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The vietnam war was started tp help Vietnam to be free from communism. The original war began between the Chinese and later the French who sought control of rich farmlands and trade. The American government had backed the French, but the French was committed to the war, the American government would not commit to the war with the french. Frustrated the French tried to lure the Viet Minh into a coventional battle at Dien Bien Phu, the plan had back fired and 13,000 french soldiers found themselves surrounded by more than 50,000 Viet Minh troops. The help for the French soldiers never came. As a result, the Viet Minh defeated the French May 7, 1954 because they were forced to surrender. One day after the defeat an Iternational Conference was held to settle the Indochina conflict. The communist China had began aiding Viet Minh in 1950 hoped to limit U.S. influence in the region. Meanwhile the United States did not want to see Vietnam handed over to communism. A cease fire was agreed to General elections to reunify the country. It was scheduled for July 1956, alarmed to the possibility the communism could win the United States would not endorse the agreement.
Ngo Dinh Diem came to power through a rigged election. Many people did not like him because of his beliefs.By 1950 armed revolutions had erupted in the south. 1959 military assistance started flowing in 1961 when John F Kennedy became president. John F. Kennedy wanted to bolster the American image by comming to the aid of south Vietnam, this also provided america with the chance to assert its power. Diem was wagering a brutal campaign of repressioin against Buddhists. Buddhist monks publicly set themselves on fire. The United States had threatened to pull out its support if Diem didn't stop the repression. Diem would not comply and the United gave encouragement to overthorow Diem, 1963 both Diem and his brohter were killed. Three weeks later President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. President Johnson was awarded the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, he escalated the troops to Vietnam, he increased the bombing and ground patrols. Media brought war into homes with mixed emotions. Anti-war protest start to time emerge, draft card burners. Contraversity, was occuring at home with the veterans at other wars.1968 Nixon was elected for presidency. Nixon's campaign was to end the war.February 1970 us troops withdrawls, and Henry Kissinger meets secertly in Paris with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam at the Combodian air strike from Congress. 1971 another incident sparked the anti-war movement. The New York times began publishing a collection of secret governmaent documents relating to the war called the "Pentagon Papers". These papers showed that the government misled the Americans about the course of war. There were hints from Eisenhower that he might use the atomic bomb to end the war. 1972 heavy bombing of North Vietnam drove the troops further South to include Hanoi. In 1972 Nixon was relected, before he was re-elected the 26th Amendment was passed which had lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. The United States had agreed to a cease-fire in January 1973, after heavy bombind failed to sway the North Vietnamese from their demands. To prevent another Vietnam, Congress passed what is known as War Powers Act in 1973. The act reaffirms congresses constitutional right to declare war by setting a 60-day limit on the presidental commitment of US troops to foreign conflict. A memorial was made on an inscribed huge wall of black granite are names of more than 58,000 Americans that lost their lives in Vietnam.
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