The Vietnam War lasted from 1954 to 1975 and involved military escalation by the United States in an attempt to prevent South Vietnam from falling to communist control. It began as a war of independence against the French and resulted in the partition of Vietnam into communist North Vietnam and democratic South Vietnam. Despite massive U.S. military involvement and bombing campaigns, the U.S. struggled against Vietnamese guerrilla tactics and growing domestic anti-war sentiment. This led to the withdrawal of U.S. troops and the eventual defeat of South Vietnam in 1975.

1. The Vietnam War 1954 - 1975

2. PHASE 1 - A WAR OF COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE AGAINST THE FRENCH Vietnam had been a French colony under the name of French Indochina (along with Cambodia and Laos) Vietnam began to fight for its independence from France during WW II ( when France was preoccupied with European conflict) the Vietnamese revolutionary leader was Ho Chi Minh , a Communist wanted to be the leader of an independent, communist Vietnam; Ho received support from both the USSR and “Red” China

3. this colonial war raged from 1946-54, ending in French defeat at Dienbienphu Fr. decided it wanted out and called a peace conference in Geneva, Switzerland (attended by France, Vietnam, the US, and the USSR) the decision of the conference was to partition Vietnam into a communist North led by Ho and a “democratic” South Vietnam led by Ngo Dinh Diem the settlement was an outgrowth of basic Cold War tensions between the Americans and Soviets and clearly reflected the US policy of containment with respect to Soviet communist expansionism the US had come to see South Vietnam as a “ domino ” that they couldn’t afford to lose

4. Early Protests of Diem’s Government Self-Emolation by a Buddhist Monk

5. PHASE 2 – AMERICAN ESCALATION AND MILITARY INVOLVEMENT this phase originated with “ Ike” and JFK but was intensified under Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), who assumed the presidency afterJFK’s assassination The U.S. never formally issued a declaration of war, but after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident , where 2 American destroyers were apparently fired upon by the North Vietnamese, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolutions (August 1964) - here Congress gave LBJ their support in sending American personnel and material

6. in spite of ongoing escalation throughout the 1960s, the US experienced a lack of success against the Vietnamese guerrilla forces in S. Vietnam (the Vietcong ) as the US Army was unprepared for their tactics and mentality The US was also never entirely successful in shutting down the Ho Chi Minh Trail , a supply line that ran between North and South Vietnam via difficult jungle terrain, often underground and through neighboring nations like Cambodia

7. the war definitely turned against the US in 1968, when the NVA’s General Giap began the Tet Offensive , a surprise offensive on a major Vietnamese holiday that saw attacks all over the country, including in Saigon itself ongoing US casualties and losses saw an increase in antiwar sentiment on the American Home Front, in large part because Vietnam was a TV War where American audiences saw the brutality of war firsthand

8. The Tet Offensive, January 1968

9. this included American atrocities at My Lai (Lieutenant Calley) they also witnessed the usage of weapons like napalm and Agent Orange , which devastated the environment

10. Anti-War Demonstrations Columbia University 1967

12. Hell no, we won’t go!

13. Democratic Convention in Chicago, 1968 Student Protestors at Univ. of CA in Berkeley, 1968 Anti-War Demonstrations

14. “ Hanoi Jane” Jane Fonda: Traitor?

15. Anti-War Demonstrations Counterculture gathered momentum (Hippies, Flower Children, etc.), protests became widespread and began to polarize the nation Intensified after the Kent State Massacre National Guardsmen opened fire on student protestors in Ohio, killing 4, wounding 11

16. increasingly the American people came to perceive the “ Credibility Gap ”, i.e. they no longer believed that LBJ was telling them the truth about events in the war in 1968, LBJ chose not to run for president, and Republican Richard M. Nixon was elected on a platform of “ Peace with Honour ”

17. Nixon wanted the South Vietnamese to play a greater role in the war, a policy he labeled Vietnamization in spite of that, he continues carpet bombing Hanoi and orders a secret invasion of Cambodia He relied on the diplomacy of Henry Kissinger to achieve peace and/or an American withdrawal the US does manage to extricate itself by Jan. 27, 1973

18. PHASE 3 – VIETNAMESE CIVIL WAR, 1973-75 the NVA easily defeated the South by 1975; the South had appealed to Nixon for aid, which had been promised, but by 1975 Nixon was embroiled in the domestic Watergate Crisis, and he was in essence a “lame duck” 1975 – the US abandoned its embassy in Saigon, which was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in the newly unified and communist Vietnam South Vietnamese Attempt to Flee the Country

19. The Fall of Saigon America Abandons Its Embassy

20. 3,000,000 Vietnamese killed 58,000 Americans killed; 300,000 wounded Under-funding of Great Society programs $150,000,000,000 in U.S. spending U.S. morale, Self-confidence, trust of government, decimated 26 th Amendment : 18-year-olds vote Nixon abolished the draft  all-volunteer army War Powers Act, 1973 – Reaffirms Congress’s constitutional right to declare war. Sets 60 day limit on presidential commitment of U.S. troops for foreign conflicts without a specific declaration of war by Congress. The Impact

21. Wars must be of short duration. Wars must yield few American casualties. Restrict media access to battlefields. Develop and maintain Congressional and public support. Set clear, winnable goals. Set deadline for troop withdrawals. Lessons for Future American Presidents

22. Some American POWs Returned from the “Hanoi Hilton” Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

23. The Vietnam Memorial, Washington, D.C.

24. Memorial to US Servicemen in Vietnam

25. Memorial to US Nurses in Vietnam

26. 58,000

27. President Clinton formally recognized Vietnam on July 11, 1995

28. Formerly Saigon A United Vietnam