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768 CHAPTER 12 Becoming a World Power768

TheVietnam War

1954–1975

. The Big Ideas ,SECTION 1: The United States Focuses on Vietnam

The fate of nations is forever changed by monumental world events. American efforts to stopthe spread of communism led to U.S. involvement in the affairs of Vietnam.

SECTION 2: Going to War in VietnamThe fate of nations is forever changed by monumental world events. After providing South

Vietnam with much aid and support, the United States finally sent in troops to fight as well.

SECTION 3: Vietnam Divides the NationPeople react to periods of breathtaking social and cultural change in different ways.

The experience of Vietnam produced sharp divisions between Americans who supported the war and those who did not.

SECTION 4: The War Winds DownThe fate of nations is forever changed by monumental world events. After nearly

eight years of fighting in Vietnam, the United States withdrew its forces.

The American Vision: Modern Times Video The Chapter 17 video, “Vietnam: A Different War,” explores the causes and the impact of this longest war in American history.

1954• Vietminh defeat French

• Geneva Accords signed1964• Congress passes Gulf

of Tonkin Resolution

1955• Khrushchev is

dominant leaderin USSR 1958

• De Gaulle heads France’sFifth Republic

1964• Japan introduces first

high-speed passenger train

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▼

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1965• U.S. combat troops

arrive in Vietnam

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1955 1960 1965

Eisenhower1953–1961

Kennedy1961–1963

L. Johnson1963–1969

(t)AP/Wide World Photos, (bl br)White House Historical Association, (bc)Art Resource Diane Walker/TimePix/ Getty Images

769

1968• Tet offensive

• Students protest atDemocratic NationalConvention inChicago

1975• Evacuation of last

Americans from Vietnam

1968• Soviets repress

Czechoslovakia’s rebellion1975• Civil war breaks

out in Angola

The dedication ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorialin Washington, D.C., November 13, 1982

▲▲▲

▼ ▼

1970• National Guard troops kill

students at Kent StateUniversity

1967• First heart

transplantperformed

▼1971• Pakistani civil war leads to

independent Bangladesh

▼

1967• March on the

Pentagon takes place

1970 1975

Ford1974–1977▲

Nixon1969–1974

1973• Cease-fire signed

with North Vietnam

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HISTORY

Chapter OverviewVisit the American Vision:Modern Times Web site at

andclick on Chapter Overviews—Chapter 17 to preview chapterinformation.

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769(t)Picture Research Consultants, (c)Collection of Janice L. and David J. Frent, (b)White House Historical Association, (bl)White House Historical Association

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770 CHAPTER 17 The Vietnam War

While reading this textbook, do you ever wonder what the author wasthinking when he wrote a passage? If so, you have questioned the

author in your mind. Effective readers understand that every author writesfor an audience. When you create questions for the author, you helpyourself get to the deeper meaning of the text. You will find answers tosome of your questions in the text, but some questions will remain open-ended. The reading strategy called Questioning the Author (QtA) helps youto make connections and read beyond the text.

You can use QtA at any time, whether you are reading the main text orthe American Story near the beginning of each section. Stop occasionallyduring the reading to ask yourself about the author’s purpose for a passage,the clarity of the passage, or about experiences that link this information to

something else. You will also notice that thistextbook contains extended quotes from thepeople of the time. When you see these quotes, ask yourself why the author hasincluded them.

Read the passage below about American officerArchimedes Patti, who helped Vietminh leader HoChi Minh write the Vietnam Declaration ofIndependence in 1945.

When a translator read aloud the opening—“All men are created equal; they are endowed bytheir Creator with certain unalienable rights;among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit ofhappiness”—Patti suddenly sat up, startled, recog-nizing the words as very similar to the AmericanDeclaration of Independence. (p. 774)

Use these QtA questions to discuss the text passage.

• Why did the author include the opening of the declaration?

• What does this sentence remind you of?

• Do you understand why Patti reacted in such a way?

• Based on what you know about the origin of the quote, what do you think will happen next?

As you read Chapter 17, stop at least once on each page to apply QtA to apassage you have just read. You should also use this strategy for each quote.Understanding why an author has included a particular quote will help youbetter understand the quote itself and the information surrounding the quote.


Questioning the Author

QUESTIONINGTHE AUTHOR

Always ask yourself if whatyou are reading makessense. If it doesn’t, you canreread a passage or discussit with your teacher or, withyour teacher’s permission,with a partner.

CHAPTER 17 The Vietnam War 771771

Chronological and Spatial Thinking You will understand history better if you learn to compare the present with the past, evaluate the consequences of past events and deci-sions, and determine the lessons that were learned.

Comparing Present and Past

Imagine that you have walked into class and face a test for which you did notprepare. How do you react? When people are faced with a problem, some might

ignore it, hoping it will go away. Others may run away from the problem. Stillothers might face the problem, trying to influence the potential outcome. You mayfind that the most effective way to address a problem is to review past solutionsto similar problems that you or others have tried.

When historians try to understand events, they often use a similar strategy.Historians review information to see if they recognize any patterns. They then usetheir prior knowledge of similar historical events to compare these events. Theevents may have occurred before or after the event they are studying. Historiansalso may compare present events with those that occurred in the past, evaluatingthe consequences of past events in order to determine lessons learned.

Read the following passage to see how President Dwight Eisenhower used the consequencesof the past in his policy decisions on Vietnam.

You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. . . . Asia, after all, has already lost 450 million of its peoples to the Communist dictatorship, and wesimply can’t afford greater losses. . . . (page 775)

As you learned in previous chapters, after World War II the United States wasconcerned about the spread of communism around the world. When PresidentEisenhower took office, China had become a communist country and the UnitedStates was negotiating an armistice with communist North Korea. Eisenhowerfeared that if Vietnam, too, fell to communism, other nations in Southeast Asiawould follow. This concern influencedEisenhower’s decision to support the Frenchagainst the Vietminh.

As you read the chapter, note how thedomino theory influenced United States pol-icy in Vietnam through 1975. At the sametime, determine what lessons were learned,or not learned, from this policy.

Analysis Skill Standard CS1

Guide to Reading

ConnectionIn the previous chapter, you learnedabout the civil rights movement. In thissection, you will discover how theUnited States became involved in a warin Vietnam.

• The United States supported the Frenchin an effort to prevent the furtherspread of communism. (p. 773)

• A newly independent Vietnam wasdivided in two, the communist Northand the pro-Western South. (p. 775)

Content Vocabularydomino theory, guerrilla

Academic Vocabularyregion, occupy, principal

People and Terms to IdentifyHo Chi Minh, Dien Bien Phu, Ngo DinhDiem

Reading Objectives• Describe the nationalist motives of

Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh.• Explain the origins of American

involvement in Vietnam during the1950s.

Reading StrategyOrganizing As you read about theincreasing involvement of the UnitedStates in Vietnam, complete a graphicorganizer similar to the one below byproviding reasons that the United Statesaided France in Vietnam.

Preview of Events

The United StatesFocuses on Vietnam

Reasons for U.S.Support of France

1946French-VietminhWar begins

1950The United States suppliesmilitary aid to France

1954Vietminh defeat French at Dien BienPhu; Geneva Accords signed in Paris

1956Ngo Dinh Diem refuses to participatein nationwide elections in Vietnam

✦1946 ✦1950 ✦1954


. The Big Idea ,The fate of nations is forever changed by monumental world events. In acontinuing effort to stop the spread of communism, the United States began tosupport France’s efforts to control Vietnam after World War II. Despite the help ofthe United States, the French eventually were defeated by the Vietminh. Duringnegotiations to end the war, the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into two sec-tions—the pro-Communist North and the pro-Western South. When France pulledout, the United States stepped in to aid South Vietnam as tensions between theNorth and South escalated.

The following are the mainHistory–Social Science Standardscovered in this section.

11.9.2 Understand the role of mili-tary alliances, including NATO and

SEATO, in deterring communistaggression and maintaining security

during the Cold War.

11.9.3 Trace the origins and geopoliti-cal consequences (foreign and domes-

tic) of the Cold War and containmentpolicy, including the following: the era

of McCarthyism, instances of domesticCommunism (e.g., Alger Hiss) and black-

listing; the Truman Doctrine; the BerlinBlockade; the Korean War; the Bay of Pigs

invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis;atomic testing in the American West, the

“mutual assured destruction” doctrine, anddisarmament policies; the Vietnam War; Latin

American policy.

Early American Involvement in Vietnam

The United States supported the French in aneffort to prevent the further spread of communism.

Reading Connection Have you ever played dominoes?Read on to learn how the concept of a popular game shapedU.S. foreign policy.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, most Americansknew little about Vietnam. During this time, however,American officials came to view the nation as increas-ingly important in the campaign to halt the spread ofcommunism. American military forces were eventu-ally sent to Vietnam to help combat communism.

In 1965 the first major battle between American andNorth Vietnamese soldiers took place in the Ia DrangValley in South Vietnam. During the battle, a platoonof American soldiers was cut off and surrounded.Lieutenant Joe Marm’s platoon was among those sentto rescue the trapped Americans. When his men cameunder heavy fire, Marm acted quickly: “I told the mento hold their fire. . . . Then I ran forward. . . . That’s theprinciple we use in the infantry, ‘Lead by your ownexample.’” Marm raced across open ground andhurled grenades at the enemy, and although he wasshot in the jaw, he managed to kill the troops firing athis men. For his extraordinary bravery, LieutenantMarm received the Medal of Honor:

“I feel I’m the recipient of the medal for the many,many brave soldiers whose deeds go unsung . . . [T]hemedal is as much theirs as it is mine. It’s always toughto get men to go into battle, but we were a tight unit,and there were Americans out there that we were try-ing to get to. We’re all in it together, and we werefighting for each other and for our guys. . . . I had thebest soldiers. . . . They were fearless, and they werejust great Americans and they’re going to go down inhistory.”

—quoted in The Soldiers’ Story

Troop involvement in Vietnam happened slowly,though. Despite its concern about communism, theUnited States at first was reluctant to get directly

involved in the country or to support the French whohad been the colonial power in Vietnam before WorldWar II.

The Growth of Vietnamese Nationalism Whenthe Japanese seized power in Vietnam during WorldWar II, it was one more example of foreigners rulingthe Vietnamese people. China had controlled theregion off and on for hundreds of years. From thelate 1800s until World War II, France ruled Vietnamand neighboring Laos and Cambodia—a regionknown collectively as French Indochina.

By the early 1900s, nationalism had become apowerful force in Vietnam. The Vietnamese formedseveral political parties to push for independence orreform of the French colonial government. One of theleaders of the nationalist movement was Nguyen TatThanh—better known by his alias, Ho Chi Minh, or“Bringer of Light.” He was born in 1890 in centralVietnam. As a young man, Ho Chi Minh taught at avillage school. At the age of 21, he sailed for Europeon a French freighter, paying his passage by workingin the galley. During his travels abroad, including astay in the Soviet Union, Ho Chi Minh became anadvocate of communism. In 1930 he returned toSoutheast Asia, where he helped found theIndochinese Communist Party and worked to over-throw French rule.

Ho Chi Minh’s activities made him a wanted man.He fled Indochina and spent several years in exile inthe Soviet Union and China. In 1941 he returned to


“We’re all in ittogether . . .”

—Lieutenant Joe Marm

Vietnam. By then Japan had seized control of thecountry. Ho Chi Minh organized a nationalist groupcalled the Vietminh. The group united bothCommunists and non-Communists in the struggle toexpel the Japanese forces. Soon afterward, the UnitedStates began sending military aid to the Vietminh.

The United States Supports the French Withthe Allies’ victory over Japan in August 1945, theJapanese surrendered control of Indochina. Ho ChiMinh and his forces quickly announced that Vietnam

was an independent nation. He even crafted aVietnam Declaration of Independence. ArchimedesPatti, an American officer stationed in Vietnam at thetime, helped the rebel leader write the document.When a translator read aloud the opening—“All menare created equal; they are endowed by their Creatorwith certain inalienable rights; among these are lib-erty, life, and the pursuit of happiness”—Patti sud-denly sat up, startled, recognizing the words as verysimilar to the American Declaration of Independence.

“I stopped him and turned to Ho in amaze-ment and asked if he really intended to use itin his declaration . . . Ho sat back in his chair,his palms together with fingertips touching hislips ever so lightly, as though meditating. Then,with a gentle smile he asked softly, ‘Should Inot use it?’ I felt sheepish and embarrassed. Ofcourse, I answered, why should he not?”

—quoted in The Perfect War

France, however, had no intention of see-ing Vietnam become independent. Seekingto regain their colonial empire in SoutheastAsia, French troops returned to Vietnam in1946 and drove the Vietminh forces intohiding in the countryside. By 1949 Frenchofficials had set up a new government inVietnam.


N

S

EW

Miller Cylindrical projection200 kilometers0

200 miles0

100°E

10°N

20°N

17°N

Gulf ofTonkin

Gulf ofThailand South

China Sea

THAILANDNever a European

colony

CAMBODIA1954

LAOS1954

NORTHVIETNAM

1954

SOUTHVIETNAM

1954

C H I N A

BURMA1948

Vientiane

Hanoi

Bangkok

Rangoon

PhnomPenh

Saigon

Indochina, 1959

Rural Economy Most of Vietnam’s people live in the country’s low-lying fertile lands near the Red River delta in the north and theMekong River delta in the south. What does the image below suggestabout the use of human labor in the country’s agricultural economy?

History

Date of independence1954

1. Interpreting Maps What three countries border Northand South Vietnam?

2. Applying Geography Skills A mountain chain extendsnearly 800 miles (1,290 km) from North to SouthVietnam. How do you think this terrain aided theVietnamese guerrillas who were fighting U.S. troops?

Paul Miller/Black Star

The Vietminh Drive Out the French

A newly independent Vietnam was dividedin two, the communist North and the pro-WesternSouth.

Reading Connection When was the United Statesdivided between a “north” and “south”? Read on to discoverhow the United States became involved in a pending civil war.

Despite significant amounts of aid from theUnited States, the French struggled against theVietminh, who consistently frustrated the Frenchwith hit-and-run and ambush tactics. These are thetactics of guerrillas, irregular troops who usuallyblend into the civilian population and are often diffi-cult for regular armies to fight. The mounting casual-ties and the inability of the French to defeat theVietminh made the war very unpopular in France.Finally, in 1954, the struggle reached a turning point.

Defeat at Dien Bien Phu In 1954 the French com-mander ordered his forces to occupy the mountaintown of Dien Bien Phu. Seizing the town wouldinterfere with the Vietminh’s supply lines and forcethem into open battle.

Soon afterward, a huge Vietminh force sur-rounded Dien Bien Phu and began bombarding thetown. “Shells rained down on us without stopping


The Vietminh fought back against theFrench-dominated regime and slowlyincreased their control over large areas of thecountryside. As fighting between the twosides escalated, France appealed to the UnitedStates for help.

France’s request for assistance putAmerican officials in a difficult position. TheUnited States opposed colonialism. It hadpressured the Dutch to give up their empirein Indonesia, and it supported the Britishdecision to give India independence in 1947.In Vietnam, however, the independencemovement had become entangled with theCommunist movement. American officialsdid not think France should control Vietnam,but they did not want Vietnam to beCommunist either.

Two events convinced the Truman administrationto help France—the fall of China to communism, andthe outbreak of the Korean War. Korea, in particular,convinced American officials that the Soviet Unionhad begun a major push to impose communism onEast Asia. Shortly after the Korean War began,Truman authorized a massive program of militaryaid to French forces fighting in Vietnam.

On taking office in 1953, President Eisenhowercontinued to support the French military campaignagainst the Vietminh. By 1954 the United States waspaying roughly three-fourths of France’s war costs.During a news conference that year, Eisenhowerdefended United States policy in Vietnam by stress-ing what became known as the domino theory—thebelief that if Vietnam fell to communism, so toowould the other nations of Southeast Asia:

“You have a row of dominoes set up, you knockover the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over veryquickly. . . . Asia, after all, has already lost 450 millionof its peoples to the Communist dictatorship, and wesimply can’t afford greater losses. . . .”

—quoted in America in Vietnam

Summarizing Why did Ho ChiMinh lead a resistance movement against France?

Reading Check

Nationalist Leader Ho Chi Minh was already involved in fight-ing for Vietnam’s independence when this photograph was takenin 1946. What foreign country was he opposing at that time?

History

Archive Photos/Getty Images

like a hailstorm on a fall evening,” recalled oneFrench soldier. “Bunker after bunker, trench aftertrench collapsed, burying under them men andweapons.” On May 7, 1954, the French force at DienBien Phu fell to the Vietminh. The defeat convincedthe French to make peace and withdraw fromIndochina.

Geneva Accords Negotiations to end the conflictwere held in Geneva, Switzerland. The GenevaAccords temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17thparallel, with Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh in con-trol of North Vietnam and a pro-Western regime incontrol of the South. In 1956 elections were to be heldto reunite the country under a single government.The Geneva Conference also recognized Cambodia’sindependence. (Laos had gained independence theprevious year.)

Shortly after the Geneva Accords partitionedVietnam, the French finally left. The United Statesalmost immediately stepped in and became the prin-cipal protector of the new government in the South,

led by a nationalist leader named NgoDinh Diem (NOH DIHN deh·EHM).Like Ho Chi Minh, Diem had beeneducated abroad, but unlike the NorthVietnamese leader, Diem was pro-Western and fiercely anti-Communist.

A Catholic, he welcomed the roughly one millionNorth Vietnamese Catholics who migrated south toescape Ho Chi Minh’s rule.

When the time came in 1956 to hold countrywideelections, as called for by the Geneva Accords, Diemrefused. He knew that the Communist-controllednorth would not allow genuinely free elections, andthat Ho Chi Minh would almost certainly have wonas a result. Eisenhower supported Diem andincreased American military and economic aid toSouth Vietnam. In the wake of Diem’s actions, ten-sions between the North and South intensified. Thenation seemed headed toward civil war, with theUnited States caught in the middle of it.

Examining What was the effect ofthe French defeat at Dien Bien Phu?

Reading Check


Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: region, domino

theory, guerrilla, occupy, principal.2. People and Terms Identify: Ho Chi

Minh, Dien Bien Phu, Ngo Dinh Diem.3. Explain the goals of the Vietminh.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. Analyzing Why did Ngo Dinh Diem

refuse to hold country-wide elections inVietnam in 1956?

Critical Thinking5. Interpreting

Why do you think the United Statessupported the government of Ngo Dinh Diem?

6. Organizing Use a graphic organizerlike the one below to list provisions ofthe Geneva Accords.

Analyzing Visuals7. Analyzing Photographs Study the

Vietnam scene on page 774. Howwould you describe the contrastbetween American and Vietnamesesocieties? How do you think this con-trast influenced American thinkingtoward the war?

CA HI2; HI3

Writing About History8. Descriptive Writing Take on the role

of a Vietnamese peasant in the 1940s.Write a journal entry on your thoughtstoward the French. CA 11WS1.2

Last Stand French troops assemble a tank near theDien Bien Phu airfield shortly before their defeat bythe Vietminh. How did this defeat influence Frenchpolicy in Indochina?

History

Geneva Accords Provisions

For help with the concepts in this section of AmericanVision: Modern Times go to andclick on Study Central.

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Study CentralHISTORY

Everette Dixie Reese, Courtesy of Alan Reese


Guide to Reading

ConnectionIn the previous section, you learned howthe United States became involved inVietnam. In this section, you will discoverhow the United States eventually senttroops into Vietnam.

• American assistance to South Vietnamincreased. (p. 778)

• President Johnson sent troops to aidSouth Vietnam against communism. (p. 779)

• American troops faced guerrilla warfareand a war of attrition. (p. 781)

Content Vocabularynapalm, Agent Orange

Academic Vocabularyadministration, coincidental, sustain

People and Terms to IdentifyVietcong, Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, HoChi Minh trail

Reading Objectives• Describe how President Johnson

deepened American involvement in Vietnam.

• Discuss how the Vietcong and theNorth Vietnamese were able to frus-trate the American military.

Reading StrategyTaking Notes As you read about thebeginnings of the Vietnam War, use themajor headings of the section to createan outline similar to the one below.

Preview of Events

Going to Warin Vietnam


Going to War in VietnamI. American Involvement Deepens

A.B.

II.A.B.

1963Number of American military advisers inSouth Vietnam reaches around 15,000

✦1966

1964Congress passes Gulf ofTonkin Resolution

1965The United States begins bombing North Vietnam;first American combat troops arrive in Vietnam

✦1963 ✦1964 ✦1965

. The Big Idea ,The fate of nations is forever changed by monumental world events. Theevents in Vietnam eventually led to an armed struggle between North and South. TheUnited States continued its support because it believed the success of South Vietnamwas vital in the battle against communism. Following the assassination of Ngo DinhDiem, the United States became more involved in the conflict. Military aid, earlierrestricted to military advisers, now included a bombing campaign and combattroops. The Vietcong used ambushes and guerrilla warfare against American soldiers.As the war raged on, the number of killed and injured Americans continued to grow.Many Americans began to question the nation’s involvement in the war.


11.8.5 Describe the increased pow-ers of the presidency in response tothe Great Depression, World War II,and the Cold War.

11.9.3 Trace the origins and geopoliti-cal consequences (foreign and domes-tic) of the Cold War and containmentpolicy, including the following: the era of McCarthyism, instances of domesticCommunism (e.g., Alger Hiss) and black-listing; the Truman Doctrine; the BerlinBlockade; the Korean War; the Bay of Pigsinvasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis;atomic testing in the American West, the“mutual assured destruction” doctrine, anddisarmament policies; the Vietnam War; LatinAmerican policy.

American Involvement Deepens

American assistance to South Vietnamincreased.

Reading Connection Do you think the American gov-ernment should encourage the spread of democracy? Read on to learn about American efforts to support a free SouthVietnam.

In the mid-1950s, American officials decided tosupport the government of South Vietnam in itsstruggle against North Vietnam. Both PresidentEisenhower and President Kennedy sent military aidand hundreds of advisers. Over time, though, send-ing advisers did not seem to be enough. By the timePresident Johnson took office, American involvementhad increased significantly, and within two years, thepresident committed ground troops.

Marlene Kramel joined the Army Nurse Corps in1965 when she was 21, and she went to Vietnam thefollowing year. She was working in a makeshift hospi-tal on what was a particularly quiet night. Most of thepatients who filled the beds that evening were suffer-ing from malaria.

