Vietnam Overview - Paper Two and Paper Three

Bao Dai

Ruler who was unable to exercise any of his powers without the support of French regime. Became premier of independent vietnam: ngo din diem outmaneuvered bao dai

Viet Minh

Communist-dominated Nationalist Movement. Ruled Vietnam when Japanese rule ended. Leader was Ho Chi Minh.

Geneva Conference

French wanted out of Vietnam , the agreement signed by Ho Chi Minh France divided Vietnam on the 17th parallel, confining Minh's government to the North. In the South, an independent government was headed by Diem.

Ngo Dinh Diem

Leader of South Vietnam, 1954-1963; supported by United States, but not by Vietnamese Buddhist majority; assassinated in 1963

John F. Kennedy

President during part of the cold war and especially during the superpower rivalry and the Cuban missile crisis. he was the president who went on tv and told the public about the crisis and allowed the leader of the soviet Uinon to withdraw their missiles. other events, which were during his terms was the building of theBerlin wall, the space race, and early events of the Vietnamese war.

Lyndon B. Johnson.

Signed the civil rights act of 1964 into law and the voting rights act of 1965. he had a war on poverty in his agenda. in an attempt to win, he set a few goals, including the great society, the economic opportunity act, and other programs that provided food stamps and welfare to needy families. he also created a department of housing and urban development. his most important legislation was probably medicare and medicaid.

My Lai Massacre

1968, in which American troops had brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, also led to more opposition to the war.

domino theory

The political theory that if one nation comes under Communist control then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control

McGeorge Bundy

was United States National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from 1961 through 1966. Known for role in involving U.S. in Vietnam War. was one of Kennedy's "wise men". He played a crucial role in all of the major foreign policy and defense decisions of the Kennedy and part of the Johnson administration. These included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and, most controversially, the Vietnam War. From 1964 he was Chairman of the 303 Committee, responsible for coordinating government covert operations. Former dean of faculty at Harvard. Undergrad at Yale.

William Calley

a lieutenant who's unit began shooting and killing unarmed civilians at My Lai. Lt. Calley later maintained that he was following orders, but many of the soldiers present did not participate in the massacre.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

when elected President, he was the most popular American; "I like Ike!" button; elected to two consecutive terms in 1952 and 1956. Modern Republicanism\---didn't undo the New Deal of the Democrats. Called "The Republican's Choice" along with his vice president Richard Nixon. He was the commander of the allied forces in Europe, the army chief-of-staff after the war, and the director of NATO for two years. Dwight displayed "grandfatherly good will". The night before the 1952 presidential elections, he declared that he would personally go to Korea and end the war. This helped to win the majority in 41 of the lower 48 states. Eisenhower reigned over a period of unstable peace and prosperity.

J. William Fulbright

along with journalist, this Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, turned against the war and in January 1966 began to stage highly publicized and occasionally televised congressional hearings to air criticisms of it.

Ho Chi Minh

1950s and 60s; communist leader of North Vietnam; used guerrilla warfare to fight anti-communist, American-funded attacks under the Truman Doctrine; brilliant strategy drew out war and made it un-winnable

Communism

a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

Indochina Communist Party

made by Ho Chi Minh. This party was developed out of a nationalist movement in Indochina that was against France's colonization of the area

Democratic Republic of Vietnam

The Ho Chi Minh-led Communist government of North Vietnam which was created after the 1954 Geneva Conference divided the country at the 17th parallel.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in direct response to a minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. It is of historical significance because it gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia.

Operation Rolling Thunder

was the title of a gradual and sustained U.S. 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 1 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.

George F. Kennan

an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist, and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War. He later wrote standard histories of the relations between Russia and the Western powers.

Henry Kissinger

Secretary of State, supported realpolitik, appointed by Nixon as his national Secretary advisor, engaged shuttle diplomacy

Richard Nixon

President of the United States from 1969 to 1974 who followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with China. In the face of likely impeachment for the Watergate scandal, he resigned.

