The Vietnam War involved five US presidential terms from Truman to Nixon. [1] US involvement escalated from military advisors under Eisenhower and Kennedy to sending troops under Johnson. [2] The Tet Offensive in 1968 was a surprise attack that turned US public opinion against the war. [3] Nixon took office promising to end the war and gradually withdrew troops while pursuing peace talks, leading to a ceasefire in 1973, though Vietnam was fully united under communism in 1975.

1. Vietnam War

2. Early US Involvement
• US involved through 5 presidential terms
• Truman—military aid for French
• Eisenhower—financial aid for France;
military advisors for S. Vietnam
• Kennedy—military personnel in advising
capacity
• Johnson—sent troops into battle
• Nixon—pulled troops out of war

3. • Eisenhower defended US policy with
domino theory--
– Vietnam falls to communism so would others
• French struggled with guerilla tactics—
– Irregular troops blending in with civilian
population
• Geneva Accords—French Indochina
divided into Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia

4. Vietnam
divided at 17th
parallel
•North
controlled
by Vietminh
•South had
pro-western
regime
Textbook Pg 773

5. Edging Closer to War
• Ngo Dinh Diem, ldr S. Vietnam, refused to
hold national election
• Ho Chi Minh, ldr N. Vietnam, set out to
unify North and South Vietnam
– Created Vietcong, a guerilla army
• Kennedy continued support for S. Vietnam
– Military personnel sent in ‘advising’ capacity

6. Johnson’s Turn
• Inherited Vietnam problem after
Kennedy’s assassination (4th
President in Vietnam)
• Cautious, but determined to keep S.
Vietnam from becoming communist
state

7. Gulf of Tonkin
incident:
*N.Vietname
se
fired upon
US
ships
•Gulf of
Tonkin
Resolution –
Congress
Textbook Pg 773
gives

8. • 1965 Johnson sends in the troops
– Fight along side S. Vietnamese
troops
• Underestimated Vietcong strength
• Refused full scale invasion of N.
Vietnam
– Feared China become involved
• Refused full-scale attack on Vietcong
supply line—Ho Chi Minh Trail

9. Textbook Pg 797

10. Tet Offensive
• Tet (Vietnamese New Year) offensive
surprise attack by Vietcong and North
Vietnamese
• Attacked almost all American airbases in
S. Vietnam, major cities, provincial
capitals
• Military disaster for Communist forces
• American public shocked enemy could
launch this size attack
• Media openly criticized war effort

11. Textbook Pg 788

12. Problems at Home
• Increase in casualties, led to increase in
protests
• Public resistance to draft escalated
• 26th Amendment lowered voting age to 18
• March 31, 1968 Johnson withdrew
reelection bid based on public opinion
• Richard Nixon elected President based on
campaign promise to end war (5th
president involved)

13. Ending the War
• Henry Kissinger—gained authority to find
way to end war
– Began peace talks with N. Vietnam
• Nixon began Vietnamization
– Gradual withdrawal of troops
• January 1973 both sides agree to end war
• March 1975 N. Vietnam invades again
– US refuses assistance
– By April N. Vietnamese capture Saigon and
united N & S Vietam as one nation under
communist rule

15. The End