independence)

6. Why did the

VCE Modern History Unit 2 would be the ideal
United States
policy for
intervene in Ideologies
Indochina.
Vietnam?

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

- Proverb.
Learning Objectives:
 Identify the events that led to the escalation of
US military involvement in Vietnam.
 Identify the principle explanations for the
United States’ decisions to escalate their
involvement in the conflict in Vietnam.
“Second, they desire to see no territorial changes
that do not accord freely with the expressed
wishes of the peoples concerned;
Third, they respect the right of all peoples to
choose the form of government under which they
will live. ”
Source 1. Principles of the Atlantic Charter, 1941.

The Big Picture

Roosevelt later
During their struggle against the Japanese in
changed his mind and
(1941- 5), the Americans gave little thought to
suggested the French
French Indochina. It is difficult to isolate the point
could retain Indochina
at which the United States became involved in the
if they promised to grant it independence. There
conflict as it began and escalated gradually. It
are several explanations for Roosevelt’s
could be argued that step by step, the United
inconsistency, one of which was that he liked to
States abandoned its basic principles, with
speak to win favour depending on his audience
terrible consequences for both the Vietnamese
and he was preoccupied with winning the war, “I
and the American people. As you work through
still do not want to get mixed up in any
this reading, you will explore the circumstances
Indochina decision,” he told a colleague on the 1 st
surrounding four key turning points.
January, 1945, “Action at this time is premature.”
The Far East Division among Roosevelt’s advisors
criticized French rule and saw self- government
“I still do not want to get mixed up
of Indochina as the only way forward, whereas
in any Indochina decision.”
European specialists among Roosevelt’s advisors
saw France as an ally in Europe and they urged
President Roosevelt the President to refrain from any policy towards
Indochina that might alienate the French.

President Roosevelt was elected to office in 1933 Check Your Learning:

and was an advocate of self-determination and a 1. Summarise Roosevelt’s dilemma. What
joint architect of the Atlantic Charter of August factors does he need to consider in his
1941 (see Source 1). In 1942, he wanted to inspire decision on the best course of action in
the French to fight against the Germans, so he Vietnam?
talked of allowing France to retain colonies in
Indochina after the war, however in 1943 he said
that France had ‘milked’ Indochina for 100 years
and left the Vietnamese ‘worse off than they were
in the beginning’, which made him feel that an
international trusteeship (several countries, 1945- 1953
including the US, would guide Vietnam towards
 France was important to the stability of NATO in
President Harry S. Truman western Europe. The dilemma was this: Should
America help France regain control of Vietnam?
Or should the USA help the Vietnamese gain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_nA7r1Jvnw independence from France? If America stood for
Truman’s Dilemma freedom, now was the time to stand up for its
principles.
In April, 1945, President Roosevelt died in office
from a cerebral haemorrhage and was succeeded Turning Point 1:
by Vice- President Harry S. Truman. He faced an 2. Summarise Truman’s dilemma. What factors
uncomfortable choice. For four years, the Viet does he need to consider in his decision on
Minh had fought the Japanese, assisted by the the best course of action in Vietnam?
Americans. The Organisation of Strategic Services
(OSS) sent weapons and medical supplies to
resistance groups in Indochina, encouraging
guerrilla warfare to tie down Japanese forces. On
2nd September, 1945, Japan surrendered to the
Allies and one week later, the Vietminh declared
independence from France and looked to the
United States to support their cause (see Source
2).

