U.S. History IIThe Cold War (1945 to 1991)D2.His.14.9-12
The Vietnam War
After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964), U.S. troops in Vietnam grew to over 500,000; the Tet Offensive (1968) shook public support; protests spread at home (Kent State, 1970); the Paris Peace Accords (1973) ended U.S. combat, and Saigon fell in 1975; Congress passed the War Powers Resolution (1973).
Vietnam had been a French colony. Communist-led forces under Ho Chi Minh defeated the French in 1954, and the Geneva Accords divided the country at the 17th parallel. Presidents from Eisenhower on, applying containment and the "domino theory" (if one country fell to communism, its neighbors would follow), backed South Vietnam.
🔑 Key idea
After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964), U.S. troops in Vietnam grew to over 500,000. The Tet Offensive (1968) shook public support; protests spread at home (Kent State, 1970). The Paris Peace Accords (1973) ended U.S. combat, and Saigon fell in 1975. Congress passed the War Powers Resolution (1973).
💡 Why it works
In August 1964, after reported attacks on U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin (the second attack probably did not happen), Congress passed the resolution 416 to 0 in the House and 88 to 2 in the Senate. President Johnson used it to send combat troops and bomb North Vietnam. The war was hard to win: the enemy fought a guerrilla war, was supplied from the North, and could not be defeated by bombing. In January 1968, during the Tet holiday, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attacked cities across the South. They were driven back with heavy losses, but the attack made many Americans doubt official claims of progress, and in March Johnson announced he would not run again.
President Nixon began "Vietnamization," pulling out U.S. troops while arming South Vietnam, but widened the war into Cambodia in 1970; at Kent State University in Ohio, National Guard troops fired on protesters and killed four students. After the 1973 accords the last U.S. combat troops left. In 1975 North Vietnam conquered the South. About 58,000 Americans died, and Vietnamese deaths ran into the millions.
Work it through
✏️ Worked example: Why the War Powers Resolution?
Connect the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
Only Congress can declare war (Article I), but the President is commander in chief (Article II).
In Vietnam, Congress never declared war; a broad resolution let Presidents fight for years.
So in 1973 Congress, over Nixon's veto, required the President to report within 48 hours and withdraw forces after 60 days without its approval.
Answer: An undeclared war led Congress to reclaim a check on the war power.
⚠️ Common mistake
Many students think Congress declared war on Vietnam. It never did; the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized the President to use force, which is why the War Powers Resolution followed. Presidents of both parties have argued that parts of it are unconstitutional, and the debate continues.
Practice
Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 2 XP.