Vietnamization

The effort to build up South Vietnamese troops while withdrawing American troops, it was an attempt to turn the war over to the Vietnamese.

cease-fire

a temporary suspension of fighting

China

a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia

Soviet Union

a Communist nation, consisting of Russia and 14 other states, that existed from 1922 to 1991

Edward Lansdale

A CIA operative working in Saigon, was installed as an advisor to Diem. The United States then helped Diem organize the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) to control his new state.

Le Duc Tho

Vietnamese diplomat who negotiated with Henry Kissinger to end the war in Vietnam (1911-1990)

Robert S. McNamara

'63 Secretary of Defense, advised Johnson that he would have to increase the US military commitment to South Vietnam to prevent a communist victory

Tet Offensive

1968; National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year (Tet), which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties; major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply, with declining approval of LBJ and more anti-war sentiment

Can Lao

The name of Ngo Dinh Nhu's secret political organization

Madame Nhu

Vietnam's de facto first lady

silent majority

A phrase used to describe people, whatever their economic status, who uphold traditional values, especially against the counter culture of the 1960's.

Cambodia

a nation in southeastern Asia

Laos

a mountainous landlocked communist state in southeastern Asia

Pentagon Papers

A 7,000-page top-secret United States government report on the history of the internal planning and policy-making process within the government itself concerning the Vietnam War.

Vo Nguyen Giap

Hi Chi Minh's most trusted lieutenant, he led the Viet Minh in a victory over the French that concluded with the battle at Dien Bien Phu.

First Indochina War

1946-1954. was fought in French Indochina between French and Vietnamese. End result was division of Vietnam at Geneva Conference.

William C. Westmoreland

led US troops into Vietnam in 1965

search and destroy

offensive operation to find and destroy enemy forces rather than establish permanent gov. control " Zippo Mission"

attrition

a wearing down to weaken or destroy

DMZ

a zone from which military forces or operations or installations are prohibited

Agent Orange

a herbicide used in the Vietnam War to defoliate forest areas

Annam

a communist state in Indochina on the South China Sea

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

Southern Vietnamese Soldiers

COINTELPRO

An FBI program begun in 1956 and continued until 1971 that sought to expose, disrupt, and discredit groups considered to be radical political organizations: Targeted antiwar groups during the Vietnam War.

Credibility Gap

A lack of popular confidence in the truth of the claims or public statements made by the federal government, large corporations, politicians, etc.

17th parallel

line of latitude that separated North and South Vietnam

War Powers Resolution

A law passed in 1973 in reaction to American fighting in Vietnam and Cambodia that requires presidents to consult with Congress whenever possible prior to using military force and to withdraw forces after 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants an extension. Presidents view the resolution as unconstitutional.

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

This gave the president authority to take "all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the United States."

Napalm and Agent Orange

American bombing campaigns attempted to chase the enemy out of the jungle by dropping these two defoliants to kill and burn plantlife

Domino Theory

The US theory that stated, if one country would fall to Communism then they all would.

Living Room War

For the first time, Americans could sit in their living rooms and see the devastating effects of the war (body bags) on their televisions

"Credibility Gap" and the Vietnam War

The gap between the Johnson Administration and the American public support

Vietnam under Kennedy

Kennedy became president. In May 1961, JFK authorized sending an additional 500 Special Forces troops and military advisors to assist the pro‑Western government of South Vietnam. By the end of 1962, there were approximately 11,000 military advisors in South Vietnam.

Vietnam Under Johnson

Rejecting the advice of those who favored an immediate and dramatic escalation of the U.S. role in Vietnam, Johnson waited until early-1965 before authorizing a major bombing campaign of North Vietnam. The subsequent eight-week bombing campaign had little apparent effect on the overall course of the war.

Vietnam under Nixon

Nixon provided the South Vietnamese army with new training and improved weapons and tried to frighten the North Vietnamese to the peace table by demonstrating his willingness to bomb urban areas and mine harbors. He also hoped to orchestrate Soviet and Chinese pressure on North Vietnam.

Vietnam Under Ford

Following the end of the war, Ford expanded the embargo of North Vietnam to cover all of Vietnam, blocked Vietnam's accession to the United Nations, and refused to establish full diplomatic relations.