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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