Ho Chi Minh
The Indochinese Communist party, founded in 1930, stages a number of revolts under his leadership.
Vietminh
An organization of Vietnamese Communist and other nationalist groups that between 1945 and 1954 fought for Vietnamese independence from the French.
Domino theory
The idea that if a nation fails under communist control, nearby nations will also fall under communist control.
Dien Bien Phu
The Vietminh overran the French outpost, in northwestern Vietnam.
Geneva Accords
A 1954 peace agreement that divided Vietnam into Communist-controlled North Vietnam and non-Communist South Vietnam until unification elections could be held in 1956.
Ngo Dinh Diem
South Vietnams president, a strong anti-communist, refused to take part in the countrywide election on 1956.
Vietcong
The South Vietnamese Communists who, with North Vietnamese support, fought against the government of South Vietnam in the Vietnam War.
Ho Chi Minh Trail
A network of paths used by North Vietnam to transport supplies to the Vietcong in South Vietnam.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
A resolution adopted by Congress in 1964, giving the president broad powers to wage war in Vietnam.
Robert McNamara
was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Dean Rusk
was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
William Westmoreland
Was a United States Army four-star general. General Westmoreland was in command of all US military operations in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968, including during the 1968 Tet Offensive.
Army of the Republican of Vietnam
The southern Vietnamese soldiers with whom U.S. Troops fought against communism and forces in the North during the Vietnam War.
Napalm
A gasoline-based substance used in bombs that U.S. Planes dropped in Vietnam in order to burn away jungle and expose Vietcong hideouts.
Agent Orange
A toxic leaf-killing chemical sprayed by U.S. Planes in Vietnam to expose Vietcong hideouts.
Search-and- destroy mission
A U.S. Military raid on a South Vietnamese village,intended to root out villagers with ties to the Vietcong but often resulting in the destruction of the village and the displacement of its inhabitants.
Credibility gap
A public distrust of statements made by the government.
Draft
Required enrollment in the armed services.
New left
A youth-dominated political movement of the 1960s, embodied in such organizations as Students for a Democratic Society and the Free Speech Movement.
Students of a Democratic Society(SDS)
An antiestablishment New Left group, founded in 1960, that called for a greater individual freedom and responsibility.
Free Speech Movement
An antiestablishment New Left organization that originated in a 1964 clash between students and administrators at the University of California at Berkeley.
Dove
A person who opposed the Vietnam War and believed that the United States should withdraw from it.
Hawk
A person who supported U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War and believed that the United States should use increased military force to win it.
Tet offensive
A massive surprise attack by the Vietcong on South Vietnamese towns and cities early in 1968.
Clark Clifford
was an American lawyer who served United States Presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter, serving as Secretary of Defense for Johnson.
Robert Kennedy
was an American politician from Massachusetts. He served as a Senator for New York from 1965 until his assassination in 1968.
Eugene McCarthy
was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.
Hubert Humphrey
was an American politician who served as the 38th Vice President of the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson, from 1965 to 1969.
George Wallace
was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Alabama. A democrat running on the American Independent Party ticket, was a longtime champion of school segregation and states' rights.
Richard Nixon
was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only US president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 195
Henry Kissinger
is an American diplomat and political scientist. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Vietnamization
President Nixon's strategy for ending U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War, involving the gradual withdrawal of U.S troops and their replacement with South Vietnamese forces.
Silent majority
A name given by President Richard Nixon to the moderate, mainstream Americans who quietly supported his Vietnam War policies.
My Lai
A village in the northern South Vietnam where more than 200 unarmed civilians, including women and children,were massacred by U.S. Troops in May 1968.
Kent State University
An Ohio university where National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam war on May 4, 1970, wounding nine and killing four
Pentagon papers
A 7,000-page document leaked to the press in 1971 by the former Defense department worker Daniel Ellsberg revealing that the U.S. Government had not been honest about its intentions in the Vietnam war
War Powers Act
A law enacted In 1973, limiting a presidents right to send troops into battle without consulting Congress.