Summary of Americanization and Vietnamization During Vietnam War
By 1964, the United States continued to advise the South Vietnamese and to send shipments of military and economic assistance to the government and armed forces in South Vietnam. But US military presence took an aggressive turn under President Lyndon Johnson. When vacancies opened at the American Embassy in Saigon and MACV (Military Assistance Command-Vietnam) headquarters, changes in American envoys began ("Americanization"). In June, General Maxwell Taylor was named US Ambassador to South Vietnam by Johnson. Taylor made several trips to Vietnam and recommended an increase in American troops but thought a ground war was highly unlikely. U.S. presence soared from 700 to 15,000 within a year. Johnson then appointed General William C. Westmoreland commander of MACV. Westmoreland had experience as an artillery commander from WWII and believed that conventional warfare using good tactics and strategies could win the war in Vietnam. South Vietnam had a great ally who would use firepower to win the war (The Gilder). The US also began to use a strategy of sending American naval vessels to the South Chinas Sea and Gulf of Tonkin to gather information on the North Vietnamese Army. The South Vietnamese also had US naval support for attacks along the coast of North Vietnam, bringing the American vessels very close to the North Vietnamese, making a confrontation very possible.
The USS Maddox, an American destroyer, was attacked by three North Vietnamese PT (patrol torpedo) boats in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2, 1964. It is said that two days later the North Vietnamese attacked US ships again and Johnson went to Congress and the American people asking for authorization to protect the American forces in Vietnam ("Americanization”). The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed on August 7, 1964 and Johnson was granted permission to take whatever action he needed to protect and safeguard US forces in Southeast Asia. American barracks were attacked by the Viet Cong in Pleiku and Johnson then ordered reprisal bombings. A US bombing campaign called Rolling Thunder began that lasted over three years.
Johnson gave Westmoreland authority to put ground forces in Vietnam and the Marines were sent in. Sixty thousand American troops were in Vietnam by April 1965 and focused on searching for and destroying Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units operating in the south. By the end of 1965, 184,000 US troops were present with 537,000 troops by 1968. The Johnson Administration began to limit American participation in the war after the Tet offensive in 1968. Although the ultimate goal was still a free and independent South Vietnam, the United States cut back on its bombing campaign and began to train the South Vietnamese to fight the war themselves (Vietnamization). When Richard Nixon became president of the United States in 1969, he introduced his policy which was known as “Vietnamization.” Nixon’s plan was for South Vietnam to assume full responsibility for fighting the war. By doing this, Nixon hoped to begin the gradual withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam (Keilers). This plan became the cornerstone for Nixon-Doctrine which stated that the US would honor all treaty agreements, provide a shield if nuclear power threatened an ally, and that the US would provide economic and military aid to countries under the treaty. Henry Kissinger, the National Security Advisor to Nixon, helped negotiate the withdrawal from Vietnam. The training of South Vietnamese troops would increase and a mobilization law was created that called for all men between seventeen and forty-three years old to become part of the ARVN (The Army of the Republic of Vietnam). In addition, United States units had been working with security organizations training South Vietnamese civilian groups to patrol and defend the borders of South Vietnam (Vietnam War).
American ground forces had suffered the most causalities so Nixon began to reduce the 540,000 US troops by 25,000 in June 1969. He wanted another 60,000 gone by December. Bombing still continued but the number of deaths dropped sharply. The United States was exiting Vietnam but the North Vietnamese had no intention of doing so. They wanted no part of peace negotiations and refused to remove any troops at all (Vietnamization). In addition, Nixon was able to weaken the ties that the Soviet Union and China had with North Vietnam which weakened the aid they received since both countries wanted to improve US relations. In 1970, Nixon ordered an invasion into Cambodia to destroy the NLF bordering South Vietnam. The goal was to bring the North Vietnamese back to the peace talks. Nixon then ordered in 1972 that 40,000 more US troops be withdrawn by December from Vietnam when the US halted all heavy bombing in North Vietnam (Lawrence). Ultimately the plan was to turn control of the war back to the South Vietnamese.
The USS Maddox, an American destroyer, was attacked by three North Vietnamese PT (patrol torpedo) boats in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2, 1964. It is said that two days later the North Vietnamese attacked US ships again and Johnson went to Congress and the American people asking for authorization to protect the American forces in Vietnam ("Americanization”). The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed on August 7, 1964 and Johnson was granted permission to take whatever action he needed to protect and safeguard US forces in Southeast Asia. American barracks were attacked by the Viet Cong in Pleiku and Johnson then ordered reprisal bombings. A US bombing campaign called Rolling Thunder began that lasted over three years.
Johnson gave Westmoreland authority to put ground forces in Vietnam and the Marines were sent in. Sixty thousand American troops were in Vietnam by April 1965 and focused on searching for and destroying Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units operating in the south. By the end of 1965, 184,000 US troops were present with 537,000 troops by 1968. The Johnson Administration began to limit American participation in the war after the Tet offensive in 1968. Although the ultimate goal was still a free and independent South Vietnam, the United States cut back on its bombing campaign and began to train the South Vietnamese to fight the war themselves (Vietnamization). When Richard Nixon became president of the United States in 1969, he introduced his policy which was known as “Vietnamization.” Nixon’s plan was for South Vietnam to assume full responsibility for fighting the war. By doing this, Nixon hoped to begin the gradual withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam (Keilers). This plan became the cornerstone for Nixon-Doctrine which stated that the US would honor all treaty agreements, provide a shield if nuclear power threatened an ally, and that the US would provide economic and military aid to countries under the treaty. Henry Kissinger, the National Security Advisor to Nixon, helped negotiate the withdrawal from Vietnam. The training of South Vietnamese troops would increase and a mobilization law was created that called for all men between seventeen and forty-three years old to become part of the ARVN (The Army of the Republic of Vietnam). In addition, United States units had been working with security organizations training South Vietnamese civilian groups to patrol and defend the borders of South Vietnam (Vietnam War).
American ground forces had suffered the most causalities so Nixon began to reduce the 540,000 US troops by 25,000 in June 1969. He wanted another 60,000 gone by December. Bombing still continued but the number of deaths dropped sharply. The United States was exiting Vietnam but the North Vietnamese had no intention of doing so. They wanted no part of peace negotiations and refused to remove any troops at all (Vietnamization). In addition, Nixon was able to weaken the ties that the Soviet Union and China had with North Vietnam which weakened the aid they received since both countries wanted to improve US relations. In 1970, Nixon ordered an invasion into Cambodia to destroy the NLF bordering South Vietnam. The goal was to bring the North Vietnamese back to the peace talks. Nixon then ordered in 1972 that 40,000 more US troops be withdrawn by December from Vietnam when the US halted all heavy bombing in North Vietnam (Lawrence). Ultimately the plan was to turn control of the war back to the South Vietnamese.
I found it interesting how plans can change based on who is in presidency. That the United States was so involved in the war then ended up trying to push all control off onto South Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Americanization and Vietnamization have the opposite definitions and how events and plans can change because of the different presidents. Both of these policies took place in vietnam and there goal was to make south vietnam free and independent. i liked how you added a lot of detail in your blog.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you made us fill out a diagram during your presentation. It highlighted all the important points of these two policies, but also showed us how they were similar, when they seemed very different!
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ReplyDeleteI found it interesting to see the difference between Americanization and Vietnamization, and how completely opposite these policies were. Its amazing that once a new president came into office the policy of Americanization suddenly changed to the policy of Vietnamization. Although Americanization put troops into Vietnam and Vietnamization took them out, they were also similar because they wanted to make South Vietnam free and independent.
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