The Late 1960s and Protest Background of Vietnam

The Late 1960’s and Protest

Background of Vietnam • Vietnam was a French colony since the late 1800 s. Combined with Laos and Cambodia, it was part of French Indochina. • After WWII, the colonies believe that they should be independent and free from French rule. • The Vietnamese enter into a long, bloody conflict led by the Viet Minh, a communist insurgency group led by Ho Chi Minh.

Background of Vietnam • The French placed the bulk of their troops in a single valley called Dien Bien Phu. • The Viet Minh surrounded the valley and pummeled the French with artillery that they dragged up the mountain sides. • The French surrendered after a six week siege in 1954. • It was agreed that Indochina be broken up into North and South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

Vietnam • Vietnam would be divided at the 17 th parallel into a communist north and democratic south. • The US provided advisors to the south in late 1950 s. • It was supposed to have been united through national elections, but the US refused because they felt that Ho Chi Minh would have beaten South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and would have made Vietnam communist.

• Political theory that all of Southeast Asia is ready to fall to communism. • If one country fell, the rest of the nations in that region, from Indochina down into Indonesia, would fall as well. • As part of a policy of containment, the US would prevent that from happening. Domino Theory

SEATO • Southeast Asian Treaty Organization. • This was an Asian version of NATO with the US, France, Australia, Britain, Philippines, Pakistan, Thailand, New Zealand, and South Vietnam started in 1954. • However, the organization could only help each other out of the vote was unanimous. • SEATO stood by and watched as conflicts engulfed the region.

Ngo Dinh Diem • Ngo Dinh Diem was South Vietnam’s corrupt president. • He ruled as a dictator and was very harsh. He turned his people against him. • Still, we supported him because he was not communist as long as he kept a stable government. • In the meantime, a rebellion called the Vietcong starts to rise up against Diem.

US Gets Involved • Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy sent military advisors to South Vietnam. • By 1963, 16, 000 US troops are in Vietnam. • Diem was Catholic and was anti-Buddhist and persecuted them. In retaliation, several Buddhists publicly committed suicide. • Diem was kicked out of power by some US-backed generals and was assassinated in 1963 2 weeks before JFK was killed. His successors were just as corrupt and harsh.

LBJ Expands Role • Before he died, JFK had hinted he wanted to withdraw from Vietnam and let the Vietnamese deal with themselves. • Because the Democrats had been portrayed as soft on Communism, LBJ wanted to commit to keeping South Vietnam as a democracy.

Gulf of Tonkin Incident • It was a pair of supposed attacks carried out by naval forces of North Vietnam against two American destroyers: the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • A joint resolution of the U. S. Congress passed in August 1964 in direct response to the Tonkin Incident. • It gave U. S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia. • The Johnson administration subsequently cited the resolution as legal authority for its rapid escalation of U. S. military involvement in the Vietnam conflict.

US Escalates • Operation Rolling Thunder, Feb 1965 • Supposed to be 2 weeks. Lasted until 1968. • By June 1965, there were 50, 000 troops in South Vietnam helping to stop the Vietcong. • The goal was to pick up morale in South Vietnam while bombing North Vietnam into submission. • Issues of where to bomb. • By end of 1965, there were 180, 000 troops.

Question Time • 1. How did we end up getting involved in Vietnam? • 2. What was the domino theory? • 3. What problem did we have in supporting the government of South Vietnam?

Ho Chi Minh Trail • The Vietcong were supported and supplied along the Ho Chi Minh Trail running through Laos and Cambodia by North Vietnam. • Their goal was to help overthrow the government and unite with the North. • Cambodia and Laos were neutral during the war

Jungle Warfare • Vietcong and NVA would dig tunnels in the jungle. • Vietcong used guerilla tactics. • US Marines and soldiers use “Search and Destroy” tactics. • Air Force drops napalm and agent orange. • Helicopter war.

War of Attrition • Wear down the enemy’s will to fight and/or drain resources. • The Vietnamese forces waged a war of attrition against the US. • The US heavily pounded North Vietnam and killed many Vietcong and NVA soldiers. • Still, it seemed that the Vietnamese could replace them.

War of Attrition • No clear strategy on behalf of the US to win the war. • General William Westmoreland had his hands tied as to what he could do. • Sec. of Def. Robert Mc. Namara and Sec. of State Dean Rusk didn’t know what to do. • Their plan with LBJ was to keep sending troops over to Vietnam and eventually, things will even out. • Can’t pull out of Vietnam because then we’d be weak on Communism.

The TV War • First war to be shown on TV. • People hear that the war is going good by politicians, and then see body bags, wounded soldiers, and burned villages on TV at dinner. • By 1967, 16, 000 US soldiers had been killed in Vietnam. • TV helps increase the anti-war sentiments.