Suddenly, a row of helicopters roared in from overthe horizon, carrying wounded from a nearby battle.As the casualties came in on stretchers, the hospitalturned chaotic. Doctors ran about the facility scream-ing orders and frantically trying to treat patients.

The only nurse on duty at the time, Kramel feltoverwhelmed by the confusion. “Every one of the doc-tors is yelling for me,” she recalled. “I didn’t knowwhat to do next. ‘Start this. Do that.’ Everybody’syelling at me. I couldn’t do enough.” Things happenedso quickly that night, she insisted, that she could notremember most of it. “I can’t remember blood, even.I can only remember, ‘What am I going to do?’ Andthe doctors moving at tremendous speed. And I’mthere. And I’m not able to move fast enough. . . . That’s all I remember.”

—adapted from The Living and the Dead

During Eisenhower’s term in office, troop involve-ment did not seem imminent, and U.S. aid was lim-ited. Ngo Dinh Diem’s refusal to hold national

elections brought a quick response by Ho Chi Minhand his followers. They began an armed struggle toreunify the nation. Their first step consisted of organ-izing a new guerrilla army, which became known asthe Vietcong. As fighting began between the Vietcongand South Vietnam’s forces, President Eisenhowerincreased American aid and sent hundreds of militaryadvisers to train South Vietnam’s army.

Despite American assistance, the Vietcong contin-ued to grow more powerful, in part because manyVietnamese opposed Diem’s government, and in partbecause of the Vietcong’s use of terror. By 1961, theVietcong had assassinated thousands of governmentofficials and established control over much of thecountryside. In response, Diem looked increasinglyto the United States to keep South Vietnam fromcollapsing.

Kennedy Takes Over On taking office in 1961,President Kennedy continued the nation’s policy ofsupport for South Vietnam. Like presidents Trumanand Eisenhower before him, Kennedy saw theSoutheast Asian country as vitally important in thebattle against communism.

In political terms, Kennedy needed to appeartough on communism, since Republicans oftenaccused Democrats of having lost China to commu-nism during the Truman administration. Kennedy’sadministration sharply increased military aid andsent more advisers to Vietnam. From 1961 to late 1963,the number of American military personnel in SouthVietnam jumped from about 2,000 to around 15,000.


“Everybody’syelling at me.I couldn’t doenough.”

—Marlene Kramel

from The Living and The Dead by Paul Hendrickson

American officials believedthe Vietcong continued to growbecause Diem’s government wasunpopular and corrupt. Theyurged him to create a more dem-ocratic government and to intro-duce reforms to help Vietnam’speasants. Diem introduced somelimited reforms, but they had little effect.

One program Diem introduced,at the urging of American advis-ers, made the situation worse. TheSouth Vietnamese created specialfortified villages, known as strate-gic hamlets. These villages wereprotected by machine guns,bunkers, trenches, and barbedwire. Vietnamese officials thenmoved villagers to the strategichamlets, partly to protect themfrom the Vietcong, and partly toprevent them from giving aid tothe Vietcong. The program proved to be extremelyunpopular. Many peasants resented being uprootedfrom their villages, where they had worked to buildfarms and where many of their ancestors lay buried.

The Overthrow of Diem Diem made himselfeven more unpopular by discriminating againstBuddhism, one of the country’s most widely prac-ticed religions. In the spring of 1963, Diem, aCatholic, banned the traditional religious flags forBuddha’s birthday. When Buddhists took to thestreets in protest, Diem’s police killed 9 people andinjured 14 others. In the demonstrations that fol-lowed, a Buddhist monk set himself on fire, the firstof several to do so. The photograph of his self-destruction appeared on television and on the frontpages of newspapers around the world. It was a starksymbol of the opposition to Diem.

In August 1963, American ambassador HenryCabot Lodge arrived in Vietnam. He quickly learnedthat Diem’s unpopularity had so alarmed severalVietnamese generals that they were plotting to over-throw him. When Lodge expressed American sympa-thy for their cause, the generals launched a militarycoup. They seized power on November 1, 1963, andexecuted Diem shortly afterward.

Diem’s overthrow only made matters worse.Despite his unpopularity with some Vietnamese,Diem had been a respected nationalist and a capableadministrator. After his death, South Vietnam’s

government grew increasingly weak and unstable.The United States became even more deeplyinvolved in order to prop up the weak SouthVietnamese government. Coincidentally, threeweeks after Diem’s death, President Kennedy wasalso assassinated. The presidency, as well as thegrowing problem of Vietnam, now belonged toKennedy’s vice president, Lyndon Johnson.

Examining What was the maingoal of the Vietcong?

Johnson and Vietnam

President Johnson sent troops to aid SouthVietnam against communism.

Reading Connection In what other nations had theUnited States become involved in an effort to promote theideals of freedom? Read on to find out how President Johnsongained war powers from Congress to assist South Vietnam.

Initially President Johnson exercised caution andrestraint regarding the conflict in Vietnam. “We seekno wider war,” he repeatedly promised. At the sametime, Johnson was determined to prevent SouthVietnam from becoming Communist. “The battleagainst communism,” he declared shortly beforebecoming president, “must be joined . . . withstrength and determination.”

Reading Check


Self-Immolation On June 11, 1963, flames erupted around a Buddhist monk as he set himself on fire toprotest government religious policies. What policies did Ngo Dinh Diem take toward Buddhism?

History

AP/Wide World Photos

Politics also played a role in Johnson’s Vietnampolicy. Like Kennedy, Johnson remembered thatmany Republicans blamed the Truman administra-tion for the fall of China to communism in 1949.Johnson hoped to prevent another country frombecoming Communist. Should the Democrats also“lose” Vietnam, Johnson feared, it might cause a“mean and destructive debate that would shatter myPresidency, kill my administration, and damage ourdemocracy.”

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution On August 2,1964, President Johnson announced that NorthVietnamese torpedo boats had fired on two Americandestroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later, thepresident reported that another similar attack againstAmerican ships had taken place. Johnson was cam-paigning for the presidency and was very sensitive toaccusations of being soft on communism. He insistedthat North Vietnam’s attacks were unprovoked and

immediately ordered American aircraft to attackNorth Vietnamese ships and naval facilities. Johnsondid not reveal that the American warships had beenhelping the South Vietnamese conduct electronic spy-ing and commando raids against North Vietnam.

Johnson then asked Congress to authorize the useof force to defend American forces. Congress agreedto Johnson’s request with little debate. Most membersof Congress agreed with Republican RepresentativeRoss Adair of Indiana, who defiantly declared, “TheAmerican flag has been fired upon. We will not andcannot tolerate such things.”

On August 7, 1964, the Senate and House passedthe Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing the pres-ident to “take all necessary measures to repel anyarmed attack against the forces of the United Statesand to prevent further aggression.” With only twodissenting votes, Congress had, in effect, handed itswar powers over to the president. ; (See page 1003 formore on the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.)

The Vietnam WarAs the war in Vietnam dragged on, a clear division of

American opinion emerged. In January 1966, George W.Ball, undersecretary of state to President Johnson, deliveredan address to indicate “how we got [to Vietnam] and why wemust stay.” George F. Kennan, former ambassador to Russia,testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee thatsame year, arguing that American involvement in Vietnamwas “something we would not choose deliberately if thechoice were ours to make all over again today.”

George W. Ball:

“[T]he conflict in Vietnam is a product of the great shifts andchanges triggered by the Second World War. Out of the war,two continent-wide powers emerged—the United States andthe Soviet Union. The colonial systems through which thenations of Western Europe had governed more than a third ofthe people of the world were, one by one, dismantled.

. . . [E]ven while the new national boundaries were stillbeing marked on the map, the Soviet Union under Stalinexploited the confusion to push out the perimeter of its powerand influence in an effort to extend the outer limits ofCommunist domination by force or the threat of force.

The bloody encounters in [Vietnam] are thus in a real sensebattles and skirmishes in a continuing war to prevent oneCommunist power after another from violating internationallyrecognized boundary lines fixing the outer limits of Communistdominion.

. . . The evidence shows clearly enough that, at the time ofFrench withdrawal . . . the Communist regime in Hanoi neverintended that South Vietnam should develop in freedom.

. . . In the long run our hopes for the people of SouthVietnam reflect our hopes for people everywhere. What weseek is a world living in peace and freedom.”

The United States Sends in Troops Shortly afterCongress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, theVietcong began to attack bases where Americanadvisers were stationed in South Vietnam. Theattacks began in the fall of 1964 and continued toescalate. After a Vietcong attack on a base at Pleiku inFebruary 1965 left 7 Americans dead and more than100 wounded, President Johnson decided to respond.Less than 14 hours after the attack, American aircraftassaulted North Vietnam.

After the airstrikes, one poll showed that Johnson’sapproval rating on his handling of Vietnam jumpedfrom 41 percent to 60 percent. The president’s actionsalso met with strong approval from his closest advis-ers, including Secretary of Defense Robert McNamaraand National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy.

There were some dissenters in the White House,chief among them Undersecretary of State GeorgeBall, a long-time critic of U.S. policy in Vietnam. Hewarned that if the United States got too deeply

involved in Vietnam, it might become difficult to getout. “Once on the tiger’s back,” he warned, “we can-not be sure of picking the place to dismount.”

The majority of the advisers who surroundedJohnson, however, firmly believed the nation had aduty to halt communism in Vietnam. They thought itwas necessary to maintain stability in Southeast Asiaand to ensure the United States’s continuing powerand prestige in the world. In a memo to the presi-dent, Bundy argued:

“The stakes in Vietnam are extremely high. TheAmerican investment is very large, and Americanresponsibility is a fact of life which is palpable in theatmosphere of Asia, and even elsewhere. The interna-tional prestige of the U.S. and a substantial part ofour influence are directly at risk in Vietnam.”

—quoted in The Best and the Brightest

In March 1965, Johnson expanded Americaninvolvement by shifting his policy to a sustainedbombing campaign against North Vietnam. The cam-paign was named Operation Rolling Thunder. Thatmonth the president also ordered the first combattroops into Vietnam. American soldiers were nowfighting alongside South Vietnamese troops againstthe Vietcong.

Describing How did politics play arole in President Johnson’s Vietnam policy?

A Bloody Stalemate Emerges

American troops faced guerrilla warfare anda war of attrition.

Reading Connection When had guerrilla warfare beenused in the United States? Read on to discover the effects ofguerrilla warfare in Vietnam.

By the end of 1965, more than 180,000 Americancombat troops were fighting in Vietnam. In 1966 thatnumber doubled. Since the American military wasextremely strong, it marched into Vietnam with greatconfidence. “America seemed omnipotent then,”said Philip Caputo, one of the first marines to arrive.“We saw ourselves as the champions of a ‘cause thatwas destined to triumph.’”

Frustrating Warfare Lacking the firepower of theAmericans, the Vietcong used ambushes, boobytraps, and guerrilla tactics. Ronald J. Glasser, an

Reading Check


George F. Kennan:

“Vietnam is not a region of major military and industrialimportance. It is difficult to believe that any decisive devel-opments of the world situation would be determined in nor-mal circumstances by what happens on that territory. . . .Even a situation in which South Vietnam was controlledexclusively by the Vietcong, while regrettable . . . would not, in my opinion, present dangers great enough to justifyour direct military intervention.

