Chapter 14
Against whom did the Vietcong fight?
A group of South Vietnamese army officers killed Ngo Dinh Diem.
How were air strikes employed by the U.S. Army in Vietnam between 1965 and 1968?
Air strikes were launched in 1965 in Operation Rolling Thunder, the goal of which was the destruction of war industries in North Vietnam. Air strikes were also designed to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a supply route used by the North Vietnamese that ran through North Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam.
What started the Cuban Missile Crisis?
American spy planes discovered that the Soviets were installing nuclear missiles in Cuba.
How did television figure into American public opinion of the Vietnam War?
Americans could watch footage of the war on the nightly news. Reporters such as Walter Cronkite reported from the field. News of the brutal My Lai massacre and the massive Tet Offensive turned many former supporters of the war into critics and opponents.
Describe the hippie counterculture that developed as a result of the antiwar movement.
As a result of the war, some young people chose to reject mainstream society and decided to build a culture with its own values and ways of behaving. Members of this culture, called hippies, emhasized individual freedom, nonviolence, and communal sharing. Hippies expressed their rejection of traditional society by growing their hair long and wearing unusual clothes.
How did the My Lai massacre and the Tet Offensive affect American public opinion of the war in Vietnam?
Both events caused many Americans to question U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Support for the war declined.
What happened to Cambodia and Laos after the end of the Vietnam War?
Cambodia and Laos were taken over by Communist dictators.
What propelled U.S. investment in space exploration during the 1960s?
Cold War-era competition between the United States and the Soviet Union
How did the Vietnam War highlight race and class differences in the United States?
College students, most of whom were white and from wealthier families, were able to get deferments releasing them from the draft.
What did the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 implement?
Eisenhower's plan to overthrow Castro using Cuban exiles trained by the CIA
True or False Despite firm instructions from the United States to let the elections go forward, Diem would not allow the 1956 reunification elections to take place once he knew he would lose them.
False
True or False Many Americans were furious with President Nixon for secretly withdrawing U.S. soldiers from Vietnam in 1970 before a victory had been won.
False
True or False President Lyndon Johnson had no question about what happened in the Gulf of Tonkin when he declared the incident an act of war.
False
True or False Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) promoted "dropping out" of traditional society and starting a nonviolent counterculture.
False
True or False The Paris Peace Accords signed by the United States and representatives of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the Vietcong, finally ended the Vietnam War.
False
True or False Young men from poor families that needed their financial support could get deferments, which meant they would not be drafted to fight in Vietnam.
False
Who was George McGovern?
George McGovern was a Democratic presidential candidate who was an outspoken opponent of the war. He promised voters an immediate U.S. troop-withdrawal from Vietnam. He also hoped to appeal to young voters, who were permitted to vote for the first time by the Twenty-sixth Amendment.
Why did President Eisenhower help South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem?
He thought Diem was the only hope South Vietnam had against falling to communism. Its neighbor, North Vietnam, was Communist.
Communist leader of North Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh
Many Democratic delegates opposed the candidacy of ______________________ in the 1968 presidential election, as they disliked his connection with President Johnson and the Vietnam War. (Robert F. Kennedy/Hubert Humphrey)
Hubert Humphrey
What issue deeply divided the Democratic Party going into the 1968 National Convention?
Hubert Humphrey's close association with Johnson and the Vietnam War
Study the passage below and answer the question that follows. "I think these few minutes were the time of gravest concern for the President. Was the world on the brink of a holocaust? Was it our error? A mistake? Was there something further that should have been done? Or not done? . . . The minutes in the Cabinet Room ticked slowly by. What could we say now—what could we do? Then it was 10:25—a messenger brought in a note . . .'Mr. President . . . some of the Russian ships have stopped dead in the water . . . Six ships . . . have stopped or have turned back toward the Soviet Union' . . .Then we were back to the details. The meeting droned on. But everyone looked like a different person. For a moment the world had stood still, and now it was going around again." —Robert F. Kennedy, from Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis What would you use this primary source to illustrate, if you were to include it in a research report?
I would use this source to show what it was like to be in the Cabinet Room during the Cuban missile crisis. Robert Kennedy's observations reveal the doubts that were probably going through the president's mind. The passage also shows the relief the people in the room felt when they got the news that the Russians were backing down. This passage is a great illustration of what it felt like to be with the president at such a tense and historic moment.
Which of these statements expresses the domino theory?
If one nation became Communist, nearby countries would also fall to communism.
What were the Paris Peace Accords of 1973?
In 1973, the United States signed a cease-fire called the Paris Peace Accords with representatives of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the Vietcong. The United States agreed to withdraw all its troops from Vietnam and North Vietnam agreed to return all American prisoners of war. Fighting broke out between North and South Vietnam in 1974 despite the agreement, and the United States did not send troops back to South Vietnam.
How did the Cuban Missile Crisis begin, and how did it end?
In October 1962, American spy planes discovered that the Soviets were installing nuclear missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy demanded that the Soviets remove the missiles, and a U.S. naval blockade around Cuba was created to stop Soviet ships from entering. After several tense weeks, Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba. In return, Kennedy made two promises: not to invade Cuba, and to remove some missiles in Italy and Turkey.
