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US History II Honors
Henry Kissinger
As a step toward ending the war, Nixon appointed Henry Kissinger as special assistant for national security affairs. Kissinger embarked upon a policy called linkage, or improving relations with the Soviet Union and China, to try to persuade them to reduce their aid to North Vietnam. In August 1969, Kissinger also entered into secret negotiations with North Vietnam’s representative, Le Duc Tho.
Robert Kennedy
When President Kennedy took office in 1961, he continued to support South Vietnam, believing the country was vital in the battle against communism. From 1961 to late 1963, the number of U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam jumped from about 2,000 to around 15,000. Yet they failed to shore up the floundering Diem regime. For example, the South Vietnamese created special fortified villages known as strategic hamlets. They then moved villagers to these hamlets, despite the peasants’ resentment at being uprooted from their villages. The program proved to be extremely unpopular.
On June 5, Robert Kennedy, who appeared likely to win the Democratic nomination, was gunned down by Sirhan Sirhan, an Arab nationalist.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A disproportionate number of working-class and minority youths went to war. Between 1961 and 1966, African Americans constituted about 10 percent of military personnel. Because African Americans were more likely to be assigned to combat units, however, they accounted for almost 20 percent of combat-related deaths. This skewed death rate angered African American leaders. In April 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., publicly condemned the conflict: “I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. . . . The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.” In response, military officials tried to reduce African American casualties. By the war’s end, African Americans made up about 12 percent of America’s dead.
On April 4, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis by James Earl Ray.
Richard Nixon
Nixon’s campaign promise to unify the nation and restore law and order appealed to Americans who feared their country was spinning out of control. He claimed to represent the silent majority of Americans who sought to maintain law and order but had been overshadowed in recent years by social and political turmoil. He promised that he had a “secret plan” to bring “peace with honor” in Vietnam.
William Westmoreland
William Westmoreland commanded U.S. forces in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He treated the conflict as a war of attrition, which diminished domestic support. Westmoreland believed that increasing American war efforts, or "Americanizing" the war, through sustained bombing and increased troop commitments would force the communists to the peace table.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - How did this impact the president?
On August 2, 1964, Johnson announced that North Vietnamese torpedo boats had fired on two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later, he reported another attack. Insisting that these were unprovoked, he ordered American aircraft to attack North Vietnamese ships and naval facilities.
Johnson then asked Congress for the authority to defend American forces and allies in Southeast Asia. Congress readily agreed, and on August 7, 1964, it passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This authorized the president to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.”
Tet Offensive - What? How did this impact the U.S. view of the War?
On January 30, 1968, during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese launched a massive surprise attack. In what was called the Tet Offensive, guerrilla fighters attacked most American airbases in South Vietnam and most of the South’s major cities. Vietcong even blasted their way into the American embassy in Saigon.
After about a month of fighting, U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers repelled the enemy troops, inflicting heavy losses on them. But less tangible damage had been done. The American people were shocked that an enemy supposedly on the verge of defeat could launch such a large-scale attack. The media openly criticized the war. “The American people should be getting ready to accept if they haven’t already, the prospect that the whole Vietnam effort may be doomed,” declared the Wall Street Journal. Television newscaster Walter Cronkite said that it seemed “more certain than ever that the bloody experience in Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.”
Vietcong
After Ngo Dinh Diem refused to hold national elections, Ho Chi Minh and the Communists began an armed struggle to reunify the nation. They organized a new guerrilla army of South Vietnamese Communists, which became known as the Vietcong.
Napalm
To counter these tactics, American troops tried to find enemy troops, bomb their positions, destroy their supply lines, and force them out into the open for combat. American planes dropped napalm, a jellied gasoline that explodes on contact.
Agent Orange
They also used Agent Orange, a chemical that strips leaves from trees and shrubs, turning farmland and forest into a wasteland.
Pentagon Papers - What did they reveal?
The following year, a former employee of the Department of Defense, Daniel Ellsberg, leaked what became known as the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. The documents contained details about decisions to expand the war, and confirmed what many Americans had long believed: the government had not been honest with them.
My Lai Massacre
In late 1969, Americans learned that in the spring of 1968, an American platoon under the command of Lieutenant William Calley had massacred unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the hamlet of My Lai. Most of the victims were old men, women, and children. Calley eventually went to prison for his role in the killings. Jan Barry, a founder of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, viewed My Lai as a symbol of the dilemma his generation faced in the conflict.
Before the last few survivors were about to be killed by U.S. soldiers, Chief Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson Jr. and his helicopter crews arrived on the scene and took a stand, preventing the last few people from being murdered. Thompson blocked fellow U.S. troops with his helicopter, had his crew train machine guns on them, and rescued a group of civilian Vietnamese villagers hiding in a bunker.
Geneva Accords - What was the purpose and outcome?
Negotiations to end the conflict were held in Geneva, Switzerland. The resulting Geneva Accords provided for a temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel. Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh controlled North Vietnam, and a pro-Western regime led by the fiercely anti-Communist Ngo Dinh Diem held the South. French troops soon left, and the United States became the principal protector of the new government in South Vietnam.
The accords called for elections to be held in 1956 to reunite the country under a single government. Diem refused to permit the elections, however, fearing Ho Chi Minh would win. Eisenhower approved of Diem’s actions and increased American aid to South Vietnam.
Linkage
As a step toward ending the war, Nixon appointed Henry Kissinger as special assistant for national security affairs. Kissinger embarked upon a policy called linkage, or improving relations with the Soviet Union and China, to try to persuade them to reduce their aid to North Vietnam. In August 1969, Kissinger also entered into secret negotiations with North Vietnam’s representative, Le Duc Tho.
Televised New Coverage showed Americans what about the war?
When the first U.S. combat troops arrived in Vietnam in the spring of 1965, about 66 percent of Americans approved of U.S. policy in Vietnam. As the war dragged on, however, public support began to wane. Media accounts seemed to contradict government reports. For example, the American commander in South Vietnam, General William Westmoreland, reported that the “enemy’s hopes are bankrupt” and “the end begins to come into view.” Yet millions of people saw images of American casualties on television in their living rooms each day as Vietnam became the first “television war.” For many people, a credibility gap had developed—they had a hard time believing what the Johnson administration said about the war.
Vietminh - Originally formed for what purpose?
Ho Chi Minh organized a nationalist group called the Vietminh, which united Communists and non-communists in an effort to expel the Japanese. Soon afterward, the United States began sending aid to the Vietminh.
Diem’s leadership - Who did he discriminate against?
He made himself even more unpopular by discriminating against Buddhism, one of the country’s most widely practiced religions. In the spring of 1963, he banned the traditional religious flags for the Buddha’s birthday. When Buddhists protested in the streets, Diem’s police killed nine people. In response, a Buddhist monk poured gasoline over his robes and set himself on fire, the first of several to do so. Images of their self-destruction horrified Americans as they watched the footage on television news reports.
Guerilla Troops
Despite aid from the United States, the French continued to struggle against the Vietminh, who used hit-and-run and ambush tactics. These are the tactics of guerrillas, irregular troops who blend into the civilian population and are difficult for regular armies to fight.
Why did the U.S. not send in a full-scale invasion?
Congress essentially handed over its war-making powers to the president (Johnson) as a result of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Why did President Johnson refuse to order a full-scale invasion of North Vietnam? Johnson feared ordering a full-scale invasion of North Vietnam would pull China into the war.
Definition of Domino Theory
The belief was that if one nation in Asia fell to the Communists, neighboring countries would follow.
Definition of Guerrilla
A member of an armed band that carries out surprise attacks and sabotage rather than open warfare.
Definition of Napalm
A type of jellied gasoline.
Definition of Agent Orange
A chemical defoliant was used to clear Vietnamese jungles during the Vietnam War.
Definition of Credibility Gap
Lack of trust or believability.
Definition of Teach-in
An extended meeting or class is held to discuss a social or political issue.
Definition of Dove
A person in favor of the United States withdrawing from the Vietnam War.
Definition of Hawk
Someone who believed the United States should continue its military efforts in Vietnam.
Definition of Linkage
Policy of improving relations with the Soviet Union and China in hopes of persuading them to cut back their aid to North Vietnam.
Definition of Vietnamization
The process of making South Vietnam assume more of the war effort by slowly withdrawing American troops from Vietnam.
