The Vietnam War: History in an Hour

A thirty-year struggle for control of Vietnam begins

In April 1967, the black civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, added his voice to the protests arguing that the ‘madness of Vietnam’ needed to cease, with an immediate, unilateral US withdrawal.

n 31 March 1968, Johnson declared a halt in the bombing campaign and offered to open peace talks with the North. In addition, he announced that he would not run for President again.

By 1966, it was apparent that without substantial political and economic reform by the South Vietnamese government, the US military strategy would not achieve victory.

1966, it was apparent that without substantial political and economic reform by the South Vietnamese government, the US military strategy would not achieve victory.

Johnson introduced the first bombing campaign against North Vietnam in February 1965

Furthermore, both in public and in private, Kennedy rejected any talk of withdrawing from Vietnam.

Examples of these policies are the huge increase in the number of advisors from approximately 750 in January 1961 to over 16,000 by the time of his assassination in November 1963. He also decided to rapidly increase the air war, authorizing the use of US pilots, chemical defoliants, and helicopter gunships

he critical moment came on 8 May 1963 when ARVN troops attacked demonstrators in Hue, killing nine monks. One month later, on 11 June, a Buddhist monk, Thich Quang set himself on fire in Saigon; the self-immolation was captured on film and broadcast around the world. The response of the regime was as predictable as it was callous. Ngo Dinh Nhu’s wife, Mme. Nhu described the scene as a barbeque in a television interview, and on 21 August, Diem used Special Forces to impose martial law and attack pagodas, the Buddist places of worship, throughout the country

The main reason why the US chose to tolerate a dictator who appeared, in the longer term, to be harmful to their chances of building a stable republic below the 17th parallel is that, above all else, Diem’s credentials as an anti-communist were impeccable