. . . To attempt to crush North Vietnamese strength to a point where [it] could no longer give any support forVietcong political activity in the South, would . . . have the effect of bringing in Chinese forces at some point.

. . . Our motives are widely misinterpreted, and the spec-tacle emphasized and reproduced in thousands of pressphotographs and stories . . . produces reactions among mil-lions of people throughout the world profoundly detrimen-tal to the image we would like them to hold of this country.”

Learning From History1. Recognizing Ideologies How do

the two speakers assess the value ofVietnam and its people to the UnitedStates?

2. Making Inferences Why doesGeorge Kennan believe that theUnited States government gotinvolved in Vietnam when it did?How does he feel about this involvement? CA 11RC2.4

CA 11RC2.5

American army doctor, described the devastatingeffects of one of these booby traps:

“Three quarters of the way through the tangle, a trooper brushed against a two-inch vine, and agrenade slung at chest high went off, shattering theright side of his head and body. . . . Nearby trooperstook hold of the unconscious soldier and, half carry-ing, half dragging him, pulled him the rest of the waythrough the jungle.”

—quoted in Vietnam, A History

The Vietcong also frustrated American troops byblending in with the general population and thenquickly vanishing. “It was a sheer physical impossibil-ity to keep the enemy from slipping away wheneverhe wished,” one American general said. JournalistLinda Martin noted, “It’s a war where nothing is everquite certain and nowhere is ever quite safe.”

To counter the Vietcong’s tactics, American troopswent on “search and destroy” missions. They tried tofind enemy troops, bomb their positions, destroytheir supply lines, and force them into the open.

American forces also sought to take away theVietcong’s ability to hide in the thick jungles by liter-ally destroying the landscape. American planesdropped napalm, a jellied gasoline that explodes oncontact. They also used Agent Orange, a chemicalthat strips leaves from trees and shrubs, turningfarmland and forest into wasteland.

A Determined Enemy United States military lead-ers underestimated the Vietcong’s strength. They alsomisjudged the enemy’s stamina. American generalsbelieved that continuously bombing and killing largenumbers of Vietcong would destroy the enemy’smorale and force them to give up. The guerrillas,however, had no intention of surrendering, and theywere willing to accept huge losses in human lives.

In the Vietcong’s war effort, North Vietnamese sup-port was a major factor. Although the Vietcong forceswere made up of many South Vietnamese, NorthVietnam provided arms, advisers, and significant lead-ership. Later in the war, as Vietcong casualtiesmounted, North Vietnam began sending regular NorthVietnamese Army units to fight in South Vietnam.


AMERICA’S LONGESTWAR Clinging to his M-16 rifle, awounded American Marine isshown after being pulled tosafety by a fellow soldier. In thelate 1950s, American militaryadvisers were sent to help theSouth Vietnamese army fightguerrillas known as theVietcong, who were receivingweapons, supplies, and trainingfrom Communist NorthVietnam.The dense jungles ofVietnam made fighting theguerrillas very difficult. By 1968about 500,000 U.S. troops werefighting in the increasinglyunpopular war. Americanforces finally withdrew inMarch 1973.

MOMENTinHISTORY

Sp4 John Olson, U.S. Army

North Vietnam sent arms and supplies south byway of a network of jungle paths known as the Ho Chi Minh trail. The trail wound through thecountries of Cambodia and Laos, bypassing the bor-der between North and South Vietnam. Because thetrail passed through countries not directly involvedin the war, President Johnson refused to allow a full-scale attack on the trail to shut it down.

North Vietnam itself received military weaponsand other support from the Soviet Union and China.One of the main reasons President Johnson refused toorder a full-scale invasion of North Vietnam was hisfear that such an attack would bring China into thewar, as had happened in Korea. By placing limits onthe war, however, Johnson made it very difficult towin. Instead of conquering enemy territory, Amer-ican troops were forced to fight a war of attrition—a strategy of defeating the enemy forces by slowlywearing them down. This strategy led troops to con-duct grisly body counts after battles to determinehow many enemy soldiers had been killed.

Bombing from American planes killed as many as220,000 Vietnamese between 1965 and 1967. Never-theless, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese troopsshowed no sign of surrendering. Meanwhile, Amer-ican casualties continued to mount. By the end of1966, more than 6,700 American soldiers had beenkilled.

As the number of Americans killed and woundedcontinued to grow, the notion of a quick and decisivevictory grew increasingly remote. As a result, manycitizens back home began to question the nation’sinvolvement in the war.

Describing What tactics did theUnited States adopt to fight the Vietcong?

Reading Check


Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: administration,

coincidental, sustain, napalm, AgentOrange.

2. People and Terms Identify: Vietcong,Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Ho Chi Minhtrail.

3. Explain how the Gulf of TonkinResolution affected the powers ofCongress and the presidency.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. Examining Why did the United States

use napalm and Agent Orange in itsfight against the Vietcong?

Critical Thinking5. Analyzing Why did fighting in Vietnam

turn into a stalemate by the mid-1960s?6. Sequencing Complete a time line simi-

lar to the one below to fill in eventsleading to American involvement inVietnam.

Analyzing Visuals7. Analyzing Photographs Look closely at

the photograph on page 779 of Buddhistmonk Reverend Quang Duc. What in thephotograph suggests that this event wasplanned by Buddhists to protest theirtreatment in South Vietnam?

Writing About History8. Persuasive Writing Imagine that you

are a member of Congress in August1964. Based on the Constitution, write a statement supporting or opposing theGulf of Tonkin Resolution. CA 11WS1.1

Vietnam War Deaths, 1965–1972

Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Num

ber o

f Dea

ths (

in th

ousa

nds)

2

0

4

19661965 19681967 19701969 19721971

6

8

10

12

14

16

Year

TotalKilled inactionDied ofwoundsMissing,presumeddead

1. Interpreting Graphs How many American sol-diers were killed in action in 1968, and how manydied of wounds?

2. Generalizing The number of wounded and killedrose rapidly from 1965 to 1968 and then fellquickly over the next few years. By 1970, howmuch had the total number killed dropped fromthe peak number of deaths in 1968?

August 2, 1964August 1963 November 1,1963

March 1965August 7, 1964February

1965


tav.mt.glencoe.com



The sources advising PresidentJohnson on the Gulf of Tonkin inci-dent included the navy and theDefense Department. These excerptssuggest how difficult it was to knowwhat had happened—and also howtension influenced the Americaninterpretation.

U.S. Navy Commander John Herrickof the USS Maddox:I am being approached by high-speed craft with apparent inten-tion of torpedo attack. I intend toopen fire in self-defense if necessary.—from a cable of August 2, 1964

U.S. Defense Department: While on routine patrol in interna-tional waters . . . the U.S. destroyerMaddox underwent an unpro-voked attack by three PT-typeboats in . . . the Tonkin Gulf.

The attacking boats launched threetorpedoes and used 37-millimetergunfire. The Maddox answered

with 5-inch gunfire. . . . The PTboats were driven off, with oneseen to be badly damaged and notmoving. . . .

No casualties or damage weresustained by the Maddox or theaircraft.

—from a press release of August 2, 1964

National Security Council Meeting:Secretary McNamara: The NorthVietnamese PT boats have contin-ued their attacks on the two U.S.destroyers in international watersin the Gulf of Tonkin. . . .

Secretary Rusk: An immediate anddirect action by us is necessary.The unprovoked attack on thehigh seas is an act of war for allpractical purposes. . . .

CIA Director McCone: The pro-posed U.S. reprisals will result insharp North Vietnamese militaryaction, but such actions wouldnot represent a deliberate

decision to provoke or accept amajor escalation of theVietnamese war.

President Johnson: Do they want awar by attacking our ships in themiddle of the Gulf of Tonkin?

U.S. Intelligence Agency DirectorRowan: Do we know for a factthat the North Vietnamese provo-cation took place?

Secretary McNamara: We willknow definitely in the morning.

—August 2, 1964

Secretary Rusk:We believe that present OPLAN34-A activities are beginning to rattle Hanoi [capital of NorthVietnam], and the Maddox incidentis directly related to their effort toresist these activities. We have nointention of yielding to pressure.

—from a top secret telegram to Ambassador MaxwellTaylor (South Vietnam),

August 3, 1964


Incident in the Gulf of TonkinIn 1964 the Vietcong in South Vietnam were trying to topple the gov-

ernment and unite the country under communism. To prevent this,the United States had already committed money, supplies, and advis-

ers. President Johnson asked Congress to authorize using force afterreports that North Vietnam had made unprovoked attacks on U.S. war-ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Congress responded with the Gulf of TonkinResolution. Had the warship USS Maddox provoked the attack? WasJohnson fully informed of events in the Gulf? You’re the historian.

Read the following excerpts, then answer the questions and complete the activities that follow.

President Lyndon Johnson

CORBIS AP/Wide World Photos


Two days after the alleged attack, theTurner Joy joined the Maddox inthe Gulf. On the night of August 4,1964, the two destroyers experienceda series of events they interpreted as asecond attack. However, CommanderHerrick later revised this report.President Johnson referred to the“repeated” attacks later when heasked Congress for war powers.

Commander Herrick:Review of action makes manycontacts and torpedoes firedappear doubtful. Freak weathereffects on radar and overeagersonarmen may have accountedfor many reports. No actualvisual sightings by Maddox.Suggest complete evaluationbefore any further action. . . .

Turner Joy also reports no actualvisual sightings or wake. . . .Entire action leaves many doubts

except for apparent attempt toambush at beginning.

—from two cables of August 4, 1964

President Johnson:The initial attack on the destroyerMaddox, on August 2, wasrepeated today by a number ofhostile vessels attacking two U.S.destroyers with torpedoes. Thedestroyers and supporting air-craft acted at once on the orders Igave after the initial act of aggres-sion. . . . Repeated acts of violenceagainst the Armed Forces of theUnited States must be met notonly with alert defense, but withpositive reply.

—in a television and radioaddress, August 4, 1964

In 1968 Senator William Fulbrightopened an investigation into the1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. Thefollowing exchange took placebetween Senator Fulbright andSecretary McNamara.

Secretary McNamara: I don’t believeCommander Herrick in his cablestated that he had doubt that theattack took place. He questionedcertain details of the attack. . . .Secondly, his doubts were resolvedthat afternoon before the retalia-tory action was taken.

Senator Fulbright: I think he wentfurther than that. He advised younot to do anything until it hadbeen reevaluated. . . . It is a verystrong statement.

Secretary McNamara: Nothing wasdone until it was reevaluated.

Senator Fulbright: He says“Suggest complete reevaluationbefore any further action.” Nowthat is a very strong recommen-dation from a man on the scenein charge of the operation. . . .Both committees, except for theSenator from Oregon [Morse],unanimously accepted your testi-mony then as the whole story,and I must say this raises veryserious questions about how youmake decisions to go to war.

Vietcong guerrillas

Secretary McNamara

Understanding the Issue1. What statement by Rusk suggests the

United States may have provoked theattack on the Maddox?

2. Do you think President Johnson wasmisled by his advisers? Explain.

3. How soon after the alleged attacksdid the president address theAmerican people? Did the UnitedStates rush to judgment in this case?Explain.

Activities1. Investigate What were the conclu-

sions of the Fulbright investigationsinto the Gulf of Tonkin incident?Check sources, including the Internet.

