I. Vietnam War
    a. Oliver North
        i. He was an officer in the Vietnam War.
        ii. He said, “In the Revolutionary War, we lost all of the battles, yet we won the war.  In Vietnam, we won all the battles, yet lost the war.”
    b. Logistics
        i. US had troops that were actively fighting.
        ii. US put troops in Vietnam in 1965 and pulled them out in 1973.
            1. US fought twice as long in Vietnam than in WWII.
            2. US dropped more bombs in Vietnam than in WWII.
            3. 58,000 US troops died in Vietnam.
    c. Why the war in Vietnam was unsuccessful.
        i. Battle Tactics
            1. Guerrilla Warfare
                a. The North Vietnamese Army tried to avoid major battles.
                b. Components of guerrilla warfare:
                    i. Sneak attacks
                    ii. Conducted by small groups.
            2. Tunnels
                a. The North Vietnamese Army had a long, complex system of tunnels.
                b. They used these tunnels to transport men and supplies.
            3. Transport Outside Vietnam
                a. The North Vietnamese Army transported men and supplies outside Vietnam through Cambodia and Laos.
                b. US would sometimes try to bomb these groups.
                    i. US tried to avoid bombing these groups.
                        1. It was politically unpopular.
                        2. It was hard to distinguish between enemy and civilian merchants.
            4. US was slow to respond to the change in warfare.
            5. Commitment
                a. This was an issue for the US.
                b. The North Vietnamese were committed to independence from foreign domination.
                c. The North Vietnamese knew there were protests in the US.
                d. The North Vietnamese thought if they could just hang on, it would be a victory.
            6. As the war drags on, a lot of people in the media turned against the war.
                a. This was a factor in the attitude of Americans.
    d. Modern Day Misconceptions about the Vietnam War
        i. People believe there were a lot of draft dodgers.
            1. WWI actually had the most draft dodgers.
        ii. People say the American Soldiers were sent over to Vietnam and left there.
            1. If you fought in Vietnam, you were rotated out within a year or less.
            2. In WWII, you were expected to fight the duration of the war.
            3. In the movie Platoon, notice that all of the soldiers in favor of the Vietnam War were either crazy or cowards.  All of
                the soldiers against the Vietnam War
                were either druggies or honorable men.
        iii. People say that there were a lot of drug users in the Vietnam War.
            1. There were soldiers on drugs in Vietnam, but there were also soldiers on drugs in Europe.
            2. Soldiers were not using drugs because of the Vietnam War, they were using because it was a part of American
                attitude and culture in the 1960s.
        iv. There was this notion that crazy soldiers were committing war atrocities.
            1. War atrocities did occur, but it happened in all the wars.
            2. War atrocities were committed on both sides.
            3. The media was able to reports it on the side of the US.
    e. Media Impact
        i. Television
            1. The Vietnam War was the first televised war.
            2. Americans were watching the war at dinnertime.
                a. What people saw made them sick.
                b. People were upset.
        ii. The Military Point of View
            1. The military became less and less cooperative with the media and the press.
            2. The military sees the media as trying to undermine the war effort.
        iii. The Media Point of View
            1. Due to the lack of cooperation, the media thought the military was trying to hide something.
            2. The relationship between the military and the media became hostile.
        iv. Lying
            1. Some of the military and political leaders lied about US progress.
            2. They tried to keep people rallied behind the war effort.
                a. They lied about North Vietnamese and US casualties.
                b. They trumped up North Vietnamese casualties and played down US casualties.
            3. Some say this is the biggest reason for US failure.
            4. This is also reminiscent of the Russo-Japanese War.
    f. The Tet Offensive
        i. The President was Lyndon Johnson
        ii. Tet was the Vietnamese New Year
        iii. The North Vietnamese planned a major attack, called the Tet Offensive, all over Vietnam.
        iv. When the attack happened, the American people were shocked and outraged because they were told the North Vietnamese Army was almost beaten.
        v. Even though the North Vietnamese Army lost the Tet Offensive, Americans turned against the war after this.
        vi. They also turned against LBJ.
II. Election of 1968
    a. LBJ decided not to run in the 1968 election.
    b. Republican Richard Nixon won the presidency.
        i. Vietnamization
            1. This was Nixon’s policy to turn the war over to South Vietnam.
                a. 1973 – US soldiers were pulled out of Vietnam after a treaty was in place.
                b. 1975 – North Vietnam violated the treaty and took over South Vietnam.
            2. Nixon had planned a return to Vietnam.
                a. He knew the North Vietnamese would not honor the treaty.
                b. However, Nixon was not around in 1975.
            3. Conservatives blamed the liberals for losing the war.
                a. In regard to the Domino Theory, the liberals were right.
                    i. Not all of Asia fell to communism.
                    ii. The war had no impact on American interests.
III. American Society
    a. The effects of the Vietnam War were still lingering.
    b. There was a loss of respect for the Presidency.
        i. Ike was a war hero and he was like a grandfather to the American people.
        ii. JFK was also a war hero, an author, and he was good looking.
        iii. LBJ and Nixon combined caused the loss of respect.
            1. LBJ and Vietnam
                a. There was a chant in the 1960s that said, “Hey, Hey LBJ, how many kids have you killed today?”
                b. The Press did not like LBJ.
                c. LBJ was not as sophisticated as JFK.
                d. LBJ was rude and uncouth.
            2. Nixon and Watergate
    c. American Society was also affected in how they treated Veterans.
        i. In WWII, the American people praised the Veterans.
        ii. After Vietnam, the American people spit on the Veterans.
        iii. The divorce rate for the Veterans was about 70%, whereas the Nationals average was about 30%-40%.
    d. There were strong antiwar feelings.
        i. Actress Jane Fonda visited the North Vietnamese Army and wished then luck against the Americans.
    e. There was an Economic Downturn
        i. This was practically related to the war, but mostly due to the oil embargo.
IV. Scandal Management
    a. US Presidents
        i. Due to Vietnam and Watergate, this is going to affect the way the press treats the President.
    b. There is a scandal hunting mentality in the media.
        i. There is more competition in the media.
    c. Perfect Example:
        i. Bill Clinton and JFK were both womanizers.
        ii. Clinton was attacked for it; JFK’s was kept secret.
        iii. In Kennedy’s day, he had a small liberal media elite.
    d. Presidents have to devote attention to scandal management, which distracts them from doing their jobs.
V. Richard Nixon
    a. Nixon was a driven man.
    b. Many of his aides adopted his driven ways.
        i. They thought they had to succeed at any cost.
        ii. This led to the practice known as “Dirty Tricks.”
    c. Dirty Tricks can be simple.
        i. Call people and say their meeting time has changed, when it has not.
            1. These people would either miss the meeting or get there too early.
          ii. Pizza Ordering
            1. Order $400 worth of pizza for this meeting.
        iii. Leak Personal and/or Fraudulent information.
            1. Past mental illness.
            2. Send letters full of ethnic slurs and forge the signature.
        iv. This all leads to the Watergate scandal.
VI. Watergate
    a. Called Watergate because it occurs in the Watergate building in DC, or the District.
    b. This was the building where the Democratic National Committee Headquarters were located in 1972.
    c. Some Republicans serving Nixon decided to break in.
        i. They were looking for information, strategies, and personal information.
        ii. They got caught and charged with burglary.
    d. The problem was these people were very low in the food chain.
        i. The people higher up were going to try to cover up.
        ii. This extends all the way to President Nixon.
    e. The whole Watergate thing was completely unnecessary.
        i. The Democratic Party was split.
        ii. Nixon wins big in 1972 anyway.
    f. One thing experts agree on is that Nixon had no prior knowledge of Watergate.
        i. Yet, he was involved in the cover up.
        ii. Why?
            1. He wanted to help contain embarrassment.
            2. Maybe he wanted to be loyal to his men.
                a. Ike was never loyal to Nixon.  This could have been a factor.
VII. Nixon had a growing list of problems.
    a. Tax Violations
        i. His first Vice President, Spiro Agnew, resigns because of an income tax violation.
        ii. As the investigation continues, people ask about Nixon’s taxes.
            1. This leads to his famous quotation, “I’m not a crook.”
    b.  Abuse of Power
        i. The investigation finds Nixon was guilty of abuse of power.
        ii. He tried to use the FBI and the IRS to pressure his enemies.
            1. He had the FBI open files on enemies.
            2. He had the IRS audit enemies.
    c. Obstruction of Justice
        i. The investigation finds Nixon guilty of obstruction of justice.
            1. Nixon helped to arrange money (hush money) to give to the Watergate criminals.
    d. John Dean, one of Nixon’s top aides, decided to cooperate with the authorities.
        i. He gives authorities inside information.
   e. The authorities worked their way up the food chain and arrested people along the way.
        i. They got really close to Nixon.
        ii. Eventually, several aides end up resigning and/or end up going to jail to protect Nixon.
 

Test:
term - dirty tricks,Spiro Agnew,
essay - Why was the US unsuccessful in the Vietnam War?