What caused the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion? What was its outcome?
In the late 1950s, rebel leader Fidel Castro established a Communist government in Cuba that was allied to the Soviet Union. Worried that the Soviet Union might launch a nuclear attack against the United States from Cuban army bases, the United States decided to invade the island and overthrow Castro. The invasion, launched on April 17, 1961, marked a striking defeat for the U.S. military forces, and President Kennedy was harshly criticized for the operation.
Ho Chi Minh organized the Vietminh to resist ______________ occupation. (French/Japanese)
Japanese
Cambodian Communist army
Khmer Rouge
Why did Nikita Khrushchev decide to build the Berlin Wall?
Khrushchev wanted to stop workers from escaping East Berlin.
After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States and Soviet Union signed the __________________ Test Ban Treaty, which banned aboveground testing of new nuclear weapons. (Limited Nuclear/Atomic)
Limited Nuclear
What impact did the massacre at My Lai have on public opinion?
Many Americans began to question the war.
Why did many delegates to the Democratic convention in Chicago criticize Hubert Humphrey's candidacy in the 1968 presidential election?
Many Democratic delegates did not like the close ties that Humphrey had with President Johnson and the Vietnam War.
What did Americans voters fear would happen if George McGovern won the presidential election in 1972?
Many voters feared that a McGovern victory would lead to greater disorder and protests surrounding the Vietnam War.
__________________ was demolished and its people massacred by U.S. soldiers on a search-and-destroy mission. (Saigon/My Lai)
My Lai
first person to walk on the moon
Neil Armstrong
Which of the following American astronauts were the first to land on the moon?
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin
What made Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin famous?
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin were two American astronauts. They were the first men to set foot on the moon, which they did on July 20, 1969.
Why did President Johnson decide not to seek his party's nomination for president in the 1968 election?
News of the Tet Offensive had caused his popularity to drop sharply. Many disapproved of his performance as president and his handling of the Vietnam War. He was also losing support among his own party. The best answers will infer that he may not have wanted politics to interfere with making decisions about the war.
What happened to Saigon after the United States left Vietnam in 1973?
North Vietnam invaded the South in 1975. Thousands of American embassy workers and South Vietnamese evacuated Saigon. The city was captured by the North Vietnamese and renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi became the capital of the new Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
How did the Vietnam War end?
North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon and created a unified nation in 1975.
What was astronaut Neil Armstrong doing when he said, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind"?
On July 20, 1969, the lunar module Eagle landed on the surface of the moon. American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin climbed out and became the first people to walk on the moon. Armstrong made this statement as he touched the lunar surface.
Who was drafted to fight in Vietnam? Who escaped the draft?
One quarter of the soldiers in Vietnam were drafted. These soldiers were mostly aged 18-21, younger than soldiers in previous wars, and often came from minority groups and poor families. Deferments, which released people from the draft, were available to college students. But most college students were white and came from wealthier families.
The Alliance for Progress gave Latin American nations $20 billion in aid, but the ________________ was more successful in improving U.S. relations with Latin America. (Central Intelligence Agency/Peace Corps)
Peace Corps
In 1971, the ______________________ revealed that U.S. officials had been lying to the American people about the progress of the Vietnam War for years. (Pentagon Papers/New York Times)
Pentagon Papers
Which of the following offers historical evidence that the Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War?
President Johnson refused General Westmoreland's request for another 200,000 troops.
Who was Henry Kissinger?
Richard Nixon's national security advisor
By the end of 1967 U.S. military leaders claimed they were nearing victory in Vietnam, but _______________________ in January 1968 proved they were wrong. (the Tet Offensive/escalation)
Tet Offensive
Why was President Kennedy particularly worried about Fidel Castro's close ties with the Soviet Union?
The Soviets could use Cuba as a base from which to launch a missile attack on the United States.
What was the Tet Offensive, and why didn't U.S. forces expect it?
The Tet Offensive was a surprise attack launched by Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces throughout South Vietnam on January 30, 1968. It included an attack on the American Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam's capital. U.S. forces did not expect the offensive because Tet is the Vietnamese New Year, and a cease-fire had halted fighting on the holiday in previous years.
What was significance of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution?
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution gave the president the authority to protect U.S. forces by any means necessary against armed attack. This gave the executive branch a great deal of power. It also enabled Johnson to greatly expand the United States' role in Vietnam.
Why did the United States support France's attempt to suppress the Vietminh?
The United States feared that a Vietminh victory would lead to the spread of communism in the region.
What were the secret government documents published by the New York Times in June 1971? What did these documents reveal?
The documents were the Pentagon Papers. These documents revealed that U.S. officials had been lying to the American public about the progress of the war for years.
Describe the domino theory.
The domino theory was a fear felt by American leaders that if one country became Communist, nearby countries would also fall to communism.
What was the goal of Project Apollo?
The goal of NASA's Project Apollo was to land an astronaut on the moon. It was an important part of the space race, which was a feature of Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Why did the East German government build the Berlin Wall in 1961?
