Vietnam War Years Timeline

1964

LBJ

becomes

President1965

First major

combat units

arrive in

Vietnam

1968

Nixon is

elected

President

1966

Mao Zedong

begins Cultural

Revolution in

China

1968

M.L.King and

Robert

Kennedy are

assassinated

1969

U.S. troops

begin their

withdrawal from

Vietnam

1970

Ohio National

Guard kills 4

students at Kent

State U.

1972

U.S. signs

cease-fire with

North Vietnam

and Vietcong

1975

Communists

capture Saigon;

South Vietnam

surrenders

1972 Nixon

is re-

elected

The Vietnam Legacy

Bridge to government mistrust

Contradiction of core American values

Skepticism of foreign involvement

– What actions led to government mistrust?

– Did we actually win in Vietnam?

– How do we know when we are being sucked into another Vietnam?

The Vietnam War

1954 - 1975

France’s Colony

From the 1800’s until WWII, Vietnam was under

French Control– It was valuable for rubber and rice

– Trading post for the French in China

Vietnamese fought against Japan during WWII– Led by U.S. ally Ho Chi Minh

– Ho Chi Minh establishes the Indochinese Communist Party

– Created the Vietminh to expel foreign powers

Post-WWII Vietnam declared its Independence

– Created the Vietminh, whose goal was to expel foreign powers

France returned to reclaim colony after WWII

Ho Chi Minh

US Aides France

President Truman sends nearly $15 million to aid France.

– Over the course of the 4 year struggle, US spent $1 Billion to help

– What political theory is Truman using to justify the financial support for

fighting Communism in Vietnam?

Domino Theory– If one country in the region falls to communism all eventually will.

1954: France surrenders at Dien Bien Phu

France surrenders

1954: France surrenders at Dien

Bien Phu

In 2004 (50th aniversery of N.

Vietnam’s independece) Vietnam's

ruling Communist Party made

much of the anniversary in Dien

Bien Phu itself, with parades

involving thousands of troops and

members of ethnic groups. These

citizens are reenacting the

surrender

Geneva Accords

July 1954

– US, GB, France, Soviet Union, China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam

– Hammer out a peace agreement between the anticommunists and Ho

Chi Minh

– Split Vietnam along the 17th Parallel

An election will be held in 1956 to reunite the country

– Sound familiar?

The Soviets declared they would hold free elections in the countries they

controlled after WWII

How did that work out?

U.S. Military

Involvement Begins

Repressive dictatorial rule by Diem

Diem’s family holds all power

Wealth is hoarded by the elite

Buddhist majority persecuted

Torture, lack of political freedom prevail

U.S. Military

Involvement Begins

The U.S. aided Diem’s government

Ike sent financial and military aid

675 U.S. Army advisors sent by 1960

The conflict in Korea had ended

the previous summer, with an

armistice that gave victory to

no one. That divisive war,

fought at a cost of nearly thirty

thousand American lives and

more than eighty thousand

wounded, left Ike and most

Americans with no appetite for

a return engagement

Cancelled

Elections

South Vietnamese president, Ngo Dinh Diem,

cancels elections– Ho Chi Minh became Nat’l Hero

Fought against French & Japanese imperialists

Divided land amongst the peasants in the North

– Diem refused to take part in the elections.

US supported the cancellation

Promised Diem military training if he created a stable South Vietnam

1963--What should the U.S. do at this juncture with the

information that they have.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5

Pull out

of

Vietnam

support

Diem with

money.

Stay in

Vietnam

support

Diem with

money &

troops.

Stay in

Vietnam

with

troops &

money

but get

rid of

Diem.

Get out of

Vietnam

& get rid

of Diem,

replace

him.

Send many

American

troops to

destroy

communism

JFK Escalates the

War! U.S. supported military coup toppled Diem’s

regime

Diem was assassinated 1963

– against Kennedy’s wishes!?!?

16,000 American Troops

Kennedy was soon assassinated

The Tonkin Gulf

“Resolution”

August 2, 1964

– North Vietnamese patrol boat fired a torpedo at American

destroyer USS Maddox

Maddox returned fire and destroyed the patrol boat

LBJ asks for “all necessary measures to repel any armed

attacks against the U.S.”

August 7, 1964 – Congress approves LBJ’s request

Gives full control over military powers in Vietnam

– NOT a declaration of War –

– Unlimited funding to support our troops