9 - The Vietnam War - November 10 - The Vietnam War Lasting...

The Vietnam War

Lasting legacies
•
America’s longest war
•
2.5 million Americans
fought
•
58,000 Americans died
•
Cost in U.S. dollars—
150 billion
•
National conflict,
disharmony, cynicism
•
1.5 Vietnamese killed;
10 million refugees;
economy destroyed
•
Failure for the U.S.

Why did we fail?
•
The “win” argument—
war was winnable, but
U.S. lost will to fight
•
Vs.
•
Vietnam was never
winnable—Vietnam
required political, not
military solution

Anti-French War of Resistance
•
1945-1954
•
French colony,
Indochina 19
th
c.-
WWII

•
Japan occupy Vietnam
during WWII
•
1945: Vietminh declare
Democratic Republic of
Vietnam, centered in
the North
•
Indigenous, nationalist
movement
•
Ho Chi Minh, first
president, a communist
•
French install Bao Dai
in the South

Vietnamese Declaration of
Independence
•
We hold truths that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty
and the pursuit of happiness.