Chapter 16 CPUSH

Ho Chi Minh

communist leader of North Vietnam

Vietminh

an organization whose goal it was to win Vietnam's independence from foreign rule

Domino theory

if one country falls to Communism they all do.

Dien Bien Phu

A town of northwest Vietnam near the Laos border. The French military base here fell to Vietminh troops on May 7, 1954, after a 56-day siege, leading to the end of France's involvement in Indochina.

Geneva Accords

Temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel

Ngo Dinh Diem

a strong anti-Communist, refused to take part in the countrywide election of 1956

Vietcong

communist opposition group in the south

Ho Chi Minh Trail

A network of paths along the borders of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

This resolution granted johnson broad military in vietnam. And some say it altered checks and balances.

Robert McNarma

Secretary of Defese under pres Johnson and lyndon johnson, expanded american involvement in Vietnam War

Dean Rusk

Secretary of State under Johnson

William Westmoreland

American commander in South Vietnam who served in WW2 and Korea

Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)

South Vietnamese Army

Naplam

A gasoline-based that set fire to the jungle

Agent orange

leaf-killing toxic chemical

Search-and-destroy missions

uprooting civilians with suspected ties to the Vietcong, killing their livestock, and burning villages

Credibility Gap

The gap between the Johnson Administration and the American public support

Draft

A law requiring people of a certain age to serve in the military (18 years old)

New Left

The growing youth movement of the 1960s

Tet Offensive

a massive surprise attack by the Vietcong on South Vietnamese towns and cities in early 1968

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

Founded by Tom Hayden and AI haber, the group charged that corps. and large government instituitions had taken over America and called for restoration of greater individual freedom

Free speech movement (FSM)

This focused on criticism on what it called the american machine, the nations faceless and powerful business/government institutions

Doves

People who opposed the war and believed the U.S. should withdraw

Hawks

Americans who supported the Vietnam War

Clark Clifford

a friend and supporter of the presidents vietnam policy, and concluded that the war was unwinnable

Robert Kennedy

JFK's brother and senator of New York. Decided not to run, citing party loyalty.

Eugene McCarthy

minnesota senator declared that he would run against johnson on a platform to end the war in vietnam

Hubert Humphrey

Johnson's vice-president, a loyal party man who had Johnson's support in the primary race

George Wallace

Alabama governor best known for his pro-segregation attitudes during the Civil Rights Movement

Richard Nixon

Newly elected president, announced he first troop withdrawls from Vietnam

Henry Kissinger

A german emigrant who has earned three degrees from Harvard, and was an expert on internantional relations

Vietnamization

called for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops in order for the South Vietnamese to take on a more active combat role in the war

Silent Majority

moderate, mainstream Americans who Nixon believed disapproved of antiwar protesters and support QUIETLY

My Lai

a massacre of hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians by American soldiers during the Vietnam War, in northern south vietnam

Kent State University

where a massive student protest led to the burning of the rotc building

Pentagon Papers

Revealed among other things that the government had drawn up plans for entering the war. Also showed never plan to end the war

War Powers Act

President must notify Congress within 48 hours of sending forces into a hostile area without a declaration of war