2. Discuss Research and reviewAmerican decisions to go to war in1898, 1917, and 1941. What were the concerns? Do you think thenation made the right decisions?

(t)AP/Wide World Photos, (b)CORBIS/Bettmann


Guide to Reading

ConnectionIn the previous section, you learned howU.S. troops became involved in theVietnam War. In this section, you will findout how the war divided the nation.

• Americans grew discouraged as thedeath toll increased and official reportscontradicted the reality of the war. (p. 787)

• Protests during the war focused on thedraft policy. (p. 788)

• With violence escalating and his popu-larity dwindling, Johnson decided notto seek another term of office. (p. 789)

Content Vocabularycredibility gap, teach-in, dove, hawk

Academic Vocabularycontradict, proportion, alternative

People and Terms to IdentifyWilliam Westmoreland, Tet offensive

Reading Objective• Analyze why support for the war

began to weaken.• Describe the motives of those in the

antiwar movement.

Reading StrategyOrganizing As you read aboutAmericans’ reactions to the Vietnam War,complete a graphic organizer like the onebelow to list the reasons for oppositionto the war.

Preview of Events

Vietnam Divides the Nation


Reasons for Opposition to Vietnam War

1965Teach-ins on collegecampuses begin

1966Senate Foreign Relations Committeebegins Vietnam hearings

1967March on thePentagon

January 1968Tet offensive

✦1965 ✦1966 ✦1967 ✦1968

Parks), including the significance of Martin Luther King,Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have aDream” speech.

. The Big Idea ,People react to periods of breathtaking social and cultural change indifferent ways. As the war raged on and the death toll of American soldiersgrew, an antiwar movement began, with protesters holding teach-ins and anti-war rallies to speak out against the war and the draft. Not all Americans opposedthe war. Supporters accused protesters of being unpatriotic. Following the Tetoffensive, political support for President Johnson began to decline. Faced withsteadily decreasing approval ratings, Johnson decided not to seek reelection. Thedivision within the Democratic Party and voter dissatisfaction with the war led tothe election of Republican nominee Richard Nixon.


11.9.3 Trace the origins and geo-political consequences (foreign and

domestic) of the Cold War and con-tainment policy, including the follow-

ing: the era of McCarthyism, instancesof domestic Communism (e.g., Alger

Hiss) and blacklisting; the TrumanDoctrine; the Berlin Blockade; the

Korean War; the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis; atomic test-

ing in the American West, the “mutualassured destruction” doctrine, and disar-

mament policies; the Vietnam War; LatinAmerican policy.

11.9.4 List the effects of foreign policy ondomestic policies and vice versa (e.g., protests

during the war in Vietnam, the “nuclear freeze”movement).

11.10.4 Examine the roles of civil rights advocates(e.g., A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr.,

Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall, James Farmer, Rosa

A Growing Credibility Gap

Americans grew discouraged as the deathtoll increased and official reports contradicted the real-ity of the war.

Reading Connection What role does the media play incovering the events of a war? Read on to learn about the effectof television on the Vietnam War.

When American troops first entered the VietnamWar in the spring of 1965, many Americans had sup-ported the military effort. A Gallup poll publishedaround that time showed that 66 percent of Americansapproved of the policy in Vietnam. As the wardragged on, however, public support began to drop.

Martin Jezer, a 27-year-old copywriter living in NewYork City, had never considered himself a radical. “Icampaigned for Lyndon Johnson in 1964,” he recalled.As his opposition to the war in Vietnam grew, how-ever, Jezer decided to stage a public protest.

On April 15, 1967, he and dozens of other youngmen gathered with their military draft cards in NewYork’s Central Park. Before an audience of reporters,photographers, FBI officials, and citizens, the menpulled out matches and lighters and burned the cards.

“We began singing freedom songs and chanting,‘Resist! Resist!’ and ‘Burn Draft Cards, Not People’. . . .People in the audience were applauding us, shoutingencouragement. Then some guys began to come outof the audience with draft cards in hand. They burnedthem. Alone, in pairs, by threes they came. Each flam-ing draft card brought renewed cheering and morepeople out of the crowd. . . . Some of the draft cardburners were girls, wives, or girlfriends of male cardburners. . . . It lasted this way for about half anhour.”—quoted in The Vietnam War: Opposing Viewpoints

Jezer’s protest was just one of many as Americanopposition to the Vietnam War grew. Suspicion of thegovernment’s truthfulness about the war was a sig-nificant reason. Throughout the early years of thewar, the American commander in South Vietnam,General William Westmoreland, reported that theenemy was on the brink of defeat. In 1967 he confi-

dently declared that the “enemy’s hopes are bank-rupt” and added, “we have reached an importantpoint where the end begins to come into view.”

Contradicting such reports were less optimisticmedia accounts, especially on television. Vietnamwas the first “television war,” with footage of combatappearing nightly on the evening news. Day afterday, millions of people saw images of wounded anddead Americans and began to doubt governmentreports. In the view of many, a credibility gap haddeveloped, meaning it was hard to believe what theJohnson administration said about the war.

Congress, which had given the president a nearlyfree hand in Vietnam, soon grew uncertain about thewar. Beginning in February 1966, the Senate ForeignRelations Committee held “educational” hearings onVietnam, calling in Secretary of State Dean Rusk andother policy makers to explain the administration’swar program. The committee also listened to critics

Dark Passage One particular phrase came to represent the govern-ment’s claims that it was on the verge of ending the Vietnam War: “thelight at the end of the tunnel.” Why did many people become skepticalabout such government claims?

Analyzing Political Cartoons

CHAPTER 17 The Vietnam War 787Photo by DeAlba/Washington Daily News/Lyndon Baines Johnson Library

teach-in. Here, they informally discussed the issuessurrounding the war and reaffirmed their reasons foropposing it. The gathering inspired teach-ins at manycampuses. In May 1965, 122 colleges held a “NationalTeach-In” by radio for more than 100,000 antiwardemonstrators.

People who opposed the war did so for differentreasons. Some saw the conflict as a civil war in whichthe United States had no business. Others viewedSouth Vietnam as a corrupt dictatorship and insistedthat defending that country was immoral and unjust.

Anger at the Draft Young protesters especiallyfocused on what they saw as an unfair draft system.At the beginning of the war, a college student wasoften able to defer military service until after gradua-tion. By contrast, young people from low-incomefamilies were more likely to be sent to Vietnambecause they were unable to afford college. Thismeant minorities, particularly African Americans,made up a disproportionately large number of thesoldiers in Vietnam. By 1967, for example, AfricanAmericans accounted for about 20 percent ofAmerican combat deaths—about twice their propor-tion of the population within the United States. Thatnumber would decline to roughly match their popu-lation proportion by the war’s end.


Flower Power Student antiwar protests ranged from violent confrontation to this peace-ful but dramatic demonstration near the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. What were somereasons many people opposed the war?

History

such as American diplomat George Kennan.Although Kennan had helped create the policy ofcontainment, he argued that Vietnam was not strate-gically important to the United States.

Explaining Why was the VietnamWar the first “television war”?

An Antiwar Movement Emerges

Protests during the war focused on the draft policy.

Reading Connection Have you ever been chosen tocompete on a team or participate in a task you did not like?Read on to discover the controversies of and responses to thedraft during the Vietnam War.

As casualties mounted in Vietnam, many peoplebegan to protest publicly against the war and todemand that the United States pull out. Althoughmany other Americans supported the war, oppo-nents of the conflict received the most attention.

Teach-Ins Begin In March 1965, a group of facultymembers and students at the University of Michiganabandoned their classes and joined together in a

Reading Check

Bernie Boston

The high number of African Americans and poorAmericans dying in Vietnam angered AfricanAmerican leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr. Early on, King had refrained from speaking outagainst the war for fear that it would draw attentionfrom the civil rights movement. In April 1967, how-ever, he broke his silence and publicly condemnedthe conflict:

“Somehow this madness must cease. I speak as achild of God and brother to the suffering poor ofVietnam and the poor of America who are paying thedouble price of smashed hopes at home and deathand corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of theworld, for the world as it stands aghast at the path wehave taken. I speak as an American to the leader ofmy own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours.The initiative to stop must be ours.”

—quoted in A Testament of Hope

As the war escalated, American officials increasedthe draft call, putting many college students at risk.An estimated 500,000 draftees refused to go. Manypublicly burned their draft cards or simply did notreport when called for induction. Some fled the coun-try, moving to Canada, Sweden, or other nations.Others stayed and went to prison rather than fight ina war they opposed.

Between 1965 and 1968, officials prosecuted morethan 3,300 Americans for refusing to serve. The draftbecame less of an issue in 1969 when the governmentintroduced a lottery system, in which only those withlow lottery numbers were subject to the draft.

Protests against the war were not confined to col-lege campuses. Demonstrators held public rallies andmarches in towns across the country. In April 1965,Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a left-wingstudent organization, organized a march onWashington, D.C., that drew more than 20,000 partic-ipants. Two years later, in October 1967, a rally atWashington’s Lincoln Memorial drew tens of thou-sands of protesters as well.

Anger over the draft also fueled discussions ofvoting age. Many draftees argued that if they wereold enough to fight, they were old enough to vote. In 1971 the Twenty-sixth Amendment to theConstitution was ratified, giving all citizens age 18and older the right to vote.

Hawks and Doves In the face of growing opposi-tion to the war, President Johnson remained deter-mined to continue fighting. The president was notalone in his views. Although the antiwar protesters

became a vocal group, they did not represent major-ity opinion on Vietnam. In a poll taken in mid-1967,about 68 percent of the respondents favored continu-ing the war, compared to about 32 percent whowanted to end it. Of those Americans who supportedthe policy in Vietnam, many openly criticized theprotesters for a lack of patriotism.

By 1968 the nation seemed to be divided into twocamps. Those who wanted the United States to with-draw from Vietnam were known as doves. Thosewho insisted that the United States stay and fightcame to be known as hawks. As the two groupsdebated, the war took a dramatic turn for the worse,and the nation endured a year of shock and crisis.

Explaining What led to the pas-sage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment?

1968: The Pivotal Year

With violence escalating and his popularitydwindling, Johnson decided not to seek another term of office.

Reading Connection Have you ever decided not tocontinue participating in a group or extra-curricular activity?Read on to find out about the events that caused PresidentJohnson not to run for reelection.

The most turbulent year of the chaotic 1960s was1968. The year saw a shocking political announce-ment, a pair of traumatic assassinations, and a vio-lent political convention. First, however, the nationendured a surprise attack in Vietnam.

The Tet Offensive On January 30, 1968, duringTet, the Vietnamese New Year, the Vietcong andNorth Vietnamese launched a massive surpriseattack. In this Tet offensive, the guerrilla fightersattacked virtually all American airbases in SouthVietnam and most of the South’s major cities andprovincial capitals. The bloodiest battle took place inHué, South Vietnam’s third largest city. TheCommunist forces seized much of the city, and it tookAmerican and South Vietnamese troops almost fourweeks to drive them out. Afterward, Americantroops found mass graves. The Communist forceshad massacred the city’s political and religious lead-ers as well as many foreigners, intellectuals, and others associated with South Vietnam’s govern-ment. Nearly 3,000 bodies were found. Thousandsmore remained missing.

