Vietnam, 1945-1968
Vietnam, 1945-1968
Key Themes & Issues
1. Origins of the war
2. Lyndon Johnson’s war
3. The anti-war movement
Origins of US involvement, 1
Vietnam = former French Colony
1940-45, Japanese Occupation
US assists Ho Chi Minh vs Japs
HCM = communist/nationalist
1945: HCM declares independent Vietnam
1945-54: US rejects HCM & supports French claims to Vietnam
Origins of US involvement, 2
1954, Dien Bien Phu
Defeat = end of French involvement in Indochina
“Temporary” Division of Vietnam
N. Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh’s Communists
Supported by USSR
Dedicated to reunification
Vietcong guerillas in South
S. Vietnam: Ngo Dinh Diem, President 1954-63
wants permanent division
supported by US money & men
Eisenhower sends first “advisors”
JFK, escalation & the fall of Diem
Diem pro-US & anti-communist
But corrupt, despotic, & despised by S. Vietnamese, esp. by Buddhist majority.
Increased Vietcong activity with substantial popular SV support
JFK commits resources & troops
to help Diem
Fall 1963, CIA & S. Vietnamese generals organize coup; kill Diem – replaced by Nguyan Van Thieu
Vietnam: An Inevitable War?
CONTAINMENT doctrine
US committed to meet perceived threat from communism to “free world” wherever it appears:
Korea; Cuba (Bay of Pigs, April 1961; Missile Crisis, Oct. 1962)
DOMINO theory
Fall of Vietnam would lead to collapse of neighboring states to communism
“The Arrogance of Power”
Military & economic power, plus democratic/capitalist ideology bolsters interventionist mentality
Randy Newman, Political Science, 1
Noone likes us, I don’t know why. We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try.
But all around even our old friends put us down. Let’s drop the Big One & see what happens.
We give them money, but are they grateful? No, they’re spiteful & they’re hateful.
They don’t respect us, so let’s surprise them – we’ll drop the Big One and pulverize them.
Asia’s crowded & Europe’s too old. Africa’s far too hot & Canada’s too cold.
And South America stole our name; let’s drop the Big One – there’ll be noone left to blame us.
Randy Newman, Political Science, 2
We’ll save Australia – don’t want to hurt no kangaroo.
We’ll build an all-American amusement park there; they’ve got surfing too.
Boom goes London; boom Paris: more room for you & more room for me.
And every city the whole world round, will just be another American town.
Oh, how peaceful it will be, we’ll set everybody free.
You’ll wear a Japanese kimono, baby, be Italian shoes for me.
They all hate us anyhow, so let’s drop the Big One now.
LBJ, 1
Gulf of Tonkin Incident, August 4, 1964
Pretext to bomb N. Vietnam
Tonkin Gulf Resolution, Aug 7
Congress gives LBJ a “blank check” to wage war
1964-8: LBJ orders massive rise in troops & aid
Feb. 1965: Rolling Thunder Bombing campaign starts
incl. secret bombing of non-military targets in N. Vietnam
LBJ, 2
1965-8: “Credibility Gap” widens
War not being waged or ‘won’ as officially claimed – LBJ responds with more troops/bombing; public suspicion rises
Rationale for war questioned
War takes money & energy from LBJ’s domestic Great Society programs & the War on Poverty.
Tactical Problems & Mistakes…
War of Attrition vs NV:
Gen. William Westmorland
Carpet Bombing of NV
Gen. Curtis LeMay
Search & destroy vs guerillas in SV
alienates SV people
4m refugees in SV
napalm; agent orange
LBJ loses war for hearts & minds of SV & US public
Opposition to War, 1
Tet Offensive, January 1968
exposed lie of imminent victory
Media Opposition:
Morley Safer, CBS, Aug. ‘65
Walter Cronkite, CBS et al, ‘68
Political Opposition:
J. William Fulbright, (AK),
The Arrogance of Power, 1966
George McGovern; Eugene McCarthy; Frank Church
Robert McNamara (Sec of Defense); Dean Acheson (Sec of State)
Opposition to War, 2
Campus/Youth Opposition:
ROTC buildings attacked; anti-defense contracts; draft cards burnt…
Religious Opposition:
Daniel & Philip Berrigan (Jesuits: napalmed draft board records in Catonsville, MD)
Mass Rallies:
Central Park, NY, April 1967
Opposition to War, 3
Black Opposition:
Julian Bond, 1965
Martin Luther King & Muhammad Ali, 1967
Military Opposition:
“fragging”
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Also: generals who oppose conduct of the war -- want MORE firepower…
US Allies
UK, W. Germany, UN, etc urge negotiations
Conclusions
1. US involvement in Vietnam was in great measure a consequence of the Cold War policy of Containment .
2. US misunderstood the nature & depth of Ho Chi Minh’s & the NV’s commitment to unification & independence.
3. US goals were unclear & tactics were unsuited to the kind of guerilla war fought by the Vietcong.
4. LBJ became personally & politically consumed by the need to win an ‘unwinnable’ war.
5. As the ‘credibility gap’ between official reports of the war and its rationale was revealed, a diverse antiwar movement gathered momentum.
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