Aim: Why did the US become further involved in Vietnam and how did American policies change?

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Aim: Why did the US become further involved in Vietnam and how did American policies change?

Transcript of Aim: Why did the US become further involved in Vietnam and how did American policies change?

Page 2: Aim: Why did the US become further involved in Vietnam and how did American policies change?

Daisy Nuclear Ad• Why are the stakes “too high” to not vote?

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Combating Communism in Two Hemispheres

• February 1965 bomb raids in South Vietnam after Viet Cong guerrillas attack American air base

• March 1965 “Operation Rolling Thunder”

• Vietnam War = American war?– By 1968 more than 500,000

troops in SE Asia and the cost of war was over $30 billion

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Credibility Gap • Vietnam: America was

floundering in Vietnam and was being condemned for its actions there

• Antiwar demonstrations: “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?”

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Tet Offensive • January 1968: Viet Cong attacked

almost every capital and American base in South Vietnam on the “Tet” (Vietnamese New Year)

• Tet Offensive: ended when the US counterattacked and recovered the lost territory

• Victory or failure?

• March 1968: LBJ refused to sign an order for more troops to Vietnam and announced he would NOT run in the 1968 election

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Victory for Nixon• A minority president, he

owed his presidency to protests over the war, the unfair draft, crime, and rioting

• Evaluating LBJ: damned if he did and damned if he didn’t

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Cambodianizing the Vietnam War

• "Ho Chi Minh Trail”: North Vietnamese attacking from Cambodia (NEUTRAL) and channeling supplies to N. Vietnam from Cambodia – In April 1970, Nixon ordered

the U.S. to invade Cambodia to put a stop to the uneven playing field

•Pentagon Papers: NY Times secret study that showed goof-ups by JFK and LBJ in dealing with Vietnam

-Adding to the credibility gap

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– Grain Deal of 1972: U.S. would sell $750+ million grain to the Soviets.

– ABM treaty: anti-ballistic missile reduction – SALT: "Strategic Arms Limitations Talks”

• Froze the number of ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads

Détente with Moscow

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1. North Vietnam attacked across the dividing line Nixon responded by ordering the heaviest, massive bombing of the war to force an agreement

2. Paris Accords (Jan. 1973): N. Vietnam agrees to cease-fire and give back US POWs, US withdraws troops, war continues b/t North & South

Armistice

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Born in the USABruce Springsteen

• Did the end of Vietnam signify the end of the Cold War?