The first lines of Ho’s speech claiming the

independence of Vietnam were “All men
are created equal. They are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights,
among them are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.”
These are borrowed from the American
Declaration of Independence (1776).
Source 2. Extract from the speech of
Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh

Simultaneously, Truman was coming under

pressure from Britain and France to assist in
restoring their colonial empires at the end of
WWII. Restoring French sovereignty in Vietnam
would help return French national pride after the
humiliations they endured during the war (Nazi
Germany conquered France in 1940). France
warned the USA that French support to resist the
spread of communism
in Europe was
contingent on American
NATO
support for France in The North Atlantic Treaty
Indochina. America Organisation was an anti-
communist western military
needed their help in alliance, established by the
Europe to resist the USA in 1949.
spread of communism
and concluded that
 “They are only interested in
replacing the French…”
Truman’s Decision
According to Truman’s administration, what was
at stake in Vietnam was the expansion of
communism, rather than a Vietnamese war for
independence. He had sided with the European
specialists in the State Department. Truman
assured the French that America recognised their
pre-eminent position in Indochina, while
expressing the hope they would grant more
independence to the Vietnamese. It was a
question of priorities for Truman- the fear of
communism and that Ho Chi Minh was a
communist stooge overrode any support for
Vietnamese nationalism and prompted him to
ignore future overtures from Ho and his
supporters. For example, in August 1945, General
Giap told the Hanoi crowds that America was ‘a
good friend’, being ‘a democracy with territorial
ambitions’, however, between October 1945 and
February 1946, eight messages from Ho to
Washington went unanswered:
They [the Americans] are only interested in
replacing the French… They want to
reorganise our economy in order to control it.
They are capitalists to the core. All that counts
for them is business.
By 1947 the Truman administration felt that Ho
was probably a puppet of the Kremlin. This was
the main reason why America provided
increasing support to the French in Vietnam
during the First Indochina War. Additionally, the
Truman administration offered $10 million in
May 1950 to support the French effort to retain
Indochina and established a US Military
Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) in Saigon.
By December 1950, the US provided France with
$100 million, along with aircraft, patrol boats,
napalm bombs and ground combat machinery.
‘These situations… Have a way of
snowballing’
A Defence Department official warned in
November 1950 that America was becoming
dangerously and deeply involved:
We are gradually increasing our stake in the
outcome of the struggle… we are dangerously
close to the point of being so deeply
committed that we may find ourselves
completely committed even to direct
intervention. These situations, unfortunately,
have a way of snowballing.
Truman gave over $2 billion to the French war
effort during his time in office and $50 million for
economic and technical aid to the Vietnamese
people. That official was right. Fearful of the
Communist governments of Russia and China
and a desire to see the spread of capitalism for the
economic advantages of the United States are
reasons put forth for Truman’s escalation of
America’s involvement in the region. Two French
divisions arrived in Vietnam on American ships,
fully equipped by the United States, events
seared into the Vietnamese national
consciousness- it was clear they could never trust
the Western powers.
Source 3. President Harry S. Truman’s
Address Before a Joint Session of Congress,
1947:
The gravity of the situation which confronts the
world today necessitates my appearance before a
joint session of the Congress. The foreign policy
and the national security of this country are
involved…
At the present moment in world history nearly every
nation must choose between alternative ways of life.
The choice is too often not a free one…
I believe that it must be the policy of the United
States to support free peoples who are resisting
attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by
outside pressures.
I believe that we must assist free peoples to work