Reading Check


Militarily, Tet turned out to be a disaster for theCommunist forces. After about a month of fighting,the American and South Vietnamese soldiersrepelled the enemy troops, inflicting heavy losses onthem. General Westmoreland boasted that theCommunists’ “well-laid plans went afoul,” whilePresident Johnson triumphantly added that theenemy’s effort had ended in “complete failure.”

In fact, the North Vietnamese had scored a majorpolitical victory. The American people were shockedthat an enemy supposedly on the verge of defeatcould launch such a large-scale attack. When GeneralWestmoreland requested 206,000 troops in addition to the 500,000 already in Vietnam, it seemed to be an admission that the United States could not win the war.

To make matters worse, the media, which had triedto remain balanced in their war coverage, now openlycriticized the effort. Walter Cronkite, then the nation’smost respected newscaster, announced after Tet that itseemed “more certain than ever that the bloody expe-rience in Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.”

Public opinion no longer favored the president. Inthe weeks following the Tet offensive, the president’sapproval rating plummeted to a dismal 35 percent,while support for his handling of the war fell evenlower, to 26 percent.

Johnson Leaves the Presidential Race With thewar growing increasingly unpopular and Johnson’scredibility all but gone, some Democrats began look-ing for an alternative candidate to nominate for pres-ident in 1968. In November 1967, even before the Tetdisaster, a little-known liberal senator fromMinnesota, Eugene McCarthy, became the first doveto announce his candidacy against Johnson. In March1968, McCarthy stunned the nation by winning morethan 40 percent of the votes in the New Hampshireprimary and almost defeating the president.Realizing that Johnson was vulnerable, SenatorRobert Kennedy, who also opposed the war, quicklyentered the race for the Democratic nomination.

With the division in the country and within his own party growing, Johnson addressed the public on


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American Embassyattacked,

January 31, 1968

Mekong

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The Tet Offensive, 1968

Places attacked duringTet OffensiveHo Chi Minh Trail

A view of the U.S. embassy in Saigon after it was bombed during the Tet offensive.

1. Interpreting Maps Most of the Ho Chi Minh Trail lieswithin which countries?

2. Applying Geography Skills How broad was the Tetoffensive, and why did this shock Americans?

Dick Swanson/TimePix

television on March 31, 1968. He stunned viewers bystating, “I have concluded that I should not permit thepresidency to become involved in the partisan divisionsthat are developing in this political year. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”

A Season of Violence Following Johnson’sannouncement, the nation endured even more shock-ing events. In April James Earl Ray was arrested forkilling Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an event which ledto riots in several major cities. Just two months later,another assassination rocked the country—that ofRobert Kennedy. Kennedy, who appeared to be onhis way to winning the Democratic nomination, wasgunned down on June 5 in a California hotel justafter winning the state’s Democratic primary.

The violence seemed to culminate with a chaoticand well-publicized clash between protesters andpolice at the Democratic National Convention inChicago. Thousands of protesters descended on theAugust convention, demanding that the Democratsadopt an antiwar platform. On the third day of theconvention, the delegates chose Hubert Humphrey,President Johnson’s vice president, as their presiden-tial nominee.

Nixon Wins the Presidency The violence andchaos now associated with the Democratic Party ben-efited the 1968 Republican presidential candidate,Richard Nixon. Although defeated in the 1960 elec-tion, Nixon had remained active in national politics.A third candidate, Governor George Wallace ofAlabama, also decided to run in 1968 as an independ-ent. Wallace, an outspoken segregationist, sought to

attract those Americans who felt threatened by thecivil rights movement and urban social unrest.

Public opinion polls gave Nixon a wide lead overHumphrey and Wallace. Nixon’s campaign promiseto unify the nation and restore law and orderappealed to many Americans. Nixon also declaredthat he had a plan for ending the war in Vietnam.

At first Humphrey’s support of President Johnson’sVietnam policies hurt his campaign. After Humphreybroke with the president and called for a complete endto the bombing of North Vietnam, he began to moveup in the polls. A week before the election, PresidentJohnson announced that the bombing of NorthVietnam had halted and that a cease-fire would follow.

Johnson’s announcement had come too late. In theend, Nixon’s promises to end the war and restoreorder at home were enough to sway the Americanpeople. On Election Day, Nixon defeated Humphreyby more than 100 electoral votes, although he wonthe popular vote by a slim margin of just over 43 per-cent to Humphrey’s 42.7. Wallace helped account forthe razor-thin margin by winning 46 electoral votesand more than 13 percent of the popular vote.

Speaking to reporters after his election, Nixonrecalled seeing a young girl carrying a sign at one ofhis rallies that said: “Bring Us Together.” This, hepromised, would be his chief goal as president.

Explaining Why did PresidentJohnson decide not to run for reelection in 1968?

Reading Check


Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: contradict,

credibility gap, teach-in, proportion,dove, hawk, alternative.

2. People and Terms Identify: WilliamWestmoreland, Tet offensive.

3. Summarize three important events thatoccurred in 1968.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. Explaining Why did many people

believe that the Vietnam War reflectedracial and economic injustices in theUnited States?

Critical Thinking5. Synthesizing Why did support of the

Vietnam War begin to dwindle by thelate 1960s?

6. Organizing Use a graphic organizersimilar to the one below to list theeffects of the Tet offensive.


photograph on page 788. The phrase“flower power” was a slogan of the hip-pie movement. Explain what you thinkthe phrase meant and how it was usedto express opposition to the war.

Writing About History8. Expository Writing Imagine that you

are living in 1968. Write an editorial forthe local newspaper in which youexplain your reasons for either support-ing or opposing the Vietnam War.

CA 11WA2.4a

Effects ofTet Offensive


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Guide to Reading

ConnectionIn the previous section, you learned howthe war divided the United States. In thissection, you will learn about PresidentNixon’s decision to pull out of Vietnam.

• President Nixon reduced the number oftroops in Vietnam and relied on HenryKissinger to negotiate peace. (p. 793)

• Protests in the United States continuedafter the invasion of Cambodia and thekilling of South Vietnamese citizens. (p. 793)

• South Vietnam fell to North Vietnamshortly after the removal of UnitedStates troops. (p. 795)

• Vietnam veterans had a difficult timereturning to civilian life. (p. 796)

Content Vocabularylinkage

Academic Vocabularyultimate, generation, explicit

People and Terms to IdentifyHenry Kissinger, Vietnamization,Pentagon Papers, War Powers Act

Reading Objectives• Explain the events of Nixon’s first

administration that inspired more anti-war protests.

• Summarize the major lessons theUnited States learned from the VietnamWar experience.

Reading StrategyOrganizing As you read about the endof the Vietnam War, complete a graphicorganizer similar to the one below by list-ing the steps that President Nixon took toend American involvement in Vietnam.

Preview of Events

The War Winds Down

1969Secret peace negotiations betweenthe U.S. and North Vietnam begin

✦1971

1972Nixon initiatesChristmas bombing

1973Cease-fire signed

1975Evacuation of the lastAmericans from Vietnam

✦1969 ✦1973 ✦1975

Steps Nixon Took

. The Big Idea ,The fate of nations is forever changed by monumental world events.President Nixon reduced the number of troops in Vietnam and worked to endU.S. involvement in the war. He appointed Henry Kissinger to negotiate peacewith North Vietnam. The nation remained divided, however, as the war con-tinued. Nixon’s decision to invade Cambodia and the revelations of thePentagon Papers led to increased protests. After continued peace negotia-tions, the United States finally ended its involvement in Vietnam. The peaceagreement did not last long. Soon after the withdrawal of American troops,the North Vietnamese invaded the South and united Vietnam underCommunist rule.

The following are the mainHistory–Social ScienceStandards covered in this sec-tion.

11.9.3 Trace the origins and geo-political consequences (foreign and

domestic) of the Cold War and con-tainment policy, including the follow-

ing: the era of McCarthyism, instancesof domestic Communism (e.g., Alger

Hiss) and blacklisting; the TrumanDoctrine; the Berlin Blockade; the

Korean War; the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis; atomic test-

ing in the American West, the “mutualassured destruction” doctrine, and disar-

mament policies; the Vietnam War; LatinAmerican policy.

11.9.4 List the effects of foreign policy ondomestic policies and vice versa (e.g., protests

during the war in Vietnam, the “nuclear freeze”movement).

Nixon Moves to End the War

President Nixon reduced the number oftroops in Vietnam and relied on Henry Kissinger tonegotiate peace.

Reading Connection Have you ever tried to resolve adisagreement between friends? Read on to learn about theprocess of attempting to negotiate peace.

Shortly after taking office, President Nixon begantaking steps to end the nation’s involvement in thewar. It was not until 1975 that Frank Snepp becameone of the last Americans to leave Vietnam.

On the evening of April 29, 1975, Frank Snepp, ayoung CIA officer, scrambled up to the Americanembassy rooftop to catch one of the last helicoptersout of Saigon. Throughout that day, Snepp had wit-nessed the desperation of the South Vietnamese peo-ple as they besieged the embassy grounds in an effortto escape the approaching Communist army. Now hewas leaving. Later, he recalled the scene:

“The roof of the Embassy was a vision out of anightmare. In the center of the dimly lit helo-pad aCH-47 was already waiting for us, its engines settingup a roar like a primeval scream. The crew and con-trollers all wore what looked like oversized footballhelmets, and in the blinking under-light of the landingsignals they reminded me of grotesque insects rearingon their hindquarters. Out beyond the edge of thebuilding a Phantom jet streaked across the horizon astracers darted up here and there into the night sky.”

—quoted in Decent Interval

More than five years before Frank Snepp leftVietnam, President Nixon began working towardending the war. As a first step, he appointed Harvardprofessor Henry Kissinger as special assistant fornational security affairs and gave him wide authorityto use diplomacy to end the conflict. Kissingerembarked upon a policy he called linkage, whichmeant improving relations with the Soviet Union andChina—suppliers of aid to North Vietnam—so hecould persuade them to cut back on their aid.

Kissinger also rekindled peace talks with theNorth Vietnamese. In August 1969, Kissinger entered

into secret negotiations with North Vietnam’s nego-tiator, Le Duc Tho. In their talks, which dragged onfor four years, Kissinger and Le Duc Tho argued overa possible cease-fire, the return of American prison-ers of war, and the ultimate fate of South Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Nixon cut back the number ofAmerican troops in Vietnam. Known asVietnamization, this process involved the gradualwithdrawal of U.S. troops while South Vietnamassumed more of the fighting. On June 8, 1969, Nixonannounced the withdrawal of 25,000 soldiers. Nixonrefused to view this troop withdrawal as a form ofsurrender. He was determined to maintain a strongAmerican presence in Vietnam to ensure bargainingpower during peace negotiations. In support of thatgoal, the president increased airstrikes against NorthVietnam and began bombing Vietcong sanctuaries inneighboring Cambodia.

Identifying When did secret nego-tiations with the North Vietnamese begin?

Turmoil at Home Continues

Protests in the United States continued afterthe invasion of Cambodia and the killing of SouthVietnamese citizens.

Reading Connection What do you think are the mosteffective ways to bring about a change in government policy?Read on to find out about the demonstrations in the UnitedStates as the war continued.

Even though the United States had begun scalingback its involvement in Vietnam, the American homefront remained divided and volatile as Nixon’s warpolicies stirred up new waves of protest.

