1. Why did US start fighting?
   1. Foreign policy goals
      1. Halt the spread of 3rd world revolutions
   2. Principles
      1. Fear from public for "losing" Vietnam
         1. L.B.J. didn't want "S.E. Asia go the way China went."
   3. The US violated the Geneva Accords and created a pro-American S.V. government
2. Events that escalated commitment to the war
   1. Golf of Tonkin Incident
   2. Vietnam launches a guerrilla war against France
3. The war's opponents and criticisms?
   1. Senator William Fullbright
   2. SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)
      1. Leader: Carl Ogelsby
         1. "Obsessive Anticommunism"
      2. Invited opponents of American Policy in Vietnam to assemble in D.C.
         1. 25,000 turnout
   3. MLK Jr. "Unconscionable use of violence"
   4. Walter Lippmann
      1. "Less of an either-or anticommunist crusade"
   5. Not much knowledge of Vietnam's history or culture
4. How was the war fought?
   1. Very technological
      1. Napalm
      2. Agent Orange
   2. Search and Destroy Missions
   3. Measured by "body counts", not land conquered
5. Who fought in the war / what were their experiences?
   1. Avg: 19-20 yr. olds
   2. Wealthy got favored
      1. Important jobs
      2. College exemption
6. How did it end / Impact on foreign policy?
   1. War Powers Act
   2. Paris Peace Agreement
      1. Withdrew troops
      2. S.V. Government collapsed
         1. Now it's communist anyway...
   3. Costed $100 billion
   4. US thought it had the right to decide the fate of far away people that it knew almost nothing about