The lecture is named after The Rolling Stones' song "Paint It Black," released in 1966.
The song isn't directly about the Vietnam War, but Vietnam veterans adopted it as a soundtrack for their experiences due to its themes of alienation and feeling apart from others.
The war is arguably the most divisive war in U.S. history, shaping Americans' understanding of modern warfare.
Why is Vietnam remembered negatively?
What factors contributed to this negative perception?
How does Vietnam set the tone for subsequent American military engagements?
The Vietnam War was America's longest war to date.
It deeply divided the nation, rivaling the Civil War in its impact.
For 30 years, the United States invested resources and soldiers to prevent communism in Vietnam.
From 1945-1964, the U.S. fought a proxy war, providing aid to those willing to fight Vietnamese communists.
In 1965, it became an American war with the deployment of U.S. ground forces.
By 1967, the anti-war movement gained momentum, protesting U.S. involvement.
The United States withdrew in 1973, and the war ended with a communist victory in 1975, marking America's first decisive loss.
October 1967: Anti-war protesters rallied at the Lincoln Memorial and marched to the Pentagon.
An 18-year-old actor placed pink carnations into soldiers' rifles, captured in the iconic photo "Flower Power."
Interpretations of the photo varied:
Peace advocates saw it as a contrast between government violence and the demand for peace.
Critics viewed it as a ploy to distract soldiers before demonstrators stormed the Pentagon.
The war began as an anticolonial struggle against France, evolving into a civil war.
Five U.S. presidents (Truman to Nixon) chose escalation, fearing a domino effect of communist revolutions in Southeast Asia.
The war fractured the nation, unlike the unifying effect of World War II.
Guerrilla warfare made it difficult to distinguish between enemy and civilians.
American military tactics, such as using overwhelming force, resulted in civilian casualties and turned Americans against the war.
The Cold War shifted to Asia in 1949 with the fall of China to communism.
U.S. policy in Vietnam and Korea was driven by containment: preventing the spread of communism.
The U.S. supported French efforts to recolonize French Indochina after World War II (1946-1954).
Leader of the Vietnamese independence movement and figurehead of communism in Southeast Asia.
Often viewed negatively in the U.S. but seen as a liberationist in Vietnam.
Initially hoped for U.S. support for Vietnamese independence, given U.S. aid against the Japanese during the war, but was disappointed.
Cultivated a fatherly "Uncle Ho" persona, aligning with Confucian ideals like respect for elders and humane treatment.
Lived simply, eschewing personal luxuries.
American policymakers often viewed communism as a unified movement, ignoring the diversity of communist independence movements.
The U.S. tended to paint all communist movements with the same brush.
A 1953 illustration depicts Stalin controlling the Korean War, suggesting all communist uprisings were orchestrated by the Soviet Union.
This worldview ignored frictions within communist movements; for example, Ho Chi Minh distrusted China due to historical conflicts.
Ho Chi Minh Quote: "It is better to sniff French dung for a while than eat China's all of our life."
The U.S. officially took over from the French in 1954 after their defeat at Dien Bien Phu.
The French recognized the challenges of fighting against anticolonial movements and a lack of public support at home.
The Geneva Accords in 1954 partitioned Vietnam at the 17th Parallel, with a promise of elections for a unified Vietnam within two years.
North Vietnam was under Ho Chi Minh's control (Viet Minh), while South Vietnam was under French and later U.S. control.
The Eisenhower administration had no intention of allowing elections.
The U.S. sent advisers to Vietnam to find a suitable leader for South Vietnam.
Diem was a wealthy Catholic and staunch nationalist who had served in the French colonial administration.
CIA operatives sabotaged North Vietnam's efforts to consolidate power.
Established in 1954, included the U.S., Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
Pledged to meet common dangers in Southeast Asia.
Unlike NATO, SEATO's commitments were vague.
SEATO provided a justification for direct American involvement in Vietnam.
The U.S. propped up reactionary governments that opposed communism.
Diem was a dictator who modeled his rule on 19th-century Vietnamese emperors and used a secret police force.
He was ardently Catholic in a predominantly Buddhist country, leading to persecution of Buddhists.
The North Vietnamese destabilized Diem's government by assassinating landlords and officials.
Diem moved peasants into "strategic hamlets," which angered them.
Ho Chi Minh's government instituted land redistribution policies that led to deaths and famine.
By 1960, North Vietnam consolidated power and supported southern communists.
Southern communists formed the National Liberation Front (NLF) in 1960.
Diem derogatorily called them Viet Cong, a name that stuck.