Reading Check


“The roof ofthe Embassywas a visionout of anightmare.”

—Frank Snepp

CORBIS/Bettmann

Massacre at My Lai In November 1969, Amer-icans learned of a horrifying event. That month, the media reported that in the spring of 1968, anAmerican platoon under the command of LieutenantWilliam Calley had massacred possibly more than200 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the ham-let of My Lai. Most of the victims were old men,women, and children. Calley eventually went toprison for his role in the killings.

Most American soldiers acted responsibly andhonorably throughout the war. The actions of onesoldier, however, increased the feeling among manycitizens that this was a brutal and senseless conflict.Jan Barry, a founder of the Vietnam Veterans Againstthe War, viewed the massacre at My Lai as a symbolof the dilemma his generation faced in the conflict:

“To kill on military orders and be a criminal, or torefuse to kill and be a criminal is the moral agony ofAmerica’s Vietnam war generation. It is what hasforced upward of sixty thousand young Americans,draft resisters and deserters to Canada, and createdone hundred thousand military deserters a year inthis country and abroad.”

—quoted in Who Spoke Up?

The Invasion of Cambodia Sparks ProtestAmericans heard more startling news when Nixonannounced in April 1970 that American troops had

invaded Cambodia. The troops wanted to destroyVietcong military bases there.

Many viewed the Cambodian invasion as awidening of the war, and it set off many protests. AtKent State University on May 4, 1970, Ohio NationalGuard soldiers, armed with tear gas and rifles, firedon demonstrators without an order to do so. The sol-diers killed four students and wounded at least nineothers. Ten days later, police killed two AfricanAmerican students during a demonstration atJackson State College in Mississippi.

The Pentagon Papers In addition to sparking vio-lence on campuses, the invasion of Cambodia costNixon significant congressional support. Numerouslegislators expressed outrage over the president’sfailure to notify them of the action. In December1970, an angry Congress repealed the Gulf of TonkinResolution, which had given the president near com-plete power in directing the war in Vietnam.

Support for the war weakened further in1971 when Daniel Ellsberg, a disillusioned formerDefense Department worker, leaked what becameknown as the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times.The documents revealed that many government offi-cials during the Johnson administration privatelyquestioned the war while publicly defending it.

The documents contained details of decisions thatwere made by the presidents and their advisers with-out the consent of Congress. They also showed howthe various administrations acted to deceive

Congress, the press, and the publicabout the situation in Vietnam. ThePentagon Papers confirmed whatmany Americans had longbelieved: The government had notbeen honest with them.

EvaluatingWhat did the Pentagon Papers confirm formany Americans?

Reading Check


National Trauma When members of the OhioNational Guard fired on Kent State University demon-strators, the event triggered a nationwide student strikethat forced hundreds of colleges and universities toclose. How does this image connect with the phrase“the war at home”?

History

John Filo


i n H i s t o r y

Roy P. Benavidez1935–1998

Roy P. Benavidez receivedthe Medal of Honor, thenation’s highest award forheroism, for his actions in theVietnam War. Growing up,Benavidez worked on thestreets selling empty soda bot-tles and cleaning a local stock-yard. His father’s family hadbeen vaqueros (cowboys fromMexico), immigrating in the1830s during the Texas War forIndependence. His mother, aYaqui Native American, was born in northern Mexico. Both parentsdied by the time Benavidez was seven, and he was raised by his uncle.

A tough life madeBenavidez a fighter. In May1968 while fighting inVietnam, Benavidez res-cued members of hisSpecial Forces group whowere surrounded by theenemy. Wounded three timeswhile getting to the men byhelicopter, he stayed with themsome eight hours, preparing anevacuation. Then while carryingthe men to the rescue helicopters,he was attacked from behind butmanaged to kill his attacker. Onlyafter loading all the dead andwounded did Benavidez himselfboard a helicopter.

The United States Pulls Out of Vietnam

South Vietnam fell to North Vietnam shortlyafter the removal of United States troops.

Reading Connection What effect can Congress have ona war? Read on to learn how in 1975 Congress refused to sup-port continued assistance to South Vietnam.

By 1971 polls showed that nearly two-thirds ofAmericans wanted to end the Vietnam War asquickly as possible. In April 1972, President Nixondropped his longtime insistence that NorthVietnamese troops had to withdraw from SouthVietnam before any peace treaty could be signed. InOctober, less than a month before the 1972 presiden-tial election, Henry Kissinger emerged from hissecret talks with Le Duc Tho to announce that “peaceis at hand.”

A month later, Americans went to the polls todecide on a president. Senator George McGovern, theDemocratic candidate, was an outspoken critic of thewar. He did not appeal to many middle-classAmericans, however, who were tired of antiwar pro-testers. When the votes were cast, Nixon won re-election in a landslide.

The Two Sides Reach Peace Just weeks after thepresidential election, the peace negotiations brokedown. South Vietnam’s president, Nguyen VanThieu, refused to agree to any plan that left NorthVietnamese troops in the South. Kissinger tried towin additional concessions from the Communists,but talks broke off in mid-December.

The next day, to force North Vietnam to resumenegotiations, the Nixon administration began themost destructive air raids of the entire war. In whatbecame known as the “Christmas bombings,”American B-52s dropped thousands of tons of bombson North Vietnamese targets for 12 straight days,pausing only on Christmas day.

In the wake of the bombing campaign, the UnitedStates and North Vietnam returned to the bargainingtable. Thieu finally gave in to American pressure andallowed North Vietnamese troops to remain in theSouth. On January 27, 1973, the warring sides signedan agreement “ending the war and restoring thepeace in Vietnam.”

The United States promised to withdraw the restof its troops, and both sides agreed to an exchange ofprisoners of war. The parties did not resolve the issueof South Vietnam’s future, however. After almosteight years of war—the longest war in American his-tory—the nation ended its direct involvement inVietnam.

(l)Congressional Medal of Honor Society, (r)Picture Research Consultants

South Vietnam Falls The United States had barelypulled out its last troops from Vietnam when the peaceagreement collapsed. In March 1975, the NorthVietnamese army launched a full-scale invasion of theSouth. Thieu desperately appealed to Washington,D.C., for help.

President Nixon had assured Thieu during thepeace negotiations that the United States “[would]respond with full force should the settlement be vio-lated by North Vietnam.” Nixon, however, hadresigned under pressure following the Watergate scan-dal. The new president, Gerald Ford, asked for fundsto aid the South Vietnamese, but Congress refused.

On April 30, the North Vietnamese capturedSaigon, South Vietnam’s capital, and united Vietnamunder Communist rule. They then renamed SaigonHo Chi Minh City.

Explaining Why did the peace talksbreak down in December 1972?

Reading Check


Desperate Pleas When President Ford ordered all Americans to leaveVietnam immediately in April 1975, many Saigon residents stormed theU.S. embassy pleading for rescue. When did the North Vietnamese takecontrol of Saigon?

History

The Legacy of Vietnam

Vietnam veterans had a difficult time return-ing to civilian life.

Reading Connection Have you ever visited a warmemorial? Read on to discover how a war memorial helpedheal some of the divisions that the Vietnam War created.

“The lessons of the past in Vietnam,” PresidentFord declared in 1975, “have already been learned—learned by Presidents, learned by Congress, learnedby the American people—and we should have ourfocus on the future.” Although Americans tried toput the war behind them, Vietnam left a deep andlasting impact on American society.

The War’s Human Toll The United States paid aheavy price for its involvement in Vietnam, in bothlives lost and monetary expenses. The war had costthe nation over $170 billion in direct costs and muchmore in indirect economic expenses. More signifi-cantly, it had resulted in the deaths of approximately58,000 young Americans and the injury of more than300,000. In Vietnam, around one million North andSouth Vietnamese soldiers died in the conflict, as didcountless civilians.

Even after they returned home from fighting,some American veterans, as in other wars, found ithard to escape the war’s impact. Many soldiers faceda variety of psychological problems. Army SpecialistDoug Johnson recalled the concerns he faced onreturning home:

“It took a while for me to recognize that I did suf-fer some psychological problems in trying to dealwith my experience in Vietnam. The first recollection I have of the effect took place shortly after I arrivedback in the States. One evening . . . I went to see amovie on post. I don’t recall the name of the movie orwhat it was about, but I remember there was a sadpart, and that I started crying uncontrollably. It hadn’tdawned on me before this episode that I had . . . succeeded in burying my emotions.”

—quoted in Touched by the Dragon

Nik Wheeler/Black Star

One reason it may have been harder for someVietnam veterans to readjust to civilian life was thatmany considered the war a defeat. Many Americanswanted to forget the war. Thus, the sacrifices of manyveterans often went unrecognized. There were rela-tively few welcome-home parades and celebrationsafter the war. To some soldiers, this diminished theirsacrifices.

The war also lingered for the American familieswhose relatives and friends were classified as pris-oners of war (POWs) or missing in action (MIA).Despite many official investigations, these familieswere not convinced that the government had toldthe truth about POW/MIA policies during the lastyears of the war. Many were left not knowing if theirloved ones were dead or alive or if they would everreturn home.

The nation finally began to come to terms with thewar almost a decade later. In 1982 the nation dedi-cated the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington,D.C., a large black stone wall inscribed with thenames of those killed and missing in action in thewar. “It’s a first step to remind America of what wedid,” veteran Larry Cox of Virginia said at the dedi-cation of the monument.

The War’s Impact on the Nation The longVietnam War also left its mark on the nation as awhole. In 1973 Congress passed the War Powers Actas a way to reestablish some limits on executivepower. The act required the president to informCongress of any commitment of troops abroadwithin 48 hours and to withdraw them in 60 to 90days unless Congress explicitly approved the troopcommitment.

The legislation addressesthe struggle between theexecutive and legislativebranches over what checksand balances are proper inmatters of war and foreignpolicy. No president has rec-ognized this limitation, andthe courts have tended toavoid the issue as a strictlypolitical question. In gen-eral, the war shook thenation’s confidence and ledsome to embrace a newkind of isolationism. In theyears after the war, many Americans became more reluctant to intervene in the affairs of othernations and to commit United States troops in conflicts overseas.

On the domestic front, the Vietnam War increasedAmericans’ cynicism about their government. Manyfelt the nation’s leaders had misled them. Americanswere still not convinced they had been told the wholetruth. Together with Watergate, a scandal that brokeas the war was winding down, Vietnam madeAmericans more wary of their leaders.

Describing How did the VietnamWar affect Americans’ attitudes toward international conflictsand the use of United States troops overseas?

Reading Check


Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: linkage, ultimate,

generation, explicit.2. People and Terms Identify: Henry

Kissinger, Vietnamization, PentagonPapers, War Powers Act.

3. Describe what happened in Vietnam in1975 after the United States withdrew.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. Explaining Why did Congress pass the

War Powers Act? How did this actreflect a struggle between the legislativeand executive branches?

Critical Thinking5. Analyzing Why

did the invasion of Cambodia costPresident Nixon congressional support?

6. Organizing Use a graphic organizersimilar to the one below to list the effectsof the Vietnam War on the nation.


photograph on page 796 of SouthVietnamese citizens attempting to enterthe U.S. embassy. How do you thinkthis image affected American attitudestoward the war? Why do you think so?

