Cold War: Kennedy to Vietnam War

1. The Vietnam War

2. Khrushchev
Became the new Soviet leader following the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953.

3. Dwight Eisenhower
President of the United States in 1952-1960.
Military hero of WWII who was concerned about the spread of communism
and Soviet aggression.

4. Eisenhower Doctrine
Stated that the United States would not hesitate to aid any country in the
Middle East that asked for help resisting communist aggression.

5. Domino Theory
Theory held that if one nation fell to communism, then its neighboring
nations would soon fall as well.

6. Vietnam
A Small Southeast Asian country where fighting erupted following WWII when
Vietnamese nationalists wanted independence from France.
North and South Vietnam were split at the 17th parallel.
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
An area that both militaries are
required to stay out of in order to
create a buffer between nations. In
Vietnam, a five mile wide DMZ was
established between the North and
South along the 17th parallel.

7. Dien Bien Phu
In 1946, war broke out between communist insurgents in North Vietnam,
called the Viet Minh, and the French Colonial government. In the spring of
1954, the Viet Minh surrounded and destroyed the primary French fortress
in North Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu. The defeat was so disastrous for the
French that they decided to withdraw from Vietnam.

8. Geneva Accords (1954)
After the fall of the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu, an international
conference was called in Geneva in 1954 to discuss the status of the war in
Vietnam. The delegates of the conference decided that Vietnam should be
divided into North and South at the seventeenth parallel until national elections
took place in 1954. The elections were never held. The conference also created an
area known as the demilitarized zone.

9. Ho Chi Minh
North Vietnamese leader who had lead the resistance against the Japanese
during WW II and at the end of the war had led the uprising against the
French Colonial government. He had traveled in Europe, was an ardent
Communist, and became President of the North Vietnamese [communist]
government established after the French withdrawal. Often called the
George Washington of North Vietnam.

10. Military Advisors
U.S. soldiers sent to train South Vietnam soldiers against communist rebels
between 1958 to 1964.

11. U-2 Incident
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailp
age&v=9Y8zB7arc_M
A U.S. U-2 spy plane shot down over the Soviet Union in May of 1960.
He experienced 61 consecutive days of
interrogation by the KGB and was tried
and convicted for espionage and was set
to spend up to ten years in prison,
including seven years of hard labor.
U-2 Pilot
Gary Powers
The U-2 pilot was hit by an
anti-aircraft missile about
1,300 miles inside the Soviet
border after launching from a
clandestine U.S. military base
in Pakistan, near to Peshawar.
The United States at first
denied the plane was used for
military reconnaissance.
They said it was a NASA test
plane.
This photo, officially released
in Moscow in 1960, shows the
Russian people viewing the
wreckage of a US U-2
reconnaissance plane shot
down over Soviet territory .
Eventually, Powers was
freed from prison after a
dramatic trade off for
Soviet spy Rudolf Abel on
Berlin's Glienicke Bridge.

12. Election of 1960
John F. Kennedy (Massachusetts Senator) vs. Richard Nixon (Incumbent Vice
president)
First televised Presidential debates.
John Kennedy won by a narrow margin because Kennedy was Catholic.
The Nixon-Kennedy Presidential Debates (1960): Were the first ever televised. Many consider that these debates
helped undecided voters to favor Kennedy because of his charisma and good looks. At the same time, Nixon
looked tired and ill-prepared.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xgj4TNkZeE

13. Fidel Castro
Communist leader of Cuba who came to power following the 1959 Cuban
revolution. Castro allied himself with the Soviet Union alarming the United
States.

14. Bay of Pigs
A small army of anti-Castro Cuban exiles were trained and financed by the
U.S. in the hope their invasion would lead to a popular uprising to overthrow
the Communist government.
The invasion on April 17, 1961 received no popular support and was quickly
wiped out by Castro's forces and it turned out to be a terrible failure and a
huge embarrassment for the Kennedy administration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=8qXZp8bxpNY&feature=player_
detailpage

15. Berlin Wall
A wall built by the communist that separated communist East Berlin from
democratic West Berlin to keep people from fleeing to West Berlin.

