Vietnam War – Part III
Feb 22, 2016
Vietnam War – Part III
Reality of the Vietnam War As the war went on, evidence mounted that America
had been entrapped in an Asian civil war, fighting against highly motivated rebels who were striving to overthrow an oppressive regime
Johnson was bent on “saving” Vietnam and assured Americans he could see “the light at the end of the tunnel”
Tet Offensive The Viet Cong and North
Vietnamese launched a major offensive
The Tet Offensive included surprise attacks on 27 major cities, towns, and American military bases throughout South Vietnam
Even though they were turned back with heavy losses, the Viet Cong had won a psychological victory
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive demonstrated that:
The Viet Cong could launch attacks anywhere they wanted Johnson’s strategy of gradual escalation would not work The war would continue for many more years
Images of the fighting on TV continued to increase reservations towards the war
American military leaders requested 200,000 more troops
End of LBJ In March 1968, after losing the New Hampshire
primary, President Johnson announced in a television address that: Bombing north of the 20th parallel would be
stopped He announced he would not seek reelection
Vietnam War Policies ofJohnson and Nixon
War was winnable
Escalated U.S. involvement
War was not winnable, but wanted “peace with honor”, which meant a “decent interval” between U.S. withdrawal and the defeat of S. Vietnam
Vietnamization deescalated the war (except invasion of Cambodia & Laos)
Vietnam War Policies ofJohnson and Nixon
Increased bombing, but would decrease bombing to try to negotiate an end to the war
Increased bombing to try to negotiate an end to the war
Triangular diplomacy with USSR and China had the hopes of those two countries pressuring N. Vietnam to negotiate
Vietnam War Policies ofJohnson and Nixon
Neither wanted to be the first U.S. president to lose a war
Both inherited the war from earlier administrations Both saw the war as a part of the larger picture of the
Cold War Both faced increasing public protest Both kept information from the public Both were concerned about Chinese involvement Both were interested in negotiating an end to the war Both had domestic policies that distracted in the war
effort
Vietnamization
Plan was to withdraw the 540,000 U.S. troops in South Vietnam over an extended period
The South Vietnamese, with American money, weapons, training, and advice, could then gradually take over the burden of fighting their own war
Nixon Doctrine – the U.S. would honor its existing defense commitments, but that in the future, Asians and others would have to fight their own wars without the support of large amounts of American ground troops
Between 1968 and 1972, American troop strength dropped from 543,000 to 39,000
Dove Reaction to Vietnamization and Nixon’s Reaction
Most demanded a prompt and complete withdrawal They staged a massive protest on the Boston
Common in October 1969 with 100,000 people and 50,000 next to the White House
Nixon tried to appeal to the “silent majority” who he believed supported the war
Unleashed the vice-president to attack the “nattering nabobs of negativism” (doves)
Called student antiwar demonstrators “bums”
Reality of the Vietnam War By January 1970, the Vietnam War:
Was the longest in American history 40,000 killed 250,000 wounded 3rd most costly war Became very unpopular
Soldier fought against: Vietnamese enemy Booby traps Hot jungles Couldn’t determine foes
Drug abuse, mutiny, and sabotage dulled the army’s fighting edge. Morale was low
Invasion of Cambodia and Laos
Nixon expanded the war when he bombed and invaded Cambodia and Laos in 1970 (without Congress’ consent) and hid his actions from the public
His goal was to clear out Communist camps there, from which the enemy was mounting attacks on South Vietnam
Nixon’s actions were eventually reported and more protests resulted
Kent State In Ohio, students broke windows
and burned the army ROTC building on campus
In response, the governor of Ohio ordered the National Guard to Kent State
When students threw rocks and empty tear-gas canisters at them, they fired
4 died while 9 others were wounded
Jackson State
In Mississippi, similar violence broke out
A confrontation between students and police left two students dead and 11 wounded
The outbreaks of violence against students shocked the nation
Pentagon Papers
In June 1971, a State Department official, Daniel Ellsberg, leaked a study to the The New York Times called the Pentagon Papers. They revealed that Kennedy and Johnson had lied about the war: The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution had been prepared a
month before the incidents reported The U.S. destroyers had been in North Vietnamese
waters trying to land marines of the South Vietnamese Army on the shore to engage in acts of sabotage
More Antiwar Discontent
They revealed that government officials had lied to Congress and the American people about the war
Such revelations shocked the public and gave a boost to the growing antiwar movement
More Antiwar Discontent Antiwar protestors were
partly pleased when: Congress repealed the
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 26th Amendment was
passed in 1971 – lowering the voting age to 18
Watergate Nixon became increasingly worried about
protestors and political opponents The Committee to Reelect the President
(CREEP) decided to wiretap the phones at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Nixon tried to authorize the CIA to persuade the FBI to stop its investigation on the grounds that the matter involved “national security”
Watergate Members of CREEP gave hush money to
Watergate defendants while the 1972 election was going on
The trial of the Watergate burglars began in January 1973
Nixon decided to prove his innocence by appointing a special Watergate prosecutor, Archibald Cox
The prosecutor asked Nixon for his White House tape recordings, but he refused to give them up
Watergate Nixon ordered the Attorney General to fire Cox When he didn’t, he resigned and Nixon fired Cox
himself The firing set off a series of resignations and firings
(called the “Saturday Night Massacre”) Congress then issued an order for Nixon to turn over
the tapes He refused, citing executive privilege The Supreme Court ruled that Nixon must give up the
tapes because it had nothing to do with national security, as he had claimed
Watergate
Nixon gave up the tapes, which gave clear evidence of Nixon’s involvement in the cover-up
Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974
Vice-President Gerald Ford was sworn in and a month later he pardoned Nixon
Effects of Watergate on the Vietnam War
Nixon would lose congressional support
The credibility gap would widen
It would be a negative distraction from the Vietnam War