The Vietnam War & Politics Camelot to Watergate Flashcards
What role did Ho Chi Minh play in Vietnamese history after WWI?
Led the nationalist movement
What political philosophy did Ho Chi Minh follow?
Marxist
Who were the Vietminh?
Liberation Movement
What dilemma faced the US after WWII in Vietnam?
American tradition dictated sympathy for the revolutionaries over any colonial power. However, supporting the Marxist Viet Minh was unthinkable, given the new strategy of containing communism.
What was the Domino Theory?
????
What did the multinational agreement decide for Vietnam after the battle of Dien Bein Phu?
Divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel
What was the purpose of the Vietcong?
Overthrow the military regime in the South and reunite the nation under Ho Chi Minh
Who was the leader of South Vietnam who was supported by the US? What were some of weaknesses?
Ngo Dinh Diem
Is corrupt, showed little commitment to democratic principles, and favored Catholics to the dismay of the Buddhist majority
What occurred at the Gulf of Tonkin in August of 1964?
Gunboats of North Vietnam allegedly fired on ships of the United States Navy
What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?
To take all necessary measures to repel Vietnamese aggression
What was Operation Rolling Thunder?
U.S. began a long program of sustained bombing of North Vietnamese targets
What was the Ho Chi Minh Trail?
supply line used by the North Vietnamese to aid the Vietcong
What did the Vietcong do to keep the Ho Chi Minh Trail open in the face of massive bombing by the US?
They burrowed underground, building 30,000 miles of tunnel networks to keep supply lines open
What was one of the most confounding problems faced by US personnel in Vietnam?
Identifying the enemy
What were search and destroy missions?
Conducted by moving into a village and inspecting for any signs of Vietcong support
How did the Vietnamese choose to fight the American troops?
Ambush or Night Skirmishes
What was the outcome of the Tet Offensive?
The showdown was a military victory for the United States, but American morale suffered an insurmountable blow
How did the Tet Offensive influence the American attitude about the Vietnam War?
Only 28% of people were satisfied with the President’s decision. The public support brought declining troop morale.
What behavior by US troops in Vietnam showed that the decline in troop morale?
Soldiers indulged in alcohol, marijuana, and even heroin to escape their daily horrors
What did the North Vietnamese do as they sensed the American resolve was crumbling?
They pretended to negotiate with United States, making proposals they knew would be rejected. They gambled that the American people would demand troop withdrawals before the military met its objectives
What were some of the moral reasons why the Peace Movement leaders opposed the war?
Innocent Vietnamese peasants were being killed in crossfire, American planes wrought environmental damage by dropping their defoliating chemicals
What were some of the economic reasons why Peace Movement leaders opposed the war?
Military spending simply took money away from Great Society social programs such as welfare, housing, and urban renewal.
What brought about the passage of the 26th Amendment?
Drafting 19 years olds into the war
How did Draft Deferments show an inequality in American society?
College students were granted suffrage but the less educated had to go to war. Very discriminatory
How did Television help the anti-war movement?
Millions of Americans watched body bags leave the Asian rice paddies every night in their living rooms.
How did the peace protests begin to change over time in the 1960s?
Peaceful protests become violent
What was Nixon’s plan of Vietnamization?
The United States would gradually withdraw troops from Southeast Asia as American military personnel turned more and more of the fighting over to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. In theory, as the South Vietnamese became more able to defend themselves, United States soldiers could go home without a communist takeover of Saigon.
Why did Nixon order an invasion of Cambodia?
The Ho Chi Minh trail stretched through its territory. Nixon ordered the Viet Cong bases located along the trail to be bombed.
Why did the Governor of Ohio order the National Guard to Kent State University? What was the tragic result of the decision to bring the National Guard troops on campus?
The students burned down the ROTC building on campus and some local property.
4 students died, several wounded.
What happened at My Lai? How did the knowledge of this event influence the war movement?
American soldiers fired on several hundred of women and children.
Everyone was outraged and went on the list of examples of killing innocent peasants.
What were the Pentagon Papers?
Top-secret overview of the history of government involvement in Vietnam
Why did Nixon decide to increase the bombing of North Vietnam in 1972?
He hoped this initiative would push North Vietnam to the peace table
What did Nixon call the peace agreement with North Vietnam?
“Peace with Honor”
What happened in Southeast Asia after the US withdrew from Vietnam?
The North soon attacked the South and in April 1975 they captured Saigon. Vietnam was united into one communist nation. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Cambodia and Laos soon followed with communist regimes of their own. The United States was finally out of Vietnam.
Who did Kennedy draw comparisons with?
King Arthur and Camelot
What was the goal of Kennedy’s New Frontier?
It asked the nation’s talented and fortunate to work to eliminate poverty and injustice at home, while projecting confidence overseas.
What was the goal of Johnson’s “Great Society”?
To complete Kennedy’s work
What events at the end of 60s caused many Americans to desire a “Return to Normandy”?
Assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy only fanned the flames, and by the end of the decade most Americans were weary of war, rioting, and political crusades
What lands made up Indochina?
Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
Who were the two candidates in the 1960 Presidential election?
Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy
What issue caused many Americans to be concerned about the election of Kennedy?
His Roman Catholic religion. People were worried about his ability to put the nation’s interest above the pope.
What did Nixon focus on from his past record to convince the American people that he would be a good President?
He left religion out of the campaign and hammered the perception that Kennedy is too inexperienced to sit in the Oval Office
What did Kennedy focus on to show that he would be a good President?
He emphasized the importance of his 8 years as Vice-President
How were the backgrounds of Kennedy and Nixon different?
Kennedy was from a wealthy background and graduated from Harvard University. Nixon painted himself the average American, growing up poor in California, and working his way through Whittier College.
What was the pivotal event in this very close election?
Televised presidential elections
Kennedy looked well tanned and rested, Nixon looked nervous and recovering from knee injury.
How did many Americans respond to Kennedy’s call serve as a new generation of Americans?
Many Americans responded to his call by joining the newly formed Peace Corps or volunteering in America to work toward social justice.
What events showed that the Soviet Union was ahead of the US in the “Space Race”?
Launching Sputnik and Mutnik
Who was the first American in space?
Yuri Gagarin
What were some of Kennedy’s successful efforts to continue the tradition of liberal democrats like FDR and Truman?
He signed legislation raising the minimum wage and increasing Social Security benefits. He raised money for research into mental illness and allocated funds to develop impoverished rural areas. He showed approval for the civil rights movement by supporting James Meredith’s attempt to enroll at the University of Mississippi and by ordering his Attorney General, brother Robert Kennedy, to protect the freedom riders in the South.
Why did many of his more revolutionary efforts fail?
He wished to protect millions of acres of wilderness lands from developments, but the Congress refused. His efforts to provide federal funds to elementary and secondary schools were denied. His Medicare plan to provide health insurance for the nation’s elderly failed to achieve the necessary support. Congress was dominated by a coalition of Republicans and conservative Southern Democrats who refused to expand the New Deal any further.
Who assassinated Kennedy?
Lee Harvey Oswald
What was Kennedy’s chief foreign policy goal?
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What was the idea behind Kennedy’s “Flexible Response”?
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What was the Peace Corps?
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Why did Kennedy believe that the Peace Corps was a win-win proposition?
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What was the “Alliance for Progress” program Kennedy had for Latin America?
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What was the goal of the Bay of Pigs invasion?
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What did Kennedy do when he learned that the Soviet Union was planning to missiles in Cuba? How was the Cuban Missile Crisis resolved?
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