"If I left [the war in Vietnam] and let the Communists take over South Vietnam, then I would be seen as a coward and my nation would be seen as an appeaser, and we would both find it impossible to accomplish anything for anybody anywhere on the entire globe."
- President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964
- President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964
The Gulf of Tonkin and the Vietnam War
-The Gulf of Tonkin
•A fabricated incident was set up; an American destroyer (USS Maddox) was torpedoed
•Led President Johnson to install the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
•Lead to the commitment of regular ground troops and air support
•200,000 troops in 1965 - 600,000 in 1968
•A fabricated incident was set up; an American destroyer (USS Maddox) was torpedoed
•Led President Johnson to install the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
•Lead to the commitment of regular ground troops and air support
•200,000 troops in 1965 - 600,000 in 1968
The Tet Offensive, 1968
•Offensive launched by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in 1968
•Surprises Americans
•Is played up as a major victory for the North although very little is achieved
•Public relations victory
•Anti-war demonstrations increase as a result
•Surprises Americans
•Is played up as a major victory for the North although very little is achieved
•Public relations victory
•Anti-war demonstrations increase as a result
Background
•(Vietnam) Originally a French colony (Indochina)
•Ho Chi Minh and his communist supporters resisted Japanese occupation during WWII
•After WWII the French reoccupied
•Ho Chi Minh fought the French and defeated them in 1954 (Dien Bien Phu)
•Laos, Cambodia granted independence
•Vietnam divided along the 17th parallel
•South Vietnam was led by a Catholic named Ngo Dinh Diem
•The mainly Buddhist south had opposition in the form of the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Viet Cong (a guerrilla force)
•The North (Ho Chi Minh) supported both of these groups
•The north never accepted the Geneva agreement of 1954
•Ho Chi Minh and his communist supporters resisted Japanese occupation during WWII
•After WWII the French reoccupied
•Ho Chi Minh fought the French and defeated them in 1954 (Dien Bien Phu)
•Laos, Cambodia granted independence
•Vietnam divided along the 17th parallel
•South Vietnam was led by a Catholic named Ngo Dinh Diem
•The mainly Buddhist south had opposition in the form of the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Viet Cong (a guerrilla force)
•The North (Ho Chi Minh) supported both of these groups
•The north never accepted the Geneva agreement of 1954
American Involvement In Vietnam
•U.S. saw this as another situation in which containment was necessary (SEATO)
•The U.S. had supported the French (military advisors)
•Kennedy increased troops in 1962 from 500-10,000
•CIA overthrows Diem in 1963 (corruptness)
•The U.S. had supported the French (military advisors)
•Kennedy increased troops in 1962 from 500-10,000
•CIA overthrows Diem in 1963 (corruptness)
Effects of The War
•Costs the U.S. 150 billion dollars
•57, 939 men killed
•Loss of a country to Communism
•Limitations brought in on the President’s powers to wage war (Vietnam never declared a war)
•Made the U.S. look bad worldwide
•Conscription was ended in U.S.
•57, 939 men killed
•Loss of a country to Communism
•Limitations brought in on the President’s powers to wage war (Vietnam never declared a war)
•Made the U.S. look bad worldwide
•Conscription was ended in U.S.
Summary
In 1965, President Johnson claimed that an American destroyer was allegedly torpedoed. This allegation meant that US troops were deployed to Vietnam. As a result, the Tet Offensive was launched on the American troops by the North Vietnam army.