out their own destinies in their own way.
I believe that our help should be primarily through
economic and financial aid which is essential to
economic stability and orderly political processes.
Truman’s Circumstances:
 As a new and non-elected President,
Truman felt he had to appear tough and
decisive in foreign policy (See Source 3)
and relied heavily upon men like Dean
Acheson.
 During 1945, fighting between Ho’s
Vietminh and the French escalated as
increasing numbers of French troops were
transported to Indochina by the British,
who sympathised with France’s desire to
retain its empire. Truman did not want to
alienate the French and preferred them to
the Chinese who were present to assist in
the withdrawal of Japan from Indochina.
 Truman’s involvement in Vietnam was
part of his fight against global
Communism. He was afraid because
China and the Soviets recognised Ho’s
Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1950.
The general atmosphere in the early days
of the Cold War was not conducive to the
subtle analysis required to recognise that
Ho initially made friendly overtures
towards the US.
 The USA was attracted to the market and
raw materials of South- East Asia, if not
for itself than its trading partners, France,
Britain and Japan.
 After China became Communist in 1949
under Mao Zedong, Republicans in
Congress criticised Democrat Truman for
‘losing China’.
 In February 1950, Senator Joseph
McCarthy began whipping many
Americans into an anti- Communist
frenzy.
 Communist North Korea attacked South
Korea in 1950, supported by Chinese
troops. This confirmed American fears of
communist expansion and Truman feared
the world balance of power was at stake in
Southeast Asia, especially the
vulnerability of important allies such as
Japan and Australia.
In 1949, Dean Acheson, US Secretary of State under President
Truman, declared it was ‘irrelevant’ to ask whether Ho was
‘as much a nationalist as a Commie’ for ‘all Stalinists in
colonial areas are nationalists’. This American conviction that
what was at stake in Vietnam was the expansion of
Communism (rather than a Vietnamese war for
Check Your Learning:
3. On a separate page, summarise the reasons
under each of these headings as to why
Truman involved the United States in
Vietnam. Use evidence, quotations and
examples to support your ideas.
i) The Domino Theory/Ideology: Did
American presidents believe that the
defence of Vietnam was essential to
prevent the spread of communism?
ii) American prestige: Did American
presidents get drawn into Vietnam in
order to protect American prestige
and economic interests?
iii) Domestic politics: Did American
presidents choose to get more deeply
involved in Vietnam out of fear of
what the public or opponents would
say if they withdrew? Were they
provided with conflicting advice by
presidential advisors?
iv) Cold War rhetoric: Did American
presidents get trapped by their own
pronouncements and promises,
forcing them to take action, or lose
credibility if they did not?
4. At this point, what do you think was the
underlying reason for America’s involvement
in Vietnam?
5. Summarise the significance of Truman’s
Presidency to the future of America’s
intervention in Vietnam.
‘The French are a hopeless,
helpless mass of protoplasm!”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
 Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower.
President from 1953- 1961.
A Five Star General in the United States Army during
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCfyGIATTVQ WWII and was supreme commander of the Allied
Expeditionary Forces in Europe.
In 1946 the Viet Minh launched their war of
national liberation against the French, lasting
eight years and ending with the Battle at Dien
Bien Phu. A combination of French arrogance
blinding them to anticipate that General Giap
would bombard their defence from higher
ground and the distraction of 18 prostitutes and
49,000 bottles of wine, the French suffered at Dien
Bien Phu. On the 7th May, 1954, the victorious Viet
Minh raised their red flag at Dien Bien Phu and
the next day, delegations representing France, the
Viet Minh, Cambodia, Laos, the United States, the
Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China and
Great Britain assembled in Geneva to discuss the
end to the war in Indochina. The Geneva Accords
arose from this conference in 1954, which were
heavily influenced by Eisenhower’s domestic
concerns.