The Draft • Selective Service System • All men have to register when they turn 18 yrs old. • If they were needed, the armed services would hold a “lottery style draft” and select people. • People could be selected based on birthdays, SSI numbers, etc. to make it random

The Draft • There was some opposition to the draft even before the major U. S. involvement in the Vietnam. • Some volunteered for Coast Guard or Navy. Some went to National Guard duty. • The large amount of Baby Boomers who became eligible for military service during the Vietnam War also meant a steep increase in the number of exemptions and deferments, especially for college and graduate students. • People could also be exempted for medical reasons, religious views, move to different state, or go to Canada. • This was the source of considerable resentment among poor and working class young men, who could not afford a college education. 80% of the soldiers came from lower classes.

The New Left • The name loosely associated with liberal, sometimes radical, political movements that took place during the 1960 s, primarily among college students. • The New Left opposed the prevailing authority structures in society, which it termed "The Establishment”. • Concentrated on a social activist approach to organization.

The Student Movements • Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) became the leading organization of the antiwar movement on college campuses during the Vietnam War. • During the course of the war, it became increasingly militant. • This movement spreads from U. of Michigan across the nation.

The War Divides Us • WWII generation felt that students were being unpatriotic. • Young people wanted to have their voices heard. • Protests become more and more violent. • Some saw the war as a civil war and we need to be out of it. • Others see the US as being imperialistic. Some people who were drafted fled to Canada and other countries. • Still, LBJ keeps the war going.

The Counterculture • Began as a reaction against the social norms of the 1950 s, segregation in the Deep South, and the Vietnam War. • White middle class youth, for the first time since the Great Depression of the 1930 s, had sufficient leisure time to raise concerns about social issues - especially civil rights, the Vietnam War and women's rights. • As the 1960 s progressed, widespread tensions developed in American society that tended to flow along generational lines regarding the war in Vietnam, race relations, sexual mores, women's rights, traditional modes of authority, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, and a predominantly materialist interpretation of the American Dream.

The Counterculture • Timothy Leary--“Tune in, turn off, drop out” • Hippie Movement becomes big in NYC’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco. • Eastern Religious viewpoints and Astrology • From peace and love to violence—Manson Family, Altamont • Woodstock

Question Time • 4. Why were so many people against the war? • 5. What was the Vietnamese strategy of jungle warfare and war of attrition? • 6. How did “search and destroy” play into the Vietnamese plans?

LBJ Continues On • Despite the protests, LBJ continued with the war. • For all intents and purposes, it seemed as if we were winning. • There was less violence in South Vietnam and less troops were dying. • Johnson could not understand why so many people were upset with the war.

Tet Offensive • Military campaign conducted between Jan. 30 Sept. 23 1968, by the Viet Cong and the NVA. • The purpose of the operations, which were unprecedented in their magnitude and ferocity, was to strike military and civilian command control centers throughout South Vietnam. • Also wanted to spark a general uprising among the population that would then topple the Saigon government, thus ending the war.

Tet Offensive • The initial attacks surprised and stunned American forces but most were quickly contained and beaten back, inflicting massive casualties on the Vietcong. • For every 1 American killed, 10 VC or NVA were killed. • It crippled communist Vietnamese forces in Vietnam. • Strategically, it is a victory for the US. However…

Tet Offensive • Despite losing almost 100, 000 people, it is seen as a great psychological victory for the Communists. • Americans feel that the Communists will not give up and will never stop fighting. • TV shows death and destruction every night. • American casualty rates are higher in 1968 than any other year in Vietnam. (12, 000 in 1968) • People turn against President Johnson and the war loses support. If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America. –Lyndon Johnson

My Lai Massacre • On March 16, 1968, a squad of US soldiers were on a “Search and destroy mission” in Vietnam near the village of My Lai. • Told there was Vietcong in the region. • They killed 347 to 504 unarmed civilians with the majority of them women and children. • Soldiers just went crazy. • Turned people against the war. • Several soldiers court martialed for the incident.

The End of Johnson • The toll of the war hits LBJ hard. • On March 31, 1968 he announces a peace proposal to the North Vietnamese. • At the end of the speech, he declares he will not run for reelection. • Looking back, LBJ hated that the war had drained US men and money and regretted that it killed his Great Society. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President. ---Lyndon Johnson

The Democrats of 1968 • Johnson’s departure puts the Democrats into a huge crisis. • In the middle of the crisis, two major candidates appear: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy of NY and Sen. Eugene Mc. Carthy of MN. • RFK and Mc. Carthy both ran on a platform to end the war.

Assassination • On June 15, 1968, RFK gave a speech in LA after winning the California primary. • Around midnight, he was leaving the Ambassador Hotel through the kitchen. • He was shot and killed by Sirhan, a Palestinian nationalist. • RFK was killed a few weeks after Martin Luther King, Jr. died.

