HIST 2112 Lecture 19Outline of Last Lecture I. The Early 1960sA. Looking aheadB. Two liberal iconsII. Camelot: The Kennedy Years, 1960-1963A. Kennedy as myth, legend, martyr…B. Kennedy and Liberal Anticommunisma. Berlin, 1961b. Cuba, 1960-19621. Late 1950s: Cuba Goes Communisti. Fidel Castro 2. CIA assassination attempts3. The Bay of Pigs invasion, 19614. Cuba Missile crisis, October 1962c. Kennedy’s Domestic Liberalism 1. Minimum Wage Bill2. Social Security Increase3. Housing Act of 19614. Education Funding5. Tax CutsIII. The Lyndon Johnson Years, 1964-1968A. Racea. Punishing Democrats to embrace Civil Rightsb. Civil Rights Act of 1964c. Voting Rights Act of 1965d. Executive Order 11246B. The “Great Society”a. A “New Deal” for the 1960sb. Major Programs1. Medicare/Medicaid2. The “War on Poverty”i. Head Startii. Upward Boundiii. Job Corpsiv. VISTAv. Community Action ProgramsIV. Mid-1960sOutline of Current Lecture I. Vietnam: a short historyA. A “scrappy little country”B. The French and the “landochina” colony C. The Viet Minha. Nationalists b. Very Popular: progressive policiesII. Enter the USA. Vietnam, containment, and “monolithic communism”a. The “Domino Theory”b. Funding the French Indochina Warc. Geneva Settlement1. Divides Vietnam north and south2. No elections: war eruptsIII. Entering the QuagmireB. Support for Diem and the ARVNC. JFK and “military advisors”D. LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: 1964E. Direct US involvement beginsIV. Fighting the WarA. The ineffectiveness of air powerB. The ineffectiveness of the ground wara. “search and destroy” and “body counts”b. Frustration: My Lai massacreV. Tet Offensive, January 1968A. “Where’d all these VC come from?”B. The “credibility gap” and growing antiwar sentiment at homeC. The pullout beginsVI. ReactionA. Vietnam, the end of liberal dominance and the rise of conservatismCurrent Lecture: Hearts and Minds- America and VietnamI. Vietnam: a short historyA. A “scrappy little country”- People underestimate the Vietnamese- Southern China, left of the Philippians- Been invaded 9 times by outsiders and have defeated invaders every time.- 1979: Chinese invasion… sucked for Chinese  B. The French and the “landochina” colony (1880s-1954)- Era of Imperialism - Vietnam was a French colony… French are ruthless - French are supplying most of the world with Rubber from here… - Tax policy- regressive… the most money you made the less they taxed… mainly taxed the peasants to death- Kicked people off their land, take over farmland, make a giant plantation; you(former land owner) went to work on plantation as a laborer instead of the owner. - On into 1900s… anti-French rising of Vietnam people- #1 Anti-French: Viet MinhC. The Viet Minha. Nationalists (i.e. not simply communists)- Gravitated to Marxism - Their goal is to kick the French out and establish an independent Vietnam - Don’t want a world revolution… just want to be left alone- Won’t take orders from Soviet Union or China!!b. Very Popular: progressive policies- Viet Minh can be Ruthless too- They’re local, French aren’t - Meet basic physical needs of poor, gets people on their side- Address issue of land: land reform- Take plantations and break them up and give them back to peasants - Peasants see them as champions- Viet Minh are peasantry anyways - WWII happens: Japan invades Vietnam, get rid of French, US gets rid of Japs, Now… Vietnam with no French or Japanese! Power Vacuum- Viet Minh- declare themselves independent (Ho Chi Min = like president) - Big admirer of US!! Contact us to establish ties…II. Enter the USA. Vietnam, containment, and “monolithic communism”a. The “Domino Theory”- There was a belief that if you didn’t stop communists in Vietnam, theywould spread their revolution into Asia and even Peachtree Blvd. - This is why you have to containb. Funding the French Indochina War- We can’t support communists… French say WWII is over, 1947- taking our colony back- We support French… our Ally - 1954: paying >80% of this war… almost over… Vietnam winsc. Geneva Settlement: 19541. Divides Vietnam north and south2. No elections: war eruptso 1956: he who wins the election gets to be president of the new Vietnamo Ho Chi Minh wins o We become the new French… we publically say we don’t endorse the election / create a new country instead and wewill support you!o Guerilla Warfare begins by N. Vietnamese on S. VietnameseIII. Entering the QuagmireA. Support for Diem and the ARVN- Diem: corrupt, elite, vain, autocratic- Opposed to French, but was just like French: catholic, spoke French- Hated Buddhists- Not a paragon of Democracy… he was incredibly anti-communist- He needed us for money and help, but resented it… 1962: made noise about how he might start siding with Minh… we tell him we don’t oppose bad things happening to him / he eventually gets assassinated (NOT US)- ARVN: Army of Republic of Vietnam- Money isn’t enough, VC might win, panic in AmericansB. JFK and “military advisors”- Maybe we should send military advisors to Vietnam to help train their military (green barrettes) to fight the VC - Not supposed to be doing the fighting, but end up being pulled in- Still not enoughC. LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: 1964- LBJ: Cold war, containment guy- Feels like it’s imperative we get into Vietnam more so than advisors… American boots needed - How can you justify getting troops on the ground?o Gulf of Tonkin incident 1964: boats off of the coast of Vietnam… supporting guerillas against N. Vietnam… confusion… fact that a US ship has been fired on gives him a rational/justification to invade VietnamD. Direct US involvement begins: ROLLING THUNDER, Marines at Da Nang, etc.- Build bases in Southern Vietnam - Marines: security in 1965… patrols become wider, wider, and wider - Early 1969: 500,000 troops there- We bomb the hell out of N. Vietnam- 4 x the ordinance dropped than in WWII … worked in WWII, should work hereIV. Fighting the WarA. The ineffectiveness of air power- Inappropriate technology/tactics- Fighting WWII in Vietnam, unconventional war tactics (bombing) - Drowning your problems in ordinance is not always the solutionB. The ineffectiveness of the ground wara. “search and destroy” and “body counts”- Kill so many people so quickly that they couldn’t be replaced &