He attracted massive popularity after extracting

American forces from Korea in 1953, so felt that
he could not put US troops on the Asian
mainland after he attracted massive popularity
from extracting American forces from Korea in
1953. It would be political suicide to be the
president that ‘lost’ Vietnam after ‘losing’ China
and the Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles,
feared that if Vietnam fell, it would undermine
America’s position in the Far East. Dulles felt that
Truman’s Containment Policy was insufficient
and that American policy should aim at rolling
back communism in China itself, by force if
necessary. Eisenhower’s dilemma was this:
Should he support the Geneva Accord and take
the risk that Vietnam would choose a communist
government? Or should the USA help South
Vietnam become an independent, non-
communist state?

Turning Point 2:

6. Summarise Eisenhower’s dilemma. What

factors does he need to consider in his
decision on the best course of action in
Vietnam?
 troops”. He declared “no military victory is
possible in that kind of theatre”.
Eisenhower’s Decision
Eisenhower inherited a limited involvement in
Eisenhower continued American involvement in
Vietnam but his administration made Vietnam
Vietnam and assisted the French to fight
more of a priority than Truman’s. Effectively, the
Communism in the region. He did not support
United States was a guarantor of an independent
the Geneva Accord out of fear the Viet Minh, the
state of South Vietnam and gave Diem billions of
only popular organised group in Vietnam, would
dollars of aid and 1500 American advisors, nearly
win. In this case, democracy would produce an
half of whom were military. From that point it
outcome unacceptable to the United States and so
would prove to be a short step to putting
the country was split into two and a new
American soldiers into Vietnam.
unelected government was formed under the
premiership of Ngo Dinh Diem. Eisenhower
“You boys must be crazy. We can’t
coined the Domino Theory, which represented his
use those awful things against
views on the spread of Communism in 1954
Asians for the second time in less
(Source 5):
than 10 years. My God.”
Source 5. Eisenhower’s “Domino Theory”
Eisenhower to Vice President
Nixon, refusing to use atomic
weaponry to defeat the Viet
Minh.

Check Your Learning:

7. Summarise the significance of President

Eisenhower to the history of US intervention
in Vietnam.
Like most of the men in his administration,
Eisenhower believed that Southeast Asia was
vital to US security but was more moderate than
Truman. He decided it was easier and cheaper to 8. Summarise the evidence under your earlier
pay other countries to help defend America: headings as to why Eisenhower committed to
Communism threatened America and the French support the French cause in Vietnam.
were fighting Communism, so it was better to
pay the French to fight Communism than send The Domino Theory/Ideology
American boys to do it. He provided $385 million American prestige
worth of armaments for an offensive against the Domestic politics
Vietminh during the First Indochina War (in Cold War rhetoric
return for the French promising greater
independence).

In 1954, Eisenhower sent US bombers and

American technicians, therefore putting the first
American personnel into Vietnam. By the end of
1954, the Americans were more convinced than
the French of the importance of Vietnam in the
global struggle against Communism, and
America was paying nearly 80% of the French bill
for Indochina. Eisenhower wrote in his memoirs
in the 1960s that “the jungles of Indochina would
have swallowed up division after division of US

“The troops will march in, the
bands will play; the crowds will
cheer, and in four days everyone
will have forgotten. Then we will
be told we have to send in more
troops. It’s like taking a drink. The
effect wears off and you have to
take another.”
The Kennedy Crusade (1961- 1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56wg7-f4hFk
The immediate consequence of America’s refusal
to support the 1954 Geneva Accord was that
Vietnam was divided into two. In the North, a
communist Viet Minh government was formed
under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh and General
Giap, the commander who had defeated the
French. In the South, a new unelected
government was formed under the premiership
of Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem seemed like an ideal
leader of South Vietnam; a nationalist who had
opposed French control, he opposed Communism
and promised social reform.
John F. Kennedy won the 1960 presidential
election by the narrowest margin of the twentieth
century, winning just 100,000 votes more than his
Republican rival, Richard Nixon. This meant that
Kennedy was politically vulnerable so, to balance
his liberal domestic agenda, he had to show that
he was tough on Communism, especially as he
had criticised his predecessor, President
Eisenhower, for falling behind the Soviet Union
in the race to develop nuclear missiles. In his
inaugural address to Congress in January 1961,
Kennedy reaffirmed America’s commitment to
the Truman Doctrine. Kennedy was aware of the
challenges America faced in the 1960s, and he
was determined to rise to them. In the first year of
his presidency he faced several Cold War crises,
two of the most significant being:
1) The Bay of Pigs fiasco, 1961. This was an
operation Kennedy inherited from
Eisenhower and it went badly wrong. The
United States encouraged a small army of
Cuban exiles opposed to the communist
leadership of Fidel Castro to invade Cuba
at the Bay of Pigs. Kennedy refused to
give them direct military support and the
communists defeated the invasion. It
made Kennedy look weak.
2) The Berlin Wall, 1961. East Germany,
encouraged by the Soviet Union, built a
wall around West Berlin. Kennedy flew to
Berlin and made a speech affirming
America’s determination to stand beside
its allies to prevent any further expansion
of communism.
Stretching all around the globe, there
are Americans on duty who help
maintain the freedom of dozens of
countries who might now be engulfed if
it were not for this long thin line which
occupies such a position of
responsibility, guarding so many
gates…
Source 6. In his speeches, Kennedy
frequently used rhetoric that painted an
image of America as the lonely
guardian of world freedom against the
communist enemy.
Kennedy’s Dilemma
In 1959, the communists had formed the
National Liberation Front and encouraged
communist refugees from South Vietnam
(the Viet Cong) to return to the South and
launch a guerrilla war, aided by the North
Vietnamese Army, which was supplied by
the Soviet Union and PRC. Under that
pressure, South Vietnam might collapse if
left to its own devices, especially as the,
Ngo Dinh Diem, was unpopular. The
whole of Vietnam might be reunited
under communist rule. Kennedy’s
dilemma was this: what could America
do, short of war, to prevent the collapse of
South Vietnam? Should military advisors
be sent to support the South Vietnamese
Army?
Turning Point 3:
9. Summarise Kennedy’s dilemma. What factors
does he need to consider in his decision on
the best course of action in Vietnam?