CA HI1

Writing About History8. Descriptive Writing Imagine that you

are a college student in 1970. Write ajournal entry expressing your feelingsabout the events at Kent StateUniversity and Jackson State College.

CA 11WA2.1a; 11WA2.1b

Student WebActivity Visit theAmerican Vision:Modern Times Web siteatand click on StudentWeb Activities—Chapter 17 for anactivity on the Vietnam War.

HISTORY

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Effects of Vietnam War


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SOURCE 1:Senator J. William Fulbright, a Democrat from Arkansas,chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. One ofthe earliest and most vocal congressional opponents of theVietnam War, he spoke before the Senate on May 5, 1966.

The attitude above all others which I feel sure is nolonger valid is the arrogance of power, the tendency ofgreat nations to equate power with virtue and majorresponsibilities with a universal mission. The dilemmasinvolved are preeminently American dilemmas, notbecause America has weaknesses that others do nothave but because America is powerful as no nation hasever been before and the discrepancy between its powerand the power of others appears to be increasing. . . .

We are now engaged in a war to “defend freedom”in South Vietnam. . . . The official war aims of theUnited States Government, as I understand them, are to defeat what is regarded as North Vietnameseaggression, to demonstrate the futility1 of what thecommunists call “wars of national liberation,” and tocreate conditions under which the South Vietnamesepeople will be able freely to determine their ownfuture. . . . What I do doubt—and doubt very much—isthe ability of the United States to achieve these aimsby the means being used. I do not question the powerof our weapons and the efficiency of our logistics2. . . .What I do question is the ability of the United States,or France or any other Western nation, to go into asmall, alien, undeveloped Asian nation and create sta-bility where there is chaos, the will to fight wherethere is defeatism, democracy where there is no tradi-tion of it and honest government where corruption isalmost a way of life. . . .

SOURCE 2:Edwin Willis, a Democrat who had representedLouisiana since 1949, chaired the House Un-AmericanActivities Committee. In the spring of 1968, he reportedto the full House about what he believed to be Communistinfiltration of the student and antiwar movements.

At the culmination of Vietnam Week last year, theAmerican citizen was left stunned. Indelibly stampedon his mind were the front page photos of his coun-try’s beloved flag being burned in New York City.Other photographs of the demonstrations showed anunruly mob waving flags of the Vietcong and raisinglarge portraits of Ho Chi Minh. . . .

The United States steadily increased its involvement in Vietnam following World War II. Duringthe 1960s, as the United States began sending ground troops to Vietnam and protests started athome, Vietnam became a subject of sharp debate.


Senator William Fulbright (right) talks with DefenseSecretary Robert McNamara (left)

➤

➤1futility: uselessness2logistics: detailed handling of military operations

Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

. . . On April 15, 1967, demonstrations were clearlystaged in defiance of the determination of our people tohelp resist Communist aggression in Southeast Asia. . . .

What began as a “Massive protest demonstrationagainst U.S. Government policy” in Vietnam, was skill-fully maneuvered into a carnival of unmistakable sup-port for a Communist victory in Vietnam. . . .

The student strike and mass actions day April 27,1968—will be the Communist run vehicle of irrespon-sible dissent and internal disruption within the UnitedStates. This dissent and disruption is designed to benefit the North Vietnamese enemy and the worldCommunist movement in general by underminingpublic support of the present U.S. policy of resistingCommunist aggression in South Vietnam. . . .

If the Communists are successful in inducing a sig-nificant number of college and high school students to strike . . . the international Communist propagandanetwork will use this incident to attempt to: First, createwidespread demand for reversal of present U.S. foreignpolicy; second, propagandistically give aid and comfortto Communists everywhere in the world Communistmovement, but particularly in Vietnam; and third, fur-ther dampen the resolve of America’s allies whopresently support U.S. policy in Vietnam, and make the war effort appear solely “America’s problem.”

SOURCE 3:Robert S. McNamara served as secretary of defenseunder President Lyndon B. Johnson. In his 1995 mem-oir, McNamara concluded that he and the Johnsonadministration made a mistake in July 1965 when they escalated U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.


Robert McNamara in Hanoi in 1995➤

Source 1: Why does Fulbright believe that theUnited States will fail in Vietnam?

Source 2: Why does Willis believe that protests aidthe enemy?

Source 3: According to McNamara, why did theUnited States increase its troop strength inVietnam?

Comparing and Contrasting SourcesHow do Fulbright, Willis, and McNamara differ onthe reasons for American involvement in Vietnam?

➤3prerequisite: something required to meet an end

We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrationswho participated in the decision on Vietnam actedaccording to what we thought were the principles andtraditions of this nation. We made our decisions inlight of those values. . . .

On July 21 [1965], I returned to Washington andpresented the report I had prepared along the way to the president. It began with a frank but disturbingassessment:

The situation in South Vietnam is worse than a year ago. . . . There are no signs that we havethrottled the inflow of supplies for the VC[Vietcong]. . . . Nor have our air attacks in NorthVietnam produced tangible evidence of the will-ingness on the part of Hanoi to come to theconference table in a reasonable mood. . . .

I then reviewed the three alternatives we had exam-ined so many times before: (1) withdraw under thebest conditions obtainable—almost certainly meaningsomething close to unconditional surrender; (2) con-tinue at the present level—almost certainly forcing usinto Option 1 later; or (3) expand our forces. . . .

I was driven to Option 3, which I considered “pre-requisite3 to the achievement of any acceptable set-tlement.” I ended by expressing my judgment that “the course of action recommended . . . stands a goodchance of achieving an acceptable outcome within a reasonable time.” Subsequent events proved myjudgment wrong.

CA HR3; HI3

BLEIBTREU JASON/CORBIS SYGMA

Reviewing Academic VocabularyOn a sheet of paper, use each of these terms in a sentence thatreflects the term’s meaning in the chapter.

Reviewing the Main IdeasSection 123. How did President Eisenhower defend American policy

in Vietnam?

Section 224. What actions made Ngo Dinh Diem an unpopular leader

in South Vietnam?

Section 325. What was the effect of the Tet offensive on Americans?

Section 426. What did the Pentagon Papers reveal?

Critical Thinking27. Questioning the Author Reread the

text under the heading “The Invasion of Cambodia SparksProtest” on page 794. In your opinion, what is the author’spurpose for this passage? What personal connection can youmake with this passage?

28. Civics How did Americans show their frustration with thedirection the country was taking in 1968?

29. Organizing Use a graphic organizer to list the reasons theUnited States became involved in Vietnam and the effects thewar had on the nation.

Writing About History30. Comparing Present and Past

Explain in a letter to your congressional representative whythe War Powers Act was passed and its consequences for theU.S. government today. Provide evidence for your claims.

CA CS1

1. domino theory2. guerrilla3. Vietcong4. napalm5. credibility gap

6. teach-in7. dove8. hawk9. linkage

10. Vietnamization

11. region12. occupy13. principal14. administration

15. coincidental16. sustain17. contradict18. proportion

19. alternative20. ultimate21. generation22. explicit

Reviewing Key TermsOn a sheet of paper, use each of these terms in a sentence.

• American people questioned the government’s honestyabout the war, creating the so-called “credibility gap”

• Wartime economy hurt domestic spending efforts• President Nixon was elected largely on promises to end

the war and unite the divided country

Roots of the Conflict

American Involvement in Vietnam

• Eisenhower financially supported French war against Vietnam

• Geneva Accords established North and South Vietnam• U.S.-backed leader of South Vietnam refused national

elections, fearing defeat by Communist opponent• Kennedy sharply increased military aid and presence in

South Vietnam• Johnson escalated U.S. involvement and gained

war powers after the incident in the Gulf of Tonkin

Full-Scale War• President Johnson responded to a Vietcong attack with

aggressive airstrikes; American people applauded his actions

• U.S. committed over 380,000 ground troops to fighting inVietnam by the end of 1966

Opposition to the War

The End of the War• Nixon withdrew troops but increased airstrikes • American troops pulled out after a 1973 peace agreement• Congress passed the War Powers Act to limit the power

of the president during times of war


U. S. Involvementin Vietnam

Effects

Causes

Standards 11.8.5, 11.9.2, 11.9.3, 11.9.4, 11.10.4


Directions: Choose the phrase that best completes the following statement.

The purpose of the War Powers Act was to ensure thatthe president would

A have greater authority over the military.

B consult Congress before committing troops to extendedconflicts.

C have the authority to sign treaties without Senateapproval.

D have a freer hand in fighting the spread of communism.

34.

31. Write an editorial to your local newspaper sup-porting or opposing the Twenty-sixth Amendment to theConstitution. Explain the amendment and discuss its impor-tance to the antiwar movement.

32. Interpreting Primary Sources In the 1960s many youngAmericans enlisted or were drafted for military service. Somebelieved they had a duty to serve their country. Many had noclear idea of what they were doing or why. In the followingexcerpt, a young man interviewed for Mark Baker’s bookNam presents his thoughts about going to war.

“I read a lot of pacifist literature to determinewhether or not I was a conscientious objector. I finallyconcluded that I wasn’t. . . . The one clear decision Imade in 1968 about me and the war was that if I wasgoing to get out of it, I was going to get out in a legalway. I was not going to defraud the system in order tobeat the system. I wasn’t going to leave the country,because the odds of coming back looked real slim. . . .

With all my terror of going into the Army . . . therewas something seductive about it, too. I was seduced byWorld War II and John Wayne movies. . . . I had been, aswe all were, victimized by a romantic, truly uninformedview of war.”

—quoted in Nam

a. What options did the young man have regarding going to war?

b. Do you think World War II movies gave him a realisticview of what fighting in Vietnam would be like?

Geography and History33. The map on this page shows supply routes and troop move-

ments during the Vietnam War. Study the map and answerthe questions below.

a. Interpreting Maps What nations besides North andSouth Vietnam were the sites of battles or invasions?

b. Analyzing Why did the Ho Chi Minh Trail pass throughLaos and Cambodia instead of South Vietnam?

CA 11WA2.4a

Self-Check QuizVisit the American Vision: Modern Times Web site at

and click on Self-Check Quizzes—Chapter 17 to assess your knowledge of chapter content.tav.mt.glencoe.com

HISTORY

N

S

EW

150 kilometers0Miller Cylindrical projection

150 miles0

MekongDelta

My Lai MassacreMarch 16, 1968

Invasion of LaosFeb. 8–March, 1971

Invasion of CambodiaMay 1–June 29, 1970

Ho

ChiM

inh

Trail

110°E

20°N

10°N

17th Parallel

Gulf ofThailand

SouthChina

Sea

Gulf ofTonkin

LAOS

CHINA

THAILAND

CAMBODIA SOUTHVIETNAM

NORTHVIETNAM

Khe Sanh

Qui NhonPleiku

Ban Me Thuot

Nha TrangPhoc Binh

Long Binh

Can Tho

Khanh Hung

Quan Long

Tam KyChu Lai

Quang Tri

Da Nang

Demilitarized Zone

Hanoi

Dien Bien Phu

Haiphong

Da NangHue

Saigon

Phnom Penh

The Vietnam War

Major U.S. andSouth Vietnamesetroop movements

Major NorthVietnamesesupply lines

U.S. bases

Standard 11.8.5: Describe the increased powers of the pres-idency in response to the Great Depression, World War II,and the Cold War.

Standards Practice


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