HIST 106 1nd Edition Lecture 23 Outline of Last Lecture I CIA Agent Speech Dr Olsen Outline of Current Lecture I The American War in Vietnam Current Lecture Ho Chi Minh o Leader of North Viet Nam o A Nationalist o A Communists o Versailles in 1919 Post WWII Viet Nam o Japanese invaded Vietnam o Ho Chi Mihn says we are going to declare Vietnam an independent country o Truman ignores Ho Chi Minh s telegram o French reestablish colonial control o U S support for the French o Importance of Europe NATO o Dien Bien Phu 1954 French are defeated and are officially out of Indochina o Geneva Accords 1954 Independent Laos and Cambodia Viet Nam divided at the 17th parallel with the intent of elections and reunification in 1956 U S and South Viet Nam did not sign Containment o Eisenhower and Viet Nam 1950 s He believed in the Domino Theory if we lose one country to communism the rest will follow Military advisers for RVN 2 000 They are there to teach S Vietnamese forces tactics Premier Ngo Dinh Diem These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute The man the U S was backing up He is screwing up Catholic nationalist Suppressed Communists Suppressed Buddhists 1960 Election o John F Kennedy Democrat Catholic Kennedy and Vietnam o Diem failed to enact social and economic reforms o Buddhist are demonstrated in the cities o Kennedy ups the number of advisers in Vietnam to 16 000 o Diem overthrown is murdered John Kennedy is assassinated o November 22 1963 Johnson s War o The war in Vietnam is considered Johnson s War o Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Some Vietnamese patrol boats fired on a US ship Johnson starts the bombing of North Vietnam Rolling Thunder o Employment of Ground Forces He wanted more than just advisors in Vietnam North Vietnamese army Vietcong starts engaging US marine units Battle of the Ia Drang o WHAM Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Vietnamese People o Gen William Westmoreland War of attrition Search and destroy Supporting arms U S Sentiment Turns o 85 of College students thought it was a good idea to get involved in Vietnam war o At first support was wide and deep o By 1967 13 000 Americans killed o Summer of love in San Francisco 1967 Kids in San Francisco wanted to get high and laid Make love not war 1968 Tet Offensive o Coordinated VS and NVA attacks o They attack Saigon and provincial capitals o Attack on U S embassy failed o Hue seized o For the VC and NVA It is a military disaster Psychologically it was a victory o In the US How did this happen Weren t we winning 1968 Election o Johnson declined to run for election o Robert Kennedy JFK s little brother He campaigns on a peace platform Was assassinated o Hubert Humphrey vs o Richard M Nixon V P under Eisenhower Defeated by Kennedy in 1960 His position Peace with honor Nixon and Vietnam o Starts Paris peace talks o Increased bombing o Vietnamization backing out of Vietnam and letting South Vietnamese fight it themselves o My Lai massacre became public in 1969 Some US army units went into My Lai and killed 300 400 defenseless people o Cambodian incursion in 1970 o Kent State University shooting in 1970 o Nixon gets the Pentagon papers in 1971 Saying it doesn t look like we can win this war