialistic and wanted colonial
  possessions.

4
Lack of American support for Vietnamese
independence
Section 1 Background to Conflict

• valued France as an ally against communism
• disliked Ho Chi Minhs affiliation with Communist
  Party
• feared the domino effect in Southeast Asia

5
Reasons for increasing American involvement
Section 1 Background to Conflict

• Kennedy believed in the domino theory.
• Kennedy wanted to improve U.S. image in the world.

6
Objectives
Section 2 The War Escalates

• What constitutional issue did the Tonkin Gulf
  Resolution raise?
• What strategies did U.S. forces use in the
  Vietnam War?
• What role did the media play in the Vietnam War?
• Why did some Americans oppose the war, and how
  did the government respond?

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The Tonkin Gulf Resolution and the Constitution
Section 2 The War Escalates

• The Tonkin Gulf Resolution gave the President the
  power to respond to aggression without
  Congressional approval, which meant Congress gave
  up its constitutional power to declare war.

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U.S. strategies
Section 2 The War Escalates

• escalation
• bombing of targets in the North, then areas of
  Laos and much of South Vietnam
• use of defoliants and napalm
• search-and-destroy missions
• pacification

9
Role of the media
Section 2 The War Escalates

• fewer press restrictions than ever before
• showed graphic images of the horror of war
• gave information concerning corruption in Diem
  regime and ineptitude of South Vietnamese troops
• caused Americans to doubt whether the war was
  right
• caused Americans to doubt if the war could be won

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American opposition to the war
Section 2 The War Escalates

• opposed all wars
• thought Vietnam War took money from social
  programs
• believed Vietnam was not crucial to U.S. security
• feared that nuclear weapons would be used

Government response
The government insisted that the U.S. was
defending an ally against aggression.
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Objectives
Section 3 A Turning Point

• Why did the Tet Offensive weaken many Americans
  confidence in their government?
• What were the key events of the 1968 presidential
  campaign?
• How did President Nixon attempt to end the war?
• How did Americans react to President Nixons plan
  to end the war?

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The Tet Offensive
Section 3 A Turning Point

• revealed that no part of South Vietnam was secure
• exposed how few South Vietnamese supported their
  own government
• revealed how determined the North Vietnamese were

13
Key events in 1968 campaign
Section 3 A Turning Point

• March McCarthy nearly ties Johnson in the New
  Hampshire primary.
• March 31 Johnson withdraws.
• June Robert Kennedy wins California primary and
  is assassinated.
• August Police attack antiwar protesters at
  Democratic convention in Chicago.
• November Nixon wins.

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Nixons attempts to end the war
Section 3 A Turning Point

• begins Vietnamization and gradual withdrawal of
  American troops
• orders widespread bombing in Cambodia

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American reaction
Section 3 A Turning Point

• Bombing and invasion of Cambodia caused outrage.
• Campus unrest escalated, including the Kent State
  shootings.
• Congress repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

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Objectives
Section 4 The War Ends

• Why did the United States agree to a cease-fire
  in January 1973?
• What long-term effects did the war have on
  Vietnam and the Vietnamese people?
• What long-term effects did the war have on
  Americans?

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The cease-fire of 1973
Section 4 The War Ends

• In October of 1972, North Vietnam and the U.S.
  agreed on a peace plan.
• South Vietnams president, afraid of losing
  power, rejected the agreement.
• North Vietnam demanded the agreement be
  reinstated, but Nixon ordered round-the-clock
  bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong instead.
• Intensive bombing did not sway the North
  Vietnamese.
• A new agreement, not very different from the
  first, was reached in January, 1973.

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Long-term effects on Vietnam and its people
Section 4 The War Ends

• Estimates of dead, orphaned, and disabled ran
  into millions.
• Economy devastated.
• North Vietnam united with South Vietnam in 1975.

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Long-term effects on Americans
Section 4 The War Ends

• More than 60,000 killed and missing, more than
  300,000 wounded.
• Veterans badly treated for years.
• Americans lost faith in their government.
• Congress passed the War Powers Act.
• National debt grew and inflation was fueled.