“…We don’t have a prayer of
staying in Vietnam… These people
hate us. They are going to throw
our asses out… But I can’t give up a
piece of territory like that to the
Communists and then get the
American people to re-elect me.”
The End of Camelot
… the more you become involved out
there against Communism, the more
the Communists will appear as
champions of national independence…
You will sink step by step into a
bottomless military and political
quagmire, however much you spend in
men and money…
President de Gaulle’s warning to
President Kennedy when visiting
France in May 1961.
Kennedy’s decision to send military advisors in
1961 did not seem hard to make, given the
commitment of previous American presidents to
support South Vietnam’s independence. He
increased
American ARVN
support for
Army of the Republic of Vietnam. The
South
ground forces of the South Vietnamese
Vietnam by military from 1955- 1975.
sending
military advisors to help train and command the
ARVN. This was a major step, because America
was taking control of the levers of conflict. It
would be difficult to allow South Vietnam to lose
the war once American prestige was directly
involved, yet because he had not sent combat
troops, Kennedy could still plausibly deny that
this was America’s war. Kennedy also met the
new threat of communist uprisings by forming
the Special Forces- the Green Berets- as a highly
trained counter- insurgency force. The Cold War
was to be fought not with large American armies,
but with counter-insurgency, covert operations,
economic aid and skilful diplomacy.
In the first two years of Kennedy’s presidency,
the number of military advisors rose alarmingly
(3000 in December 1961 to nearly 12,000 by 1962).
By the time Kennedy was assassinated in
November, 1963, there were 16,000 American
military advisors in South Vietnam. Many of
these were engaged in a direct combat role,
giving orders to American aircraft, advising
South Vietnamese officers and planning military
operations. The United States was pouring
military aid into South Vietnam, alongside the
schools and medical supplies of the hearts and
minds program. Interestingly, Kennedy rejected
the idea to use nuclear weapons (yet still
permitted the use of napalm) in favour of covert
operations, including the CIA’s Air America
programme that used ‘civilian’ pilots to fly
combat missions, not only in Vietnam but in Laos
and Cambodia too. Kennedy publicly denied any
active involvement of these pilot ‘advisors’.
Stanley Karnow, an American journalist, saw a
US aircraft carrier bringing 47 American
helicopters to Saigon in December 1961. Shocked,
he pointed the carrier out to a US officer who
said, “I don’t see nothing”. It is a point of
discussion what Kennedy’s approach to Vietnam
would have been, had he lived (Source 6).
By the end of 1963, some of these advisers were
already warning the Pentagon that the policy was
failing. They were frustrated with the South
Vietnamese Government, corruption and the
ARVN’s unwillingness to fight. They warned that
something had to change. Two weeks before
Kennedy’s assassination, President Ngo Dinh
Diem was overthrown and murdered in a
military coup that had the tacit approval of the
CIA.
Check Your Learning:
10. Summarise the significance of President
Kennedy in the history of America’s
intervention in Vietnam.
11. Summarise the factors that influenced the US
decision to send military advisers to Vietnam
on your mind map.

