Why did America become involved in Vietnam?

• Communism


  A classless society where all property is owned publicly
• Vietcong


  • Communist-backed guerilla group in South Vietnam
• Containment


  An American policy to try and stop communism from spreading, to restrict it from spreading to other countries
• Domino theory


  An American idea that if one country fell to communism, others would follow - like a row of dominoes
• Under Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, the USA had given millions of dollars to prop up the French in Vietnam, and sent 'military advisers' to support Ngo Dinh Diem's corrupt, anti-communist government
• The failure of these two policies had shown that providing money and military advisors to train the army of South Vietnam was not enough
• Force was needed and this meant American soldiers in a combat role
• Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated


  November 1963
• South Vietnamese forces overthrew Ngo Dinh Diem's government the day before he and his brother were captured and killed
• This opened the door for the USA to get involved in order to ensure 'stability' and beat back the communist threat
• Gulf of Tonkin incident


  In August 1964, North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked US vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin, giving President Johnson an excuse to order attacks on North Vietnam
• The destroyer USS Maddox, an American naval vessel, was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin, just off the coast of North Vietnam by North Vietnamese torpedo boats


  August 1964
• President Johnson had committed himself to containing communism in Vietnam
• The US politicians in Congress were furious after the Gulf of Tonkin incident. They passed a resolution that allowed US forces to 'take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security'
• President Johnson now had effective permission to pursue full war in Vietnam
• 3500 US marines landed at Da Nang


  8 March 1965
• By 1968, the number of US troops in Vietnam was 536,000
• Why did US get involved in Vietnam?

  A) unsuccessful

  B) Ngo Din Diem

  C) Attack in Gulf of Tonkin

  D) communist takeover

  E) containment

  
• Gulf of Tonkin incident

  • President Johnson had committed himself to containing communism in Vietnam.
  • In August 1964, North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked US vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin.
  • The US politicians in Congress were furious. They passed a resolution that allowed US forces to ‘take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security’.
  • President Johnson now had effective permission to pursue full war in Vietnam.
  • 8 March 1965, 3500 US marines landed at Da Nang. By 1968, the number of troops was 536,000.