The Democrats of 1968 • With Johnson out and RFK dead, Vice President Hubert Humphrey joins the race. • Humphrey was viewed as a man who would continue LBJ’s policies. • Humphrey was a loyal party man with lots of support from across the nation.

Wallace’s Split • A third group of Democrats pop up in 1968. • Led by George Wallace of AL, the Southern Democrats are united because they hate desegregation policies of LBJ and JFK. • Wallace called his party the American Independent Party. • He hoped he could steal enough electoral votes to force the House of Rep. to decide the election and he could deal his votes for his political agenda.

The Chicago Convention • RFK was dead. The Democrats couldn’t agree on a candidate. • The convention achieved notoriety because of clashes between protesters and police, and the generally chaotic atmosphere of the event. • The turmoil was widely publicized by on TV. • Chicago Mayor Richard Daley had the police “keep order” because there was a riot earlier in the year following MLK’s death. • Democrats choose Humphrey over Mc. Carthy. The whole world is watching!!!—Protest Chant

Election of 1968 • With the Democrats in disarray and Wallace running in his own party, the Republicans see their chance. • Republicans nominate Richard M. Nixon who carries the election. • Nixon had a “Secret Plan” to end the war in Vietnam.

Question Time • 7. In what ways was the Tet Offensive a huge disaster for the Vietcong? • 8. In ways was the Tet Offensive a major victory for the Vietnamese? • 9. How did Nixon become president?

Beginning of the End • Nixon wanted a peace with honor. • He continued the bombing of North Vietnam to show a position of strength. • However, he began to slowly pull troops out of South Vietnam, • In 1968, the US had over 500, 000 troops. • In 1969, 25, 000 soldiers had returned home.

Vietnamization • The US would actively train the South Vietnamese army and government to take direct control of their nation. • As the Vietnamese would step up, the Americans would withdraw. • Nixon also improved relations with China in hopes they could help lend a voice in ending the conflict.

Cambodia • Starting in 1970, Nixon authorized the bombing and invasion of neighboring Cambodia in hopes of shutting down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. • The move would help to destabilize the country. • Nixon attacked Cambodia without informing or asking Congress first. • Protests began erupting all over colleges again.

Kent State • May 4, 1970 • Students burned the ROTC building at Kent State to protest the American invasion in Cambodia. • The National Guard comes to campus. • After students hurl rocks at the soldiers, the soldiers fire. • Four students were killed and nine were wounded.

Pentagon Papers • 7, 000 -page top-secret United States government report on the history of the planning and policy-making process within the government itself concerning the Vietnam War. • The documents gained fame when they were leaked to and published in The New York Times during early 1971 by former State Department official Daniel Ellsberg. • New York Times vs The US 6 -3 decision for the Times. • Papers showed that the US and LBJ were planning on fighting in Vietnam even though they assured the American people they wouldn’t. • Papers showed there was no plan. • Increased the lack of support Americans had for the Vietnam War.

End of the War • Nixon’s bombing of North Vietnam began to pay off slightly. • North Vietnam could not continue the war effort like it did. • By the middle of 1972, the US was facing another presidential election. • Public polls in 1971 said 60% of Americans wanted the war to end.

End of the War • Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s National Security Advisor, conducted talks with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam. • He worked out an agreement that if the North Vietnamese leave South Vietnam, the Americans would leave too. • Kissinger announced the peace a week before the 1972 elections, although at Christmastime, the US bombed Hanoi for 11 days. • In January of 1973, peace was declared. US troops would leave. North Vietnamese troops would stay, withdraw later, and promise not to attack South Vietnam. • The last American troops left South Vietnam on March 29, 1973.

Fall of Saigon • After a few months, the North Vietnamese broke the cease fire. • In March 1975, North Vietnam invaded the South. America stood by and watched. • Hue fell on March 25, Da Nang fell on the 28 th. • Saigon fell on March 30. • Vietnam was united again. • Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. • Millions of Vietnamese fled or faced “Reeducation camps”. “boat people”

Vets Come Home • The veterans coming home from Vietnam faced a different reception than the veterans returning from WWII and Korea. • They did not get the celebrations and parades. • They came home to a nation that was bitterly divided over their sacrifices. • Some people were openly hostile to returning vets. • Have to adjust to home life.

POW’s • Soldiers and pilots tortured at “Hanoi Hilton”. • 1602 were POW’s with thousands more Americans listed as missing in Vietnam. • By 1995, the Pentagon reported that 2, 202 Americans were still missing in SE Asia with 1, 618 in Vietnam. • Vietnam denies these claims.

Aftermath of Vietnam • 58, 217 Americans killed with 153, 452 wounded from 1956 -1974. • Did we win? Lose? Or withdraw? • Lots of aftereffects from Agent Orange, Napalm, Torture, Combat, etc. • Lots of disabled veterans. • How does the country heal itself after the war? • Effects on the families. • “Vietnam Syndrome” • Domino Effect?

Khmer Rouge • A communist government set up by Pol Pot in Cambodia. • His government targeted the intellectual class in his country and targeted them for extermination. • 2 million Cambodians died during this genocide from 1975 -1978 before Vietnam invaded to kick out the government.

War Powers Act • Passed in 1973 • A resolution of Congress that the President can send troops into action abroad only by authorization of Congress or if American troops are already under attack or serious threat. • President must inform Congress within 48 hours if troops are sent somewhere into combat. • Also, troops cannot stay longer than 90 days unless Congress approves of the action or declares war. • Hoped to prevent another Vietnam.

Question Time • 10. What happened to Southeast Asia after we pulled out of Vietnam? • 11. Why did Congress pass the War Powers Act?

Latino Movement • Latinos fought for equal rights where they lived. • Faced a lot of discrimination and hardship in the areas they lived in. • Latinos were a growing population in the US. • Cubans moved to Miami, Puerto Ricans moved to NYC, and lots of Mexicans in the Southwest US. • Lots of Latinos from Central America moved to escape revolutions and violence. • Despite prejudice, they retained their cultural identity and fought for bilingual rights.

Cesar Chavez • Saw that many Latinos worked for low pay as migrant farm workers. • Unionized workers into the United Farm Workers. • Asked people to boycott California grapes when the growers refused to recognize union. • Inspired by Dr. King to use nonviolent methods to achieve goals. • Called his reform movement “La Causa”. • Went on a 3 week fast to protest working conditions for farmers. Broke it when he took communion with RFK.

American Indians • By the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, many American Indians wanted to take more control of their tribes. • Indians suffer from the highest poverty, alcoholism, infant death, and suicide rates of any ethnic group in America. • In 1953, Eisenhower tried to terminate the reservation system to help put Indians into mainstream American life. • Many Indians refuse to change their traditional lives to become more like Whites. • 1961: Declaration of Indian Purpose was signed by 67 Indian groups who wanted more self determination. • LBJ supported the Indians in his Great Society programs. • Many tribes took US and state gov. to court for land claims.

AIM • The American Indian Movement (AIM), is a militant Indian activist organization. • Occupied Alcatraz in 1969 and offered $24 of beads and cloth for it. • 1972, AIM lead a march to DC and occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs calling for it to be abolished. • In 1973, AIM captured Wounded Knee, SD. AIM took 11 hostages to protest treatment of Indians. The occupiers controlled the town for 71 days while the U. S. Marshals laid siege. 2 Indians were killed and 1 Marshall was paralyzed.

Feminist Movement • With WWII over, many women resented losing jobs and doing housework again. • Younger women wanted more out of life than just house chores. • Feminism movement grows in the 1960 s---that women have economic, political, and social rights like men do. • Seeing the movements of Blacks and others inspires women to do the same. • The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963 by Betty Friedan. attacked the popular notion that women during this time could only find fulfillment through childbearing and homemaking

Feminist Movement • Friedan helped create NOW in 1966. • Gloria Steinem founded Ms. Magazine. • Won the Higher Education Act which forced many all-male schools to allow women to attend. • Title IX • Roe vs. Wade in 1973.

ERA • The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is the name of a proposed amendment to the Constitution intended to guarantee equal rights under the law for Americans regardless of sex. • Many feared the law would end responsibility for a husband to provide for wife and children. • Women would have to register for draft. • Opponents go on to assert that the ERA would also remove laws that specially protect women, such as labor laws in heavy industry. • First proposed in 1971. 35 states ratified it by 1982. It needed 38. Never ratified.

26 th Amendment • The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. • Gave college adults the right to vote in national elections and appease concerns stemming from Vietnam Era.

Legacy of the 60’s • Lives of women got better, but they still hit a “glass ceiling”. • Lives of Indians, Blacks, and Latinos improved, but they still had a long way to go. • Vietnam left many Americans divided, bitter, and resentful. • Americans trust the government less and less.

Legacy of the 60’s • Legacy of protest movements and social issues seem to die down in late 1900 s. • Despite winning the right to vote, many young people choose not to. • Culture now of drugs, sex, and irresponsibility. • Boomers become parents…and yuppies. • Apathy falls on America in the 1970 s.

Question Time • 12. Why did other groups start to demonstrate and protest during the 1960 s? • 13. Why did 18 year olds get the right to vote? • 14. What was the goal of the Feminist movement? • 15. Why is Cesar Chavez so important?