 Ruled by foreign powers  Independence led by Ho Chi Minh › communist › Followers: Vietminh  French back in 1946  Bo Dai emperor  Ho Chi Minh wants Truman’s help; ignored  Begin war against French (U.S. weapons & money)  1954 › Domino theory › Dien Bien Phu › GENEVA ACCORDS  Split Vietnam  Communist North (Ho Chi Minh)  Non-communist South (Ngo Dinh Diem)  Reunification (1956) › Elections cancelled; why?  Vietcong (South Vietnamese communists) begin attacking  Diem very unpopular › Catholic › Anti-Buddhist laws  Coup (November, 1963)  Gulf of Tonkin Incident (Aug. 1964) › U.S.S. Maddox “fired” upon › Aug. 4 – second “attack”  Gulf of Tonkin Resolution  Congress: full authority to retaliate › House 416-0, Senate 98-2  “Blank Check”  Find out later –no attack  Operation Rolling Thunder › Heavy bombing › Goal: bomb North Vietnam to give up › Focus on Ho Chi Minh trail  Why isn’t it working?

 Ground commander  Tells Johnson › Win by 1967 › Need 180,000 troops Troops in Vietnam 600,000 543,000 500,000 486,000 389,000 400,000

300,000 Troops in Vietnam 200,000 184,000

100,000 15,000 23,000 0 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968  Civil War  Guerilla War › Enemy blends in › Ambush › Hit and run attacks › Use of tunnels  Vietcong supported by Chinese & Soviets

 Eliminate hiding places › Napalm (burn down jungle) › Agent orange (defoliate jungle)

 Pacification › Remove loyal villagers › Eliminate the Viet Cong › Allow the villagers to return  Most apathetic  war since 1941  Corruption  War of attrition › Don’t have to win, just outlast Americans  Who is eligible? › 18-25 year old men  deferments? › College › Medical › National Guard › Conscientious objectors  avoid the draft? › Flee › Burn draft card › Have “connections”  Who is left?  Average age of draftees = 19  Many unsure of purpose  Westmoreland: victory is close!  credibility gap  First televised war  1967 Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara resigns  Clark Clifford: new Sec. of Defense  war is unwinnable  February 28, 1968 anti- Vietnam editorial  Expensive › no tax increase, deficits grow  Anti-war movement intensifies (doves)  Criticized by hawks (pro- war) for not doing enough  Who is protesting? › Students for a Democratic Society › College aged  How? › Marches › Music  1965 › Anti-war protests: University of Michigan › “teach-ins”  Bay Area (Berkeley, Stanford) “hotbed” of movement  Universities received government $ for research  Some anti-ROTC  October 21, 1967 › 100,000+ march at Pentagon  Opposed to “conformist” culture  Clothing › Unisex clothes › Jeans › Tie-dye › Beads › “”  , beards  Music  › Bob Dylan › Joan Baez  Rock › Beatles › Rolling Stones › Jefferson Airplane › Jimi Hendrix › Janis Joplin › Grateful Dead  Festival › August 1969 › Three day festival › Celebration of youth culture › Woodstock  Role of drugs › marijuana › Psychedelics  LSD, acid › Timothy Leary  “Turn on, tune in , drop out” › Looking for “new consciousness”  › Break restraints of marriage  “Sex, drugs, and rock and roll”  Utopian lifestyle  How similar or different from 1840’s?  Is there a difference between anti-war and counter culture?