John F. Kennedy was aware of the Democratic Party's reputation for being soft on communism.
The Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 was a failed CIA plan to topple Fidel Castro in Cuba.
The Berlin Wall was erected in August 1961, separating East and West Berlin.
In October 1962, intelligence reports revealed Soviet Union was installing missiles in Cuba.
Kennedy blockaded Cuba, leading to a tense standoff.
The Soviet Union agreed to concessions made behind closed doors between Kennedy and Khrushchev.
Kennedy further escalated the U.S. presence in Vietnam by sending more "advisers" (Green Berets, special forces) to orchestrate sabotage and raids on North Vietnam.
There were up to 23,000 advisers by the time of Kennedy's assassination in November 1963.
Kennedy sanctioned a coup to depose Diem, who was assassinated two weeks after Kennedy.
The Diem government's crackdown on dissidence, particularly against Buddhists, led to public protests.
Incidents such as Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation in June 1963 gained international attention.
Malcolm Browne's photograph of the event highlighted opposition to Diem's rule.
Lyndon B. Johnson became president after Kennedy's assassination in November 1963.
Johnson was influenced by advisers urging escalation in Vietnam.
Johnson feared appearing weak on communism, which could undermine his domestic policies (Great Society).
Like his predecessors, Johnson chose escalation over de-escalation.
General Earl Wheeler advocated for direct U.S. military control of the war effort.
In August 1964, the USS Maddox was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The attack served as a pretext for greater U.S. involvement.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized Johnson to take all necessary measures in Vietnam.
The first troops landed in Da Nang in March 1965 and were initially greeted warmly.
Operation Rolling Thunder, a major bombing campaign, began in 1965.
From 1965 to 1967, the number of American soldiers in Vietnam increased dramatically to half a million.
General William Westmoreland requested more troops, leading to further escalation.
The U.S. dropped more ordnance during the Vietnam War than in all of World War II.
Soldiers in Vietnam were younger, often 18-19 years old, and disproportionately working class and minority Americans.
College educated and wealthy Americans could avoid the draft through deferments.
The war was one of attrition, focused on racking up body counts.
It was difficult to distinguish between enemy and civilians.
American soldiers conducted search and destroy missions in villages.
It was a guerrilla-style war that favored the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.
The Tet Offensive in January 1968 was a major turning point in the war.
It was a massive, multipronged offensive against U.S. and South Vietnamese installations.
The Tet Offensive was a tactical defeat for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, it was a strategic victory.
It showed the American public that the Johnson administration had been misleading them about the progress of the war.
It widened the credibility gap between the public and the government.
The American bombing campaign was the largest in human history, with 5 million tons of ordnance dropped in eight years.
The U.S. also bombed Laos and Cambodia.
Air power was seen as a way to limit American casualties.
The bombing became a major propaganda boon for the North Vietnamese.
The U.S. bombing campaign turned out to be indiscriminate, harming civilians.
Chemicals
Napalm, a jelly-like gasoline substance.
Agent Orange, a defoliant that caused birth defects and cancer.
The U.S. lost the propaganda war in part because of the bombing campaigns.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a 600-mile trail used by North Vietnam to supply their allies in the South.
It was an ad hoc system of trails through the jungle.
Defoliants like Agent Orange were used to clear foliage along the trail.
The use of chemicals stiffened the antiwar movement due to images of the impact on Vietnamese civilians.
Images of birth defects caused by Agent Orange reminded young Americans of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
The war was seen as a moral abomination and a threat to democracy, with the government lying to its people.
The draft was considered unconstitutional.
The first wave of marines were largely volunteers, viewing Vietnam as a place to seek glory.
Drafted men, often working class and minorities, had different views.
African Americans and Latinos were disproportionately drafted.
Soldiers faced difficulties distinguishing between enemy and civilians.
Search and destroy missions often reduced villages to rubble.
The environment in Vietnam was alien to many Americans.
The Viet Minh and Viet Cong could blend into the jungle, making Americans feel like the entire topography was against them.
"It is often impossible to separate the cruel and dedicated foe you want to kill from the simple and illiterate peasant you want to woo."
The Viet Cong built hundreds of miles of underground tunnels to avoid bombing.
"Tunnel rats" were soldiers tasked with going into the tunnels to clear them.
African Americans were disproportionately represented in the military, leading to protests within the black community.
The war was seen as an extension of Jim Crow.
Martin Luther King criticized the war, leading to a loss of support.
Measuring the success of the war by tallying enemy dead incentivized indiscriminate killings.
Body counts were often inaccurate.
Vietnam War Notes