Finished president's presentations. Notes on Monday, April 15th. Started talking about the Vietnam Conflict.
Notes:
- Stalemate; you could argue that no one really one but also that we lost; people don't really like to talk about it
- Helicopters were a big part of this war; Vietnam was just jungle area
- Journalists were there on the front lines and this was the first time the American people could really see first hand the terrible things that were happening and it shocked/horrified them
- the Vietcong (Vietnamese communists) were dressed like regular, everyday people (women, children, old, just everyone) so it was really hard for the soldiers to tell who were civilians and who was the Vietcong
Goals of the United States:
- wanted to further stop the spread of Communism and the North just wanted independence from France
The French Connection:
- French had gained control of Indochina in a series of colonial wars in the mid-late 1800s
- During WWII, Vichy France worked with Japanese forces in controlling Indochina during WWII
- After the Japanese surrender, the French fought to retain control of their former colony against the Viet Minh independence movement, led by Communist party leader Ho Chi Minh
- France had always been a big super power but they lost a lot of control after WWII and mainly just wanted to retain a bit of their former glory; the French were even pretty sore with us for awhile
- After the Viet Minh defeated the French colonial army at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the French withdrew, and the colony was granted independence
Ho Chi Minh:
- called him "Uncle Ho"
- rich, powerful, traveler but dressed like a peasant because he wanted to be a leader of the people and most of the people dressed like this
- was there to fight for Vietnamese independence against the French but was refused
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