16. Cuban Missile Crisis [October 1962]
Castro allowed the Soviets to secretly put nuclear missiles in Cuba in October
1962.
Kennedy responded by authorizing a naval blockade of the island.
Soviets withdraw the missiles in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba.
Cuba was caught in the middle between the US and Soviet Union. After the US put nukes in Turkey, the Soviet
Union put nukes in Cuba. This is the closest the US and Soviet Union ever came to nuclear war. Soviet Union
agrees, after intense pressure to remove the missiles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp6FQvVLUos

17. Cuban Missile Crisis: The Evidence [October 1962]

18. Range of the Cuban Missiles
Cuba is 90 Miles from the Florida Coast

19. Do Now: What’s the Message?
HW: Write a paragraph discussing whether or not You would
have handled the situation differently than President
Kennedy?

20. Robert McNamara
U.S. Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War.

21. Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey
Oswald. Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby two days after Kennedy's
assassination. The Warren Commission, a Federal investigation on Kennedy’s
assassination stated that Oswald was Kennedy's lone assassin.
President Kennedy’s Motorcade in Dallas, Texas on
Nov. 22, 1963 moments before shots rang out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXRGKyVuRkA

22. Assassination of President Kennedy Map
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcmcD8QvQvo&feature=player_detailpage

23. Assassination of President Kennedy
And the nation mourned as JFK Jr.
saluted his father’s coffin.
Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald two days after
Kennedy’s assassination. There are many who are
convinced that Lee Harvey Oswald did not pull the
trigger, but there was a conspiracy.

24. Lyndon B. Johnson
President of the United States after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Because of the grief and loss of President Kennedy, the House and Senate passed many of
Kennedy's proposals under Johnson.

25. Barry Goldwater
Ran for President in 1964 against Lyndon B. Johnson.
Goldwater alienated people and was believed to be too conservative. He was
perceived as an extremist who advocated the use of nuclear weapons if
needed to win the war in Vietnam. LBJ won by the largest margin ever.
Johnson won the election of 1964.
Johnson vowed that he would not
lose Vietnam to the Communists.

27. Great Society
President Johnson’s plan to wage war against poverty.
He implemented several programs such as free school
Lunches and section 8 housing.
It was put on hold during the Vietnam War.

28. Saigon
South Vietnamese capital during the Vietnam War.

29. Ngo Kinh Diem
Established a United States-supported government in South Vietnam.
Diem was overthrown and killed by members of his own military in 1963.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detail
page&v=vw_7vZ00IrI
Thích Quảng Đức who was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by
the South Vietnamese government led by Ngo Dinah Nhu burned
himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on June 11, 1963.
International pressure on Diệm led him to announce reforms with the
intention of mollifying the Buddhists, but the promised reforms were
not implemented. Instead, ARVN Special Forces loyal to Diệm's
launched nationwide raids on Buddhist pagodas. Several Buddhist
monks followed Quang Duc's example by also immolating themselves.
Eventually, an Army coup toppled Diệm, who was assassinated on 2
November 1963.

30. Gulf of Tonkin
After North Vietnamese gun boats assaulted American ships that were
organizing air strikes and military moves, Johnson and his advisers drafted
the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that committed the United States in Vietnam. It
was passed by Congress and gave Johnson a "blank check," granting him full
authority against North Vietnamese forces. This led to the increased U.S.
involvement in Vietnam.

31. Viet Cong
Communist-trained South Vietnamese rebels who aided the North Vietnamese
against the South. During the Vietnam War, United States soldiers frequently
had trouble distinguishing between the friendly South Vietnamese and the Viet
Cong.