“Nothing could be worse than
being responsible for America
losing a war to the Communists…”
President Lyndon Baines Johnson
(1963- 1969): The Quagmire
“A raggedy ass little Asian country”
“If you let a bully come into your front yard one day,
the next day he’ll be up on your porch, and the day
after he’ll rape your wife in your own bed.”
“If we quit Vietnam tomorrow we’ll be
fighting in Hawaii and next week we’ll have to be
fighting in San Francisco.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKrMdQY7nWc
Kennedy’s assassination, and the overthrow and
murder of Ngo Dinh Diem, changed the political
situation faced by, and within, the United States.
It would have been very difficult for Kennedy’s
successor, President Johnson, to withdraw from
Vietnam. Nobody would have understood why
he had done it and if the South fell to
Communism, Johnson would receive the blame.
One recent development of great importance was
the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, possibly the
greatest crisis of the Cold War. The Soviet Union
had placed nuclear missiles on Cuba, placing
America under a direct and immediate nuclear
threat. Over two weeks of intense diplomacy and
military threats, Kennedy had narrowly avoided
nuclear war and persuaded the Soviets to remove
their missiles with the promise that the United
States would not invade Cuba. While war had
been avoided, fear of the Communist threat had
grown even greater. It was particularly important
to President Johnson to prove that he was just as
resolute and determined as Kennedy had been,
especially given the tragic circumstances in which
he inherited the role (Source 7). Throughout 1964,
the situation in South Vietnam deteriorated and
Johnson was torn. He did not want to send troops
to Vietnam yet he was unwilling to allow South
Vietnam to fall to the communists.
Johnson also needed to consider the promises he
had made to the American people. His passion
was his agenda of domestic reform known as
“The Great Society” which aimed to extend
education, alleviate poverty and promote civil
rights in America. He needed Congress to
support this program and he reasoned he could
not appear soft towards Communism. Yet, during
the 1964 presidential election campaign Johnson
made it clear that he did not intend to get drawn
into a war in Vietnam and he was re-elected in
November 1964 based on this promise. Should
Johnson send combat troops to Vietnam?
Turning Point 4:
12. Summarise Johnson’s dilemma. What factors
does he need to consider in his decision on
the best course of action in Vietnam?
‘Johnson’s War’: All the way with
LBJ!
https://www.abc.net.au/education/hindsight-fighting-
conscription-1966/13798542

President Lyndon B. Johnson listens to
a tape- recorded message from his
son- in-law, Marine Capt. Charles
Robb, who toured Vietnam in 1968.
“It just worries the hell out of me. I don’t see
what we can ever hope to get out of there
with, once we’re committed… I don’t think
it’s worth fighting for and I don’t think we can
get out. It’s just the biggest damned mess
that I ever saw.”
Extract from a conversation between
Johnson and McGeorge Bundy, 27th May,
1964.
On the 8th March, 1965, Johnson ordered the US
Marines to establish a security cordon around the
US airfield at Da Nang. The arrival of combat
troops en masse meant that American phase of
the Vietnam War had begun in earnest. On
August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President
Johnson to take any measures he believed were
necessary to promote the maintenance of
international peace and security in southeast
Asia. Johnson said that the authority from the
resolution was so broad it was like “grandma’s
nightshirt” since “it covers everything.” Clearly,
Johnson bears a major responsibility for taking
America to war in Vietnam: during his time in
office (1964- 1968), America’s commitment
increased dramatically from 16,000 at the time of
Kennedy’s assassination to 500,000 by the time
Johnson left office.
In future lessons, we are going to consider the
level of responsibility that should be given to
Johnson for America’s intervention as well as the
type of warfare that Johnson waged.
13. Add the reasons why Johnson escalated
America’s involvement to your mind map.
14. Summarise the significance of Johnson’s
presidency to US intervention in Vietnam.
15. What do you think is the long- term reason
for America’s intervention? What do you see
as the most influential? What do you think is
the most significant turning point?
16. Can America’s intervention in Vietnam be
justified?
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-where-kennedy-dreamed-johnson-achieved/
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