HIS 219: The Vietnam War

U.S. Secretary of Defense, 1968-1969.

Intelligence analyst known for releasing the Defense Department's secret history of the war.

South Vietnamese nationalist and founder of the National Liberation Front.

American diplomat and author of the United States' Containment Policy.

"Ho was the chief architect, founder, and leader of the Indochinese Communist Party, an organizer of the Viet Minh, and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). An ardent proponent of his country’s independence, Ho was recognized as one of the twentieth century’s greatest anticolonial revolutionaries and most influential Communist leaders."

American president responsible for introducing the first US advisers into Viet Nam.

U.S. Army officer and critic of military strategy; U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) official.

"In an effort to secure a non-Communist South Vietnam, Johnson increased the level of American commitment to half a million troops."

Vietnamese political leader who served as president, with dictatorial powers, of South Vietnam from 1955 until his assassination.

President of the Republic of Vietnam (1967-1975).

Soviet Communist Party general secretary

"Nixon renewed American relations with the People’s Republic of China, achieved détente with the Soviet Union, and ended the involvement of the United States in Vietnam."

Secretary of Defense, 1961-1968 and chief architect of American Vietnam military policy.

As chief Vietnamese Communist military strategist and expert guerrilla warfare tactician, Giap was the architect of the Viet Minh victory over the French in 1954 (which ended French colonialism in Southeast Asia). Afterward he officially served as North Vietnam’s defense minister and directed the military campaigns of the 1960s and 1970s that led to final victory over US and South Vietnamese forces in 1975.

"In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson promoted Westmoreland to commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam."