The Vietnam War

Domino Theory

• China’s fall to communism and the outbreak of the Korean War helped convince President Truman to aid France. President Eisenhower continued Truman’s policy and defended his decision

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia.
• The Gulf of Tonkin Incident leads to the open involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War, after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

• The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a network of roads built from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia, to provide logistical support to the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War. It was a combination of truck routes and paths for foot and bicycle traffic. The trail was actually 9,940-mile web of tracks, roads and waterways.

Hawks and Doves

• Doves wanted the United States to leave Vietnam. Hawks, however, wanted the nation to stay and fight. Some saw communism as a threat and challenged the patriotism of the doves. As the two groups debated, the war appeared to take a dramatic turn for the worse.

Tet Offensive

• Tet is the Vietnam New Year
• he Vietcong and North Vietnamese launched a massive surprise attack.
• After about a month of fighting, U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers repelled the enemy troops, inflicting heavy losses on them. But less tangible damage had been done.

Vietnamization

• This process involved the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops while the South Vietnamese assumed more of the fighting. Nixon announced the withdrawal of 25,000 soldiers on June 8, 1969.
• Nixon increased air strikes against North Vietnam and began secretly bombing Vietcong sanctuaries in neighboring Cambodia.

Kent State Shootings

• On May 4, Ohio National Guard soldiers armed with tear gas and rifles fired on demonstrators at Kent State University, killing four students. Days later, police killed two student demonstrators at Jackson State College in Mississippi.

Legacy of the Vietnam War

• The war also left a mark on national politics. In 1973 Congress passed the War Powers Act as a way to reestablish some limits on executive power.
• America paid a heavy price for its involvement in Vietnam, far more than the estimated $173 billion in direct costs. Approximately 58,000 young Americans died, and some 300,000 were injured. An estimated 1 million North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese soldiers died, as did millions more civilians.

The Growth of Vietnamese Nationalism

• Nationalism had become a powerful force in Vietnam. Several political parties pushed for independence or for reform of French colonial rule.
• Among the leaders of the nationalist movement was Nguyen That Thanh, better known by his assumed name, Ho Chi Minh. After years in Europe, China, and the Soviet Union, he returned to Southeast Asia.

Defeat at Dien Bien Phu

• he French continued to struggle against the Vietminh, who used hit-and-run and ambush tactics. These are the tactics of guerrillas, irregular troops who blend into the civilian population and are difficult for regular armies to fight. Rising casualties and a lack of victories made the war unpopular with the French public.
• The turning point came in the mountain town of Dien Bien Phu. By seizing the town, the French planned to cut the Vietminh’s supply lines and force them into open battle.