President Johnson and the Vietnam War

What was the Ho Chi Minh Trail?

• A railway network connecting Vietnam to China

• A network of some 12,000 miles of trails used during the Vietnam War

• A highway built by the United States in Vietnam

• A river used for transporting soldiers and supplies in Vietnam

Answer explanation

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was actually a network of some 12,000 miles of trails. Soldiers and supplies traveled the route on foot and by bicycle, oxcart, and truck. The trip south, through the rugged mountains of Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam, could take as long as three months.

Tags

8.D

8.E

What action did LBJ take after believing a second attack had occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin?

• He ordered a nuclear strike on North Vietnam

• He ordered air strikes against North Vietnamese naval bases

• He called for an international peace conference

• He resigned from the presidency

Answer explanation

LBJ immediately ordered air strikes against North Vietnamese naval bases and implored Congress the next day, on August 5, to approve the air strikes and grant him power to subdue future threats.

Tags

8.D

8.E

What event in 1964 led to the escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam?

• The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• The signing of a peace treaty

• The election of a new U.S. president

• The end of the Vietnam War

Answer explanation

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was not a legal declaration of war, but it did, in effect, enable the president to expand the U.S. role in the Vietnamese conflict.

Tags

8.D

8.E

What was the name of the series of massive air strikes that followed the February bombing raid in Vietnam?

• Operation Desert Storm

• Operation Rolling Thunder

• Operation Enduring Freedom

• Operation Just Cause

Answer explanation

Most of the president’s advisers believed that Operation Rolling Thunder was necessary to bolster the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and to prevent the collapse of South Vietnam.

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8.D

8.E

Who were considered "hawks" in the context of U.S. political advisers?

• People who favored reducing U.S. military involvement in Vietnam

• People who supported a limited war to secure South Vietnam's independence

• People who favored expanding U.S. military involvement in Vietnam

• People who were against any form of U.S. involvement in foreign policy debates

Answer explanation

To hawks, Vietnam’s defense was crucial to the broader struggle to contain communism. Most of them invoked the Domino Theory, that if one nation fell to Communism, others around it would too.

What theory did the hawks invoke to justify their argument for sending U.S. ground troops to Vietnam?

• The ripple effect theory

• The containment theory

• The domino theory

• The escalation theory

Answer explanation

Hawks kept asserting that the fall of Vietnam would trigger the spread of communism from Cambodia and Laos to the rest of Southeast Asia and beyond.

Tags

8.D

8.E

What did the cartoon depicting President Johnson clinging to the tail of a tiger represent according to some critics of the Vietnam War?

• The U.S. having control over the Vietnam War

• The possibility of a quick U.S. victory in Vietnam

• The U.S. being dragged by an uncontrollable conflict

• The U.S. supporting Vietnam's economy

Which of the following regions did President Johnson intend to bomb by March of 1964?

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8.D

8.E

Read the source on the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and select the perspective that most resembles the author's point of view.

• Hawk