Vietnam War

Hi Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam

Vietminh

Group that fought France for independence

Domino Theory

Fear that communism would spread country to country

Down Bien Phu

Battle where France lost Vietnam

Geneva Accords

Agreement dividing Vietnam into North and South

Ngo Dinh Diem

U.S backed leader of South Vietnam

Vietcong

Communist fighters in South Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh Trial

Supply route from North to South Vietnam

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

Law letting U.S expand the war

Robert McNamara

Secretary of Defense during the war

Dean Rusk

Secretary of State during the war

William Westmoreland

U.S general in Vietnam

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

South Vietnam’s army

Napalm

Firebomb weapon

Agent Orange

Chemical that destroyed jungle cover

Search and Destroy Mission

Mission to find and kill enemy forces

Credibility Gap

Public distrust of government

Draft

Forced military service

New Left

Youth movement against the war

Students for a Democratic Society

Student anti war group

Free Speech Movement

College movement for free expression

Dove

Person against the war

Hawk

Person for the war

Tet Offensive

Major surprise attack in 1968

Clark Clifford

Defense Secretary who opposed the war

Robert Kennedy

Anti war senator and candidate

Eugene McCarthy

Anti war presidential candidate

Hubert Humphrey

Democratic candidate in 1968

George Wallace

Segregation candidate

Richard Nixon

President who needed U.S involvement

Henry Kissinger

Nixon’s advisor on foreign policy

Vietnamization

Plan to withdraw U.S troops

Silent Majority

Americans supporting Nixon quietly

My Lai

Mass killings of Vietnamese civilians

Kent State University

Protest where students were killed

Pentagon Papers

Leaked documents exposing government lies

War Powers Act

Law limiting presidential war powers