Napalm

The Vietnam War 1965-1973

Our Longest War Comes To An End

Democratic National Convention of 1968

• The Democrats met in Chicago in 1968 to hold their convention and choose their presidential candidate

• Easier said then done: LBJ decided not to run for reelection, the leading Democratic presidential candidate was assassinated, and the party was split on how to handle the war in Vietnam

• 10,000 antiwar protestors showed up – Millions of Americans watched the chaos on television

June 5, 1968

The Presidential Election of 1968

• Richard M. Nixon makes a political comeback from his 1960 defeat and wins the presidential nomination from the Republican party

• He goes up against Democrat Hubert Humphrey – Vice President under Johnson

• George Wallace (former governor of Alabama)– Championed school segregation– Proponent of states’ rights

• Who do you think wins?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Nixon_30-0316a.jpg

Nixon Begins Pullout

• President Nixon and his National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, come up with a withdrawal plan – Vietnamization- Nixon’s strategy for ending

U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War by the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and their replacement with South Vietnamese forces

• By August 1969, the first 25,000 U.S. troops returned home

My Lai Massacre

• In November of 1969, the New York Times broke the story:

• March 16, 1968, a U.S. platoon was searching for Vietcong rebels in the small village of My Lai

• They found none, but rounded up the villagers and shot more than 200 innocent civilians– Women, children, elderly

My Lai Massacre

Invasion of Cambodia

• On April 30, 1970, Nixon announced troops had invaded Cambodia to clear out Vietcong and North Vietnamese supply centers

• Congress then repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution

• More than 1.5 million students went on strike, closing down 1,200 campuses

Tragedy at Kent State

May 4, 1970 Kent State University

• http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/02/kent.state.ap/index.html

Will This War Ever End?!

• 1971- 60% of Americans thought we should withdraw from Vietnam

• March 1972- North Vietnamese launch their largest attack on South Vietnam since the Tet Offensive– Nixon responded with a heavy bombing campaign,

which halted the North Vietnamese attack

• Nixon realizes he must end this war if he wants to win reelection in November 1972

Suspected Vietcong soldiers

Interrogating a Vietcong suspect

American Involvement Ends

• January 27, 1973 “Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam” was signed– North Vietnamese troops would peacefully

remain in South Vietnam – Nixon said he would respond with full force if

the peace was broken

• On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left for home

All For Not?

• For America, the war was over in 1973

• Within months, the peace between North and South Vietnam collapsed

• On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon and captured the city– South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam– Vietnam is now a united, Communist nation

War Facts

• The Vietnam war became our longest war ever

• In all, 58,000 American troops died in Vietnam– 303,000 wounded

• North and South Vietnamese deaths topped 2 million

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The War Is Over, Pain Is Not

• No brass bands, no victory parades, no cheering crowds

• 15% of the 3.3. Million soldiers who served developed post-traumatic stress disorder– Reoccurring nightmares, severe headaches,

memory lapses

• Others began abusing drugs and alcohol• Several thousand committed suicide

Aftermath of the Vietnam War

• Government abolished the draft, which aroused so much anti-war sentiment

• Passed the War Powers Act– President must inform congress within 48 hours

of sending forces into a hostile area without a declaration of war

• Overall, citizens lost faith and trust in their government

Vietnam Veterans Memorial