War in Vietnam

Walter Capps says Vietnam caused,

"a rupture in our national consciousness,"

A.   Vietnam prior to the U.S. War

…French colony

…Independence Movement

First Indo-China War: 1946-1954

            75,000 French dead

            175,000-500,000 Vietnamese dead

Dien Bien Phu

(170 days of bombardment, 57 days of battle)

            10,000 Vietnamese killed in action

            1700 French killed in action

            A. Anti-Communist Context:

                        Containment and Domino Thinking

B. Escalation

                        1. Advisors:

                        2. Lyndon Baines Johnson "Great Society"

1964

The 24th Amendment banned poll tax in federal elections

Tax Reduction Act

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Urban Mass Transportation Act

Economic Opportunity Act

Wilderness Preservation Act

1965

Elementary and Secondary School Act ($1 billion for public schools and $100 million for purchase of library and textbooks

Medicare 

Medicaid

Voting Rights Act which put an end to literacy tests; established voting registrars which could be sent to locales which had a history of denying people the right to vote

Omnibus Housing Act provided $7.5 billion for low-income housing and aid to small businesses displaced by urban renewal 

Department of Housing and Urban Development established

National Foundation for the Arts and Humanities including the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities 

Water Quality Act

Immigration laws revised so that immigration would be based on skills needed instead of ethnicity or nationality.

Air Quality Act created auto emission standards 

Higher Education Act which gave increased support to colleges and universities

Affirmative Action established by executive order

1966

National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act Highway Safety Act

Minimum Wage raised and coverage extended 

Department of Transportation established 

Model Cities program to rehabilitate urban slums

Public Broadcasting System

1968

Truth-in-Lending act

In Saigon, where there's been another military coup, Defense Secretary McNamara promises the new government that "We'll stay for as long as it takes. We shall provide whatever help is required to win the battle against the Communist insurgents."

                        3. Gulf of Tonkin

                        4. Rolling Thunder

5. The Crucial Year: 1968

a. Anti-War Movement—SDS

Fixin to die rag…country joe

War…Edwin Starr

Fortunate Son….CCR

Ohio…Crosby stills nash young

Masters of War…Dylan

           

b. The Tet Offensive:

                                    c. Enter Tricky Dick:

"secret plan"

Vietnamization.

How does this war end?