32. U.S. Strategies for Winning the Vietnam War
Fought a hi-tech war, using B52 bombers, artillery, helicopters, napalm and
defoliants (Agent Orange). This killed many innocent civilians, and failed
to stop the Vietcong guerrillas.
They forced the peasants to leave Vietcong-controlled areas and made them live
in defended strategic hamlets in loyal areas. This created immense opposition,
and allowed Vietcong infiltrators into loyal areas.
American troops were sent on search & destroy patrols supported by air
and artillery when attacked. This demoralized the soldiers, who realized they
were being used just as bait.
Story of David and Goliath

33. U.S. Strategies for Winning the Vietnam War
Air superiority
Body counts
Search and destroy missions
FirebasesHelicopters

34. NVA and Viet Cong Strategies /Tactics
They fought a guerrilla war, ambushing US patrols, setting booby traps and
landmines, and planting bombs in towns. They mingled in with the peasants,
wearing ordinary clothes. The Americans couldn't identify who the enemy was.
Their tactic was "hanging onto the belts" of the Americans, staying so close to the
Americans so they could not use air or artillery backup without killing their own
men.

35. NVA and Viet Cong Traps

36. NVA and Viet Cong Traps

37. NVA and Viet Cong Traps

38. NVA and Viet Cong Traps

39. NVA and Viet Cong Traps

40. NVA and Viet Cong Traps

41. NVA and Viet Cong Traps
Bouncing Betty
There were other types of booby traps,
and an array of explosive mine
devices. Mines were the most harmful,
were made from almost anything that
was available, and had various setups
and triggering methods. In Vietnam,
mines and booby traps caused about
11% of the deaths and 17% of wounds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo7XBaG_-SE

42. Ho Chi Minh Trail
Viet Cong were supplied with rockets and weapons by China and Russia. They
used the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a jungle route through Laos and Cambodia, to
supply their armies. The Americans couldn't attack their supply routes without
escalating the war.

43. Operation Rolling Thunder
In February 1965, President Johnson ordered Operation Rolling Thunder, a
massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
The bombings destroyed bridges, supply lines, and villages.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0rImC7_kq0

44. Tet Offensive (January 1968)
In January 1968, the NVA captured a number of towns in South Vietnam.
The North Vietnamese lost 58,000 men, including many officers. Their morale
was damaged, the offensive proved that they could not defeat the Americans by
direct attack.
It took the Americans a month to recover the towns and U.S. confidence was
badly shaken. The U.S. won the Tet Offensive, but realized that it would never
defeat the Vietcong and led many people in the U.S. to question how the
government was handling the war and whether US troops should be there at
all.
The recapture of Hue: witnessed intense street
fighting. As one soldier commented, “ In order to
save Hue, we had to destroy Hue.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvYp6bCP6TY

45. My Lai Massacre
A notorious incident in which United States troops massacred at least 100 and
perhaps as many as 200 civilians in the hamlet of My Lai.
When the American public began to hear about the My Lai massacre, anti-war
sentiment swelled, as many were horrified to hear about the United States' role in
so many civilian deaths.
Lt. Calley was sentenced to life
imprisonment by a military court. He only
served a few months before President Nixon
pardoned him.

46. Two groups formed in the U.S. affected by the Vietnam
War.
.Hawks (Pro-War) Wanted the government to allow the
military to do whatever was necessary to win.
Doves (Anti-war)
• Pacifists- This group did not believe in war.
• Radicals- Upper middle-class (college students)
• Anti-war liberals- questioned the Vietnam War
on moral and practical grounds
Impact of anti-war protest
Encouraged the North Vietnamese government to continue its activities in
South Vietnam.
Hawks (Pro-War)
Doves (Anti-war)

47. Draft
Compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the military. The
United States discontinued the draft in 1973, moving to an all-volunteer
military force.
Many draft-age males burned
their draft cards as a means of
protesting the Vietnam War.
Others fled to Canada or Went
into hiding elsewhere.
Draft-card burning was a symbol of
protest performed by thousands of
young American men as part of the
opposition to the involvement of the
United States in the Vietnam War.
Some activists burned their draft
cards at anti-war rallies and
demonstrations.
In August 1965, the United States
Congress enacted a law which
punished anyone who "knowingly
destroys, knowingly mutilates" his
draft card.
Subsequently, 46 men were indicted
for burning their draft cards. The act
of draft card burning was defended as
a symbolic form of free speech, a
constitutional right guaranteed by the
First Amendment. The Supreme Court
decided against the draft card
burners; it determined that the federal
law was justified and that it was
unrelated to the freedom of speech.
This outcome was criticized by legal
experts.

