US replaced France as the supporter of South Vietnamese CIA installed Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam Ho Chi Minh North Communist Catholic Diem alienated mostly Buddhist nation Viet Cong guerrillas began launching attacks in 1957 ID: 672283
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Slide1
Vietnam
Lecture Notes Slide2Slide3
The Vietnam Domino
U.S. replaced France as the supporter of South Vietnamese
CIA installed Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh (North- Communist)
Catholic Diem alienated mostly Buddhist nationViet Cong guerrillas began launching attacks in 1957 Slide4
Communist Uprising
Viet Cong were gaining strength in South Vietnam
U.S. increased number of weapons and advisers
Diem violently suppressed political opposition
protests movement grewSlide5
Johnson’s War
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
was passed after U.S. destroyer Maddox was “torpedoed” in August 1964
Gave the president power to wage undeclared warSlide6
Stalemate
Over 180,000 American troops were in Vietnam by the end of 1965
n
umber doubled in 1966
Vietcong used ambush (guerilla) tacticsAmerica used “search and destroy” tacticsnapalm and Agent OrangeNorth Vietnam sent supplies to the south by way of the Ho Chi Minh Trail
t
hrough Laos and CambodiaSlide7
Support in the U.S.
Before 1966, most Americans supported the war in Vietnam
Opposition: students, pacifists, and radical groups
TV described
U.S. successes and told upbeat stories about the courage and skill of American soldiers. As the war continued, however, television reports began to show more scenes of violence, suffering, and destruction—the human toll of the war.
C
redibility Gap
:
the
difference between the reality of the war and the Johnson administration’s portrayal of it.Slide8
Difficulties in Vietnam
War of attrition
:
military campaign designed to wear down the enemies strength. Eliminate enough troops to make the Viet-Cong stop fighting “Search and destroy” missions Body count became a measuring tool for US progress in the war. Slide9
Tet Offensive: January 31, 1968
85,000 Viet Cong soldiers
attacked cities, villages, military bases, and airfields.
US & South Vietnamese troops vs. Viet Cong
US “military victory” High enemy casualties Slide10
The Fallout: Tet Offensive
Before 1966, most Americans supported the war in Vietnam
Doves vs. Hawks
The Tet Offensive added to President Johnson’s
credibility gap.
The difference between the reality of the war and the Johnson administration’s portrayal of it.Slide11
A Shaken President
Johnson faced challenges from within the Democratic
Party
Vietnam
compromised “Great Society” gainsLBJ withdrew from
1968 presidential race. Slide12
A Divisive Election:1968
Richard Nixon nominated by Republicans
“secret plan” to end the war
a
ppealed to the “silent majority”George Wallace ran as a third-party candidatefiercely opposed racial integrationChicago riots hurt Humphrey’s campaign
Nixon winsSlide13
Beginning the Peace Talks
Vietnamization
:
The gradual removal of US troops.
South Vietnamese take more active role. Troop withdrawal begin in 1969 Slide14
Getting Out of Vietnam
Congress repealed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in Dec. 1970
Invasion of Cambodia
Pentagon Papers
(1971)
Revealed that government had lied about the war
T
roop withdrawals accelerated
90,000 by early 1972Slide15
Stalemate and Cease-Fire
Cease-fire began on January 27, 1973
North Vietnamese troops remained in the south
Full-scale invasion began in March 1975
South Vietnam collapsed in April 1975Evacuation of U.S. embassy in SaigonSlide16
Legacy of the War
America’s longest and least successful
war
58,000 Americans
dead (300,000 wounded)Cost at least $150 billionMillions of Vietnamese soldiers died, countless civilian
deaths
Laos and Cambodia fell to
Communism
Soldiers returned wounded, scarred, and without appreciation Slide17
The Whitehouse Plumbers
After the release of the
Pentagon Papers
, the White House created a unit to ensure internal security.
This unit was called the Plumbers because they stopped leaks
.
These were the men who would orchestrate the break-in that would launch the Watergate
Scandal.
Howard Hunt
G. Gordon
Liddy
James McCord
Chuck ColsonSlide18
Nixon’s Personality Behind Closed Doors
Paranoid! Many believed the loss in the election of 1960 particularly increased this trait in him.
Highly regarded for his experience, but people were open about disliking and distrusting him
personally.
Calculating and Cold– willing to say anything to vanquish his enemy.Nixon believed in concentrating power in the executive branch of
government.Slide19
The Watergate Break-in
1972 polls showed Nixon slipping
The Plumbers turned their activities to political espionage.
On 17 June 1972, 5 men were arrested while attempting to bug the headquarters of the Democratic Party inside the Watergate building in Washington D.C.
One of the men arrested, James McCord, was the head of security for the Republican Party.
The Nixon campaign denied any involvement.Slide20
Despite the growing stain of Watergate, which had not yet reached the President
, Nixon won by the largest margin in history to that point.
The Election of 1972Slide21
Initial Aftermath
More than 30 government officials went to prison for their role in
Watergate.
Richard
Nixon was not one of them. In September 1974, President Gerald Ford gave Nixon a full pardon
.
Woodward and Bernstein won the Pulitzer Prize.
The identity of
Deepthroat
was kept secret until W. Mark Felt unmasked himself in 2005.
Ford announcing the pardonSlide22
Legacy of Watergate
Watergate proved to the American people and the world that the
President was NOT above the law
,
and that he would not be shielded by the Constitution. The most lasting legacy of Watergate was the
shift in the public perception and trust of the office of President
. This was especially compounded by the event directly following with the mistakes of
Vietnam.
The public trust will
never fully be restored
to the level that existed before the Vietnam/Watergate Era
.
This also marked the
absolute end of the
press’s protection of the office of President
. No event better shows this than the Clinton Scandal of the
90s.Slide23
Youth Culture and Counterculture
“Counterculture” grew out of the New Left movement
m
ass appeal, less substantive politically (“hippies”)
experimentation with drugs was commonHippies challenged social norms, critical of war/draft
Haight-Ashbury (San Francisco)Slide24
Cultural Revolution
Counterculture stressed
rejection of materialism, consumerism
c
ommunes (“families”)“Sexual revolution” reflected changing attitudesRoe v. Wade (1973) Gay rights movement grew
Stonewall Rebellion (1969)