Going to war in Vietnam

The United States continued to send aid to South Vietnam.. This further weakened South Vietnam’s government, forcing the United States to become more involved... After Kennedy’s assass

GOING TO WAR IN

VIETNAM Chapter 25, Section 2

By Mr Bruce Diehl

I American Involvement

Deepens

1 Ngo Dinh Diem refused to hold

the national elections,

2 Ho Chi Minh and his followers

created a new guerrilla army known as the Vietcong.

3 The United States continued to

send aid to South Vietnam

4 The Vietcong’s power continued

to grow because many Vietnamese opposed Diem’s government.

Examining What was

the main goal of the Vietcong? (p.778)

B Kennedy and Vietnam

1 Kennedy continued the nation’s policy of

support for South Vietnam.

2 He agreed with past presidents that

Southeast Asia was important in the battle against communism.

C The fall of Ngo Dihn Diem

1 Ngo’s government unpopularity increased

2 His government was corrupt

3 He created strategic hamlets – fortified

villages to resist the Vietcong

4 He discriminated against Buddhism, one of the country’s most widely practiced religions

5 Diem was overthrown and later executed

6 This further weakened South Vietnam’s

government, forcing the United States to become more involved.

D After Kennedy’s assassination,

President Lyndon Johnson inherited the problem of

Vietnam

II Johnson and Vietnam

A At first Johnson was cautious regarding Vietnam…but:

1 He was determined to prevent South Vietnam from becoming

Communist

2 Politically, Democrats needed to keep South Vietnam from

becoming Communist or Republicans would use it against them

B The Gulf of Tonkin Incident

1 On August 2, 1964, North

Vietnamese torpedo boats fired

on two American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin

2 A similar attack occurred two days later

3 The Senate and the House

passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 7, 1964

4 The GTR authorized the

president to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack on U.S forces

5 Congress had given its war

powers to the president

B After the GTR was passed, the

Vietcong began attacking

bases where American

advisers were stationed in

South Vietnam

1 After an attack in February

1965, Johnson sent aircrafts to strike in North Vietnam

2 Polls showed that Johnson’s

approval rating had increased

as a result of GTR

3 Some dissenters in the White

House warned that if the United States became too involved, it would be difficult to get out

4 In March 1965, Johnson

increased American involvement

5 American soldiers began

fighting alongside the South Vietnamese troops against the Vietcong

Describing How did politics play a role in President

Johnson’s Vietnam policy?(p.779)

III A bloody Stalemate Emerges

180,000 American

combat troops were

fighting in Vietnam,

with the number

doubling by 1966

believed they could

win in Vietnam.

C To take Vietcong’s hiding places away,

American planes dropped:

1 Napalm, a jellied gasoline that explodes on contact

2 and Agent Orange, a chemical that strips leaves

from trees and shrubs

3 Farmlands and forest were turned into wastelands.

D Americans

underestimated the

Vietcong’s strength,

stamina and morale.

E Johnson refused to order

a full invasion or North Vietnam, fearing China would get involved in the war.

F President Johnson also

refused to allow a full-scale attack on the

Vietcong’s supply line,

known as the Ho Chi

Minh trail

Describing What tactics did the United States

adopt to fight the Vietcong?

G As American casualties

increased, many American

citizens began questioning the United States involvement in the war