Vietnam Flashcards

Vietnam War – reasons for going

Stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia (Containment and Domino Theory)

“Living room” war

First war heavily shown on television, bringing combat into Americans' homes

Geneva Conference (1954)

Meeting that ended French control of Vietnam and temporarily divided Vietnam into North and South

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam who fought for independence and reunification

JFK's foreign policy

Focused on containing communism and increasing U.S. involvement abroad

Flexible Response

JFK's strategy of using a variety of military and nonmilitary responses to threats

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 confrontation over Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba that nearly led to nuclear war

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Failed 1961 U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba

Fidel Castro

Communist leader of Cuba who allied with the Soviet Union

Nikita Khrushchev

Leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis

Ngo Dinh Diem

Anti-communist president of South Vietnam supported by the U.S.

LBJ – foreign policy

Escalated U.S. involvement in Vietnam to stop communism

Dien Bien Phu

1954 battle where Vietnamese forces defeated the French, ending French rule

Vietcong

Communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam who supported North Vietnam

Operation Rolling Thunder

Massive U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam (1965–1968)

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

Alleged attack on U.S. ships that led to greater U.S. involvement in Vietnam

26th Amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

Tet Offensive

Major 1968 communist attack that weakened American support for the war

Anti-War Movement

Protests and opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam

Great Society

LBJ's domestic program to reduce poverty and expand civil rights

Kent State

1970 shooting of student protesters by the National Guard in Ohio

Vietnamization

Nixon's policy of gradually withdrawing U.S. troops and turning the war over to South Vietnam