The open border between the two parts of Berlin made it easy for skilled workers to escape from Communist East Berlin to rich and democratic West Berlin. This led Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev to demand the closing of the border and the building of the Berlin Wall.
What does the War Powers Act state?
The president must get congressional approval before committing troops to an armed struggle.
What was the purpose of General William Westmoreland's search-and-destroy missions?
The purpose was for U.S. patrols to search for hidden enemy camps and destroy them with massive firepower and air raids.
What actions did Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) take against the war?
They protested the draft and companies that made weapons used in Vietnam.
What was the War Powers Act? Why was it passed?
This act, passed in 1973, requires the president to get congressional approval before committing U.S. troops to an armed struggle. It was passed because Americans had less trust in government officials, including the president, as a result of the Vietnam War.
gave the president the authority to take "all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States"
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
True or False After the Tet Offensive, nearly half of the American public believed that the United States should never have become involved in the Vietnam War.
True
True or False Most of the battles against North Vietnam were fought in the jungles and villages of South Vietnam.
True
True or False The 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion was led by Cuban exiles trained by the CIA to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro.
True
True or False The Vietnam War undermined the trust of American citizens in government officials, which contributed to the passage in 1973 of the War Powers Act.
True
In the 1972 presidential election Democratic candidate George McGovern hoped to appeal to voters ages 18 to 21 who would be voting for the first time as a result of the ratification of the ________________ Amendment. (Twenty-first/twenty-sixth)
Twenty-sixth
lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971
Twenty-sixth Amendment
What 1964 event led to a rapid expansion of U.S. involvement in Vietnam?
U.S. ships off the North Vietnamese coast reported being attacked.
How were the soldiers who returned home from the Vietnam War received by the public?
Vietnam War soldiers were not always welcomed home as heroes from previous wars had been. Some were insulted by antiwar protesters.
President Nixon's plan to pull U.S. soldiers from Vietnam and turn the fighting over to the South Vietnamese Army was called _____________________. (Vietnamization/escalation)
Vietnamization
program for having South Vietnamese troops take over the war in Vietnam
Vietnamization
requires the president to get congressional approval before committing U.S. soldiers to an armed struggle
War Powers Act
What was the idea behind the strategy called "Vietnamization?"
When President Nixon was elected to the White House, he vowed not to be the first American President to lose a war. He created a plan to pull U.S. troops from Vietnam and have the South Vietnamese Army take over all the fighting.
commanded U.S. ground forces in Vietnam
William Westmoreland
first person to travel into space
Yuri Gagarin
What was Vietnamese nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh's goal?
a Communist revolution in Vietnam
What did President Nixon do on April 30, 1970 to infuriate many Americans?
announced that he had sent U.S. troops into Cambodia, expanding the war he had promised to end
What did Ngo Dinh Diem do to disappoint the U.S. government?
appointed his own family members to top positions and tortured political enemies
Who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.?
architecture student Maya Ying Lin
What did President Nixon approve without the knowledge of Congress or the American public?
bombing raids on Cambodia and Laos
To disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail, U.S. forces
dropped napalm and Agent Orange to kill troops, destroy supplies, and down forests.
program for increasing the involvement of U.S. military forces in Vietnam
escalation
During the Vietnam War, hawks and doves in America disagreed on whether
funding domestic programs was more important than winning the Cold War.
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution ...
gave the president authority to take all necessary means to repel an armed attack against U.S. forces.
Vietnamization was a plan to
have the South Vietnamese army take over the fighting.
In establishing the Peace Corps President Kennedy intend to
help developing countries with tasks such as building schools.
What was the target of General William Westmoreland's search-and-destroy missions?
hidden enemy camps
In the context of President Johnson's policy on Vietnam between 1965 and 1968, what is the meaning of the word "escalation"?
increased involvement
President Kennedy amazed Americans in 1961 by saying that by the end of the decade the United States would
land a man on the moon.
Study the quotation below and answer the question that follows. "If, when the chips are down, the United States of America acts like a pitiful helpless giant, the forces of totalitarian anarchy will threaten free nations." —President Nixon, from an address to the American people The purpose of this line of Nixon's speech is to
make an argument.
What was Robert F. Kennedy's election platform in 1968?
negotiate a quick and peaceful end to the war
The Alliance for Progress was a U.S. program that
pledged $20 billion in aid to countries in Latin America.
Members of Students for a Democratic Society
protested the draft and weapons manufacturers.
What June 1971 event led antiwar feeling to grow in the United States?
publication of the Pentagon Papers
What did the hippie counterculture do to express its ideals in the 1960s?
supported individual freedom, nonviolence, and communal sharing
The devastating napalm bombing of North Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam was meant to disrupt ____________________. (the Ho Chi Minh Trail/Operation Rolling Thunder)
the Ho Chi Minh Trail
What were students protesting against at Kent State University in the early 1970s?
the secret bombing of Cambodia
What was the result of the 1954 Geneva Accords?
the temporary creation of North and South Vietnam
Kennedy allowed the Soviet Union to build the Berlin Wall because he was
unwilling to go to war over the issue.
In general, how were Vietnam War Veterans received when they returned home to America?
with hostility, as antiwar protesters treated the soldiers as supporters of government policies