 President Nguyen Van Thieu re-elected › New constitution › Democratic reforms › Still corrupt  Johnson up for re-election  December 1967 Westmoreland › war is almost won › Enemy: no strength left  Tet: Vietnamese New Year  January 30, 1968 (Tet) › Massive attack by Vietcong › Attack on every major city and installation in South Vietnam simultaneously  Tet Offensive  Peace talks begin(go nowhere)  "New agreement of sorts from the Paris peace talks. After a six hour talk, both sides finally agreed on corned beef on rye for lunch!“  Couldn’t agree on shape of table!  Ancient capital (Hue) destroyed  ARVN – (government army) retakes lost cities and towns  Government loses support  U.S. bombing intensifies in South Vietnam  Vietcong everywhere  Westmoreland wants more troops  Johnson denies request  Johnson criticized by Hawks and Doves  Challenged in N. H. primary by Eugene McCarthy  March 31, 1968:  Johnson Announcement  Democratic Party splinters – Hawk and Dove  Democratic Party splits  Three seek nomination › Hubert Humphrey › Eugene McCarthy › Robert Kennedy  Robert Kennedy  Hubert Humphrey  Eugene  New York Senator  Johnson’s V-P McCarthy  Opposed war  Status Quo  Minnesota Sen.  Supported by youth and  Opposed war doves  support from “Old  Supported by  Won CA primary (6/4) Guard”/hawks  Kennedy interview youth and doves  Last best hope?  Kennedy Funeral  Democratic Convention  Youth International Party (Yippies) protest › Abbie Hoffman/Jerry Rubin  Violence between Doves and police  Democratic Convention  Humphrey gets nomination Abbie Hoffman’s Mayor Daley’s “opinion” of authority response  › Hoffman, Rubin, and five others on trial for inciting a riot  Yippies disrupt trial  Sentenced to five years in prison  Sentence overturned Three candidate race for president in 1968 Hubert Humphrey Richard Nixon George Wallace  Richard Nixon  Hubert  End war on our terms  George Wallace Humphrey  Restore “Law and Order”  Anti-civil rights  Hated anti-war protesters  VP candidate: nukes  end war on our  Appealed to “silent majority” in Vietnam  Average, hardworking  “The only four letter terms Americans, not words don’t  “Peace with protesting  generally white know are honor” w-o-r-k and s-o-a-p”  If you are an anti-war activist who is your best choice?  Nixon › 43.4% of popular vote › 301 Electoral Votes  Humphrey › 42.7% of popular vote › 191 Electoral Votes  Wallace › 13.5% of popular vote › 45 Electoral Votes

 VIETNAMIZATION › Turn war over to South Vietnamese › U.S. gradually draws down forces › As U.S. forces decrease, South Vietnam expected to take over Troops in Vietnam 600,000 543,000 1963 486,000 480,000 500,000 1964 389,000 1965 400,000 1966 300,000 280,000 1967 1968 200,000 184,000 140,000 1969 1970 100,000 23,000 1971 15,000 16,000 0 0 1972 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 • secret bombings on communist bases (Laos & Cambodia) • 1970 Nixon: “secret” invasion of Cambodia   “You see these bums, Renews anti- you know, blowing up war protests campuses storming around about this Kent State – issue.” May 4, 1970 Richard M. Nixon › Four killed  Jackson State – May 14, 1970 › Two killed

• Story broke in 1969 • 1968: Lieutenant William Calley led platoon into My Lai • Ordered killing of 350+ elderly men, women, and children. • Village behavior: • daily routines • no gunfire • Calley trial • 1971: sentenced to life in prison (hard labor) • Nixon reduced to 4 ½ months at Fort Benning, Georgia • 1974: Nixon commuted entire sentence  1970: Congress repealed Gulf of Tonkin Resolution  Some soldiers “fragging”  Realpolitik › “realistic politics” › deal with country based on strength, not philosophy › Henry Kissenger’s idea  Détente › Ease tensions of Cold War › Started with China then Soviet Union  Nixon played USSR/China against each other  Pressure North Vietnam to end war  “linkage” policy

 End of Vietnam War  SALT Treaty › Limited production of nuclear weapons  Eased tension in Europe › U.S. recognizes East Germany › East Germany recognizes West Berlin Henry Kissinger for Le Duc Tho for the United States North Vietnam  October, 1972: Kissinger – peace at hand › Remove all American troops › Coalition government in South Vietnam › North Vietnamese troops remain  Thieu won’t sign  Nixon promises support if broken › Broke off talks, renewed bombing of Hanoi  December – Soviet/Chinese pressure  January 27, 1973 – Treaty of Paris  ENDS U.S. involvement › U.S. troops removed › American Prisoners of War (POW’s) returned › Coalition government in South Vietnam  Fighting resumes  Thieu asks Ford for help  Congress refuses  April 30, 1975  Communists surround Saigon  Loyalists surround American embassy  Fall of Saigon  Single, independent, communist Vietnam  58,000 American soldiers killed  Millions of Vietnamese killed  Destruction of Vietnam  Saigon = Ho Chi Minh City  Loyalists flee to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the U.S.  Cambodia › Khmer Rouge in power (communists) › Kill 2 million Cambodians (genocide) › Let by Pol Pot  Pentagon Papers – 1971 › Classified documents about Vietnam  26th Amendment – 1971 › Lowers voting age from 21 to 18  War Powers Act – 1973 › President: authority to use military; must notify Congress within 48 hours › must return troops within 60 days (if Congress doesn’t approve)  “Vietnam Syndrome”  Treatment of veterans › Ignored › Abused › Problems with recovery  Vietnam Memorial (1982)