Definitions

Ho Chi Minh: Founder of the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930.

Dien Bien Phu: A French outpost in the Northwestern Vietnam.

Geneva Accords: Was a peace agreement that divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel.

Ngo Dinh Diem: The president of South Vietnam.

Vietcong: A communit opposite group in South Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: It was Johnson's plan to use ships to bomb North Vietnam on August 7.

Ho Chi Minh Trail: A network of paths used by North Vietnam to transport supplies to the Vietcong in South Vietnam.

Napalm: A gasoline-based bomb that set the jungle on fire.

Agent Orange: A leaf killing toxic chemical.

Credibility Gap: Johnson lied about what was really happening in Vietnam.

Vietnamization: The idea to slowly take troops out of Vietnam so South Vietnam could take over the war.

Silent Majority: Was the middle class that Nixon believed still supported the war.

My Lai Massacre: Lieutenant William Calley Jr. killed everyone in a small village while searching for Vietcong.

Kent State University: A protest of the war by college students where 4 people died by the hands of a National Guard.

Pentagon Papers: 7,000 page document that showed the government had no plan on leaving Vietnam till the North was defeated.

War Powers Act: It makes the president tell congress 48 hours before he sends soldiers into war.

Early Stages of Vietnam

Us entered Vietnam to contain Communism . The US was afraid if Vietnam fell then the rest of Southeast Asia would fall. Robert McNamara is a former US Secretary of Defense and lead the US in the Vietnam war. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave the President power to make decisions and take action without the approval of Congress.

The Vietnam War was compared to World War 2. The Tet Offensive destroyed the American morale because they were told that the war was being won but then North Vietnam started attacking South Vietnam's cities. The American public was defeated.

Year of 1968

In the year of 1968, Civil Rights leader Martin Luther king, was assassinated on April 4th. He was shot in Memphis Tennessee at a hotel. The shooters name was James Earl Ray. Later that year Bobby Kennedy was assassinated as well. This presidential candidate was shot on June 5th. The shooter's name was Sirhan Sirhan. He was also shot at a hotel. He was shot by a 22 caliber.

The Tet offensive also started from January 30, 1968 to September 23, 1968. This was Tet Mau Than uprising by North Vietnam. One of the largest military campaigns. Walter Cronkite was a news broadcaster for CBS news. People really looked up to him. He would broadcast about Vietnam everyday.

Later Years of Vietnam

Couple years after 1968 Nixon's strategy, Vietnamization, was to help South Vietnam become bigger, stronger, and well prepared. As he made that, Kent State students had a big riot for no war as 4 people were killed by officers. William Calley Jr. killed everyone in a small village while searching for Vietcong.

The US left Vietnam March 29th, 1973. About 150,000 soldiers were treated when arriving home. 58,220 American soldiers died in Vietnam. The US spent $168 billion dollars on the Vietnam war.

Richard Nixon's Presidency

Nixon introduced Vietnamization which put the responsibility of the Vietnam War on South Vietnam and the US slowly withdrew from Vietnam. Nixon reduced tensions between the US and the communist countries like China, Russia, and North Vietnam. In Nixon's second term he resigned due to the Watergate Scandal

People in his campaign broke into the Democratic National Committee. Nixon and some of his administration knew of the burglary, but Nixon denied it. Later tapes were revealed that Nixon tried to cover up the criminal activity.