48. Students for a Democratic Society
Launched large protests against the war and supported a number of social
causes, such as civil rights.

49. Flower Children
Hippies who were unified by their rejection of traditional values and
assumptions of Western society.
ROCK-N-ROLL

50. Opposition of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam
The Anti-War Movement
Featured students and other activists calling for the US to withdraw its troops
from Vietnam.
Protesters filled college campuses and marchers constantly picketed the
White House, accusing the president of heartlessly sending young US men to
die in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knsEeegLdH8
Opposition of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam
•Anti-War Demonstrations
•Draft Card Burnings
•A.W.O.L. (Military personnel would hide to avoid going
to Vietnam.)

51. Celebrity Jane Fonda: Anti-War Patriot or Traitor?
Jane Fonda angered
many Americans
when she went to
North Vietnam to
protest the United
States involvement
in Vietnam. Her
actions still haunt
her today.
According to rumors, when a group of POWs were
brought out to visit with Fonda ...she walked the line,
shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging
snippets like: "Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?"
& "Are you grateful for the humane treatment from
your benevolent captors?" Many of the POW's were
listed as missing in action so to identify themselves to
American authorities, they each wrote their Social
Security numbers on small pieces of paper and slipped
them to Fonda as she greeted them. To their horror,
however, after Fonda finished meeting them, she turned
to the North Vietnamese commanding officer and
handed him the POW's pieces of paper. In the beatings
that followed, three American POW's died.
While we were fighting the Vietnam War, Jane Fonda
went to North Vietnam to pose for propaganda pictures
with people who were killing Americans. Most
notoriously, she was photographed at a Vietnamese anti-
aircraft gun. She also did Tokyo Rose style broadcasts,
attacking her own nation.

52. Why Did the War Arouse So Much Opposition in
America?
It was hard for Americans to believe that they were defending America by
fighting in a war 8,000 miles away.
Extensive media coverage brought all the failures and horrors of the war
into US homes.
Atrocities such as the massacre at My Lai undermined the moral authority
of the US to continue the war.
The cost of the war meant that the US president Lyndon B. Johnson had to
cancel his Great Society program of reform.
The war was opposed particularly by Martin Luther King and by America's
black community (because wealthier white men could avoid the draft by
going to university or to Canada, and young black men were twice as likely
to be killed).

53. Johnson’s Fall from Popularity
The U.S. involvement in Vietnam was the primary cause in Johnson's decline
in popularity.
Johnson decided not to run for reelection in 1968.

54. Assassination of Robert Kennedy (June 1968)
President John F. Kennedy's younger brother and democratic presidential
hopeful in 1968 was assassinated after his victory speech after winning
the California primary.
*Sirhan Sirhan- A Palestinian that shot Robert Kennedy because of Kennedy’s
strong support of Israel.

55. Hubert Humphrey
Democrat nominated for president in 1968

56. Democratic Party Convention Riot (Chicago) August 1968
Anti-War protesters disrupted the Democratic National Convention in Chicago
in 1968.
With national media coverage, thousands of anti-war protestors, African-
Americans and Democratic supporters were clubbed by Major Daley's police.

57. Chicago 7
The defendants arrested at the Democratic National Convention.
Although found guilty the courts overturned their convictions and they served
no jail time.

58. Richard Nixon
Became president in January 1969 after Johnson decided not to run for re-
election in 1968.
Nixon pledged to reduce the numbers of US troops in Southeast Asia.

59. Vietnamization
Nixon's policy of building up the South Vietnamese army in order to allow
American troops to begin withdrawing from Vietnam.
Nixon expressed his support for a policy of "Vietnamization" and announced his
authorization of substantial increases in training and equipment to the South
Vietnamese.
President Nixon felt that a rash and reckless withdrawal of American Troops from Vietnam would be a mistake. He
proposed to make the withdrawal much more gradual, in step with his "Vietnamization," policy.

60. Cambodia
In April 1970, Nixon authorized US troops to invade Cambodia for the purpose
of destroying Communist training camps and the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Technically illegal because Cambodia and Laos were neutral, but done because
North Vietnam was itself illegally moving its troops through those areas.
The U.S. invasion of Cambodia set off a firestorm of anti-war protest in the United States.

61. Kent State
Site of a student, anti-war protest that resulted in National Guardsmen shooting
and killing four people and wounding nine others.
Four students were killed by Ohio State guardsmen at Kent State (Ohio) while protesting the war in
Vietnam. The incident began when the students began throwing stones at the soldiers guarding the ROTC
building.

62. Pentagon Papers
In 1971 when the New York Times began publishing portions of papers by
former secretary of defense, Robert McNamara that documented the history of
U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
The papers revealed that the executive branch had lied to Congress concerning
the war.
Presidents had made secret decisions and undertaken unapproved military
actions.

63. New York Times Co. v. U.S. (1971)
The U.S. government sued the New York Times for publishing the
Pentagon Papers.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Times had done nothing wrong and that
the paper had the right, under the First Amendment, to publish the
articles.

64. Ping Pong Diplomacy
Ping Pong Diplomacy would facilitate the beginning of a friendlier relationship
between the US and China.
During the period of 6-17 April 1971, the game would prove to be the uniting
link between two countries with vastly different cultures and political
ideologies.

65. Opening of China
U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China
was an important step in formally
normalizing relations between the United States and the People's Republic of
China.
It marked the first time a U.S. president had visited the People's Republic of
China, which at that time considered the U.S. one of its staunchest foes.
The visit ended 25 years of separation between the two sides.

66. Paris Peace Accords
Officially ended the US involvement in Vietnam in January 1973.
The Paris agreement called for:
•The withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam within 60 days.
•The release of prisoners of war.
•All parties involved would end military activities in Laos and
Cambodia.
•The 17th parallel would continue to divide North and South
Vietnam.
Although the Americans left Vietnam in 1973, we continued to support the South Vietnamese army with
financial and military aid.

67. War Powers Act 1973
Gave any president the power to go to war under certain circumstances, but
required that he could only do so for 90 days before being required to
officially bring the matter before Congress.

68. The Broken Peace- Fall of Saigon
After the U.S. troops left Vietnam, the North Vietnamese forces launched an all
out offensive in April 1975.
The U.S. decided not to return troops and South Vietnam had to defend itself.
North Vietnamese easily overran South Vietnam as they massacred thousands of
South Vietnamese.
Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam was ruined, its
infrastructure was destroyed,
thousands of its people had been
killed, and its farmland was polluted
by American chemical warfare. It
remains one of the poorest countries
in the world.

69. Why Did America Lose the Vietnamese War?
Americans Vietcong
•The American hi-tech tactics
continually killed the wrong people
and demoralized their own troops.
•The Vietcong's guerrilla tactics were
appropriate to the nature of the conflict.
•The US was trying to supply a war
8,000 miles from America.
•The Vietcong were supplied with
weapons by China and Russia.
•The South Vietnamese regime was
weak, brutal, and corrupt.
•The South Vietnamese peasants
supported and sheltered the Vietcong.
•Their short (one-year) tour of service
meant that American troops were
always inexperienced.
•The Vietcong had been continuously at
war since they resisted the Japanese
during the Second World War.
•The morale of Americans soldiers
was rock bottom; they took drugs,
shot their officers ('fragging') and
deserted.
•The Vietcong were fanatically
determined to drive out the Americans,
whatever the cost.
•The war became very unpopular in
the US, and lost public support.
•The North Vietnamese were motivated,
fighting at home to unite their country.

70. The Impact on America
 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam.
 The war had cost so much that President Johnson's Great
Society program of social reform had to be cancelled.
 Loss of confidence: It was nearly 20 years before America
again intervened militarily in world affairs.
 News of atrocities such as the killings at My Lai lost the US
its claim to moral superiority, and its status as the world's
defender of freedom and right.
 700,000 Vietnam veterans suffered psychological after-
effects.