JFK, Johnson and Nixons war

Question 1

what was Kennedys role in the overthrow of Diem?

Answer 1

He initially considered a coup against Diem but his advisors argued it could result in an unstable leader. the US later agreed they would not stop a coup. but Kennedy was horrified when Diem was murdered.

Question 2

what was JFK’s involvement in Vietnam?

Answer 2

he pursued counterinsurgency methods against communism in general. He sent more advisors and arms to Vietnam and by the end of his presidency there were 16,000 advisers in Vietnam.

Question 3

when coming into office what was LBJ’s attitude towards Vietnam?

Answer 3

he had avoided the topic at the start focusing rather on civil rights legislation. but he was faced with a problem as he couldnt leave Vietnam as he would be seen as a coward.

Question 4

what did the war do to Johnsons approval ratings?

Answer 4

in mid 1965 they stood at a mid 70% but by 1968 had dropped to the mid 30s

Question 5

what was the Gulf of Tonkin resolution?

Answer 5

august 1964 American ships support a mission by the south Vietnamese to attack islands off the north of Vietnam. shots were allegedly exchanged between Americans ships and N.Vietnamese ships.
LBJ requests retaliatory action.

Question 6

what began the escalation of American intervention?

Answer 6

operation rolling thunder in march 1965 saw a bombing campaign on the north in order to demoralise the enemy.

Question 7

what was the reaction from the public and members of congress to the bombing campaign?

Answer 7

protests erupted in the US as it appeared that Goliath was dropping bombs on David. however only one person opposed the war in Johnsons government.

Question 8

what was the morale effect on the Viet cong after the bombing campaign?

Answer 8

it didn’t have the effect the US had hoped but rather increased loyalty as bridged and roads that had been destroyed were rebuilt.

Question 9

what were the number of American troops initially deployed?

Answer 9

in 1965 200,000 troops which doubled in 1966.

Question 10

what was the strategy of hearts and minds?

Answer 10

aiming to win over the south and deter communism, used pacification measures by bringing together civilian and military aspects through improving villages and providing schools with electricity. would then find and kill the Viet Cong.

Question 11

what was search and destroy?

Answer 11

started by Westmoreland which involved flying troops into VC villages, killing the inhabitants and then destroying the village. measuring success on the body count of enemies.

Question 12

what was the problem with measuring success with body count?

Answer 12

counting every body as an enemy combatant wasn’t always true and many deaths were civilians. this led to the killing of as many people as possible to get greater success even if they were civilians.

Question 13

what was the VC strategy to fight the Americans?

Answer 13

they would get as close as possible so the Americans couldn’t call air support risking their own men.

Question 14

what was the level of losses the VC suffered?

Answer 14

1 American death for every 10 VC

Question 15

what was the Tet Offensive 1968?

Answer 15

the plan by the VC to launch simultaneous attacks on south Vietnamese cities to catch the Americans by surprise. the attack was launched during Tet in Saigon. in Hue the fighting was house to house with executions being prevalent.

Question 16

what was the result of the Tet offensive?

Answer 16

the north and initial success but were counter attacked by the Americans and were driven out of all southern strongholds and the civilians didn’t rise up as the VC had planned.

Question 17

what was the result of Tet offensive on the US?

Answer 17

demonstrated a failure in intelligence as they didnt expect the attack to happen so early.
Americans back home questioned the war further after witnessing a live execution of VC by a south viet soldier, questioned the morality of the south Vietnamese

Question 18

how many soldiers in Vietnam by 1968?

Answer 18

500,000 men, with the heaviest losses of US troops ever

Question 19

what shock announcement did LBJ make at the end of 1968? why was it a shock?

Answer 19

he announced that he would not run for another term as president, this was shocking as presidents don’t just stand down, they always run for another term.

Question 20

what was the problem with Johnson’s team after the Tet offensive?

Answer 20

he was surrounded by hawks after ten but many argued to withdraw from Vietnam with his own defence secretary opposing further intervention

Question 21

what was the situation looking like going into the 1968 election?

Answer 21

the war was a prominent problem with Nixon campaigning on a vague peace with honour statement and he was 20 points ahead in the polls over democrat Hubert Humphrey

Question 22

what was Nixon secretly doing on his election campaign regarding Vietnam?

Answer 22

he was in talks with both sides of the Vietnamese claiming to have a better peace deal if he was to be elected and they shouldn’t sign any peace deals before that. and in October LBJ’s peace deal falls through.

Question 23

what was the problem with Nixons secret diplomacy?

Answer 23

it was illegal and could be considered treason.

Question 24

after taking office what did Nixon do in Vietnam?

Answer 24

he sent more troops and bombs to Vietnam, and increased the bombing of Cambodia as the Ho Chi Minh trail ran through. this campaign was kept secret from the American people as Cambodia was neutral.

Question 25

what was Nixons strategy of Vietnamization?

Answer 25

it would limit American troops in the war, rather training locals to support air power.
26,000 troops were Brough home immediately which was a PR success. the draft system was also changed to a lottery system as to not favour the upper class

Question 26

what was the effect of Vietnamisation on Vietnam?

Answer 26

it demoralised the south and American troops began to question why they should fight if the war was winding down, this was not good for winning a war and led to increase in fragging.

Question 27

what was fragging?

Answer 27

where generals would send their men into meaningless battles and fights.

Question 28

what was the phoenix programme?

Answer 28

accelerated effort to search for VC within hamlets and destroy political infrastructure. methods included torture and assassinations which killed around 20,000 VC between 1965-72.
this was used as a method to settle scores which was rife with corruption and saw many civilians killed.

Question 29

what was operation duck hook 1969?

Answer 29

This gave Henry Kissinger a wide birth to come up with many ideas some of which included nukes, land invasion of the North and an attempt to exploit breaking points.
Nixon abandons this due to fears of further anti war sentiment.

Question 30

what was Nixons Silent majority speech?

Answer 30

Nixon tells the American people he needs time to achieve peace, and mention the patriotic silent majority unlike the load protesting students. this proved popular as many saw themselves in the silent majority.

Question 31

what was the effect of anti war sentiment on congress?

Answer 31

after the publication of massacres such as My Lai and further anti war sentiment, congress also adopt some of this by banning American troops from engaging in Laos and Thailand.

Question 32

when did the war start to come apart for Nixon?

Answer 32

after Nixon announced the Invasion of Cambodia in 1970 the war seemed never ending. universities closed out of protest and congress protested.

Question 33

what were some of the events that further increased anti war sentiment against Nixon?

Answer 33

1971 winter soldier trials
1971 veterans protested by throwing away their medals
1971 pentagon papers reveal in greater detail actions by the US

Question 34

what was Operation Linebacker?

Answer 34

1972 Nixon bombs the north in the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong, the US air force suffering heavy losses with some refusing to take part as it caused too many losses.

Question 35

how did the war come to an end for Nixon?

Answer 35

Paris peace accords 1973, the US agreed to leave within 60 days, the North would release all POWs and there would be gradual reunification.
but the North took the south in 1975 with congress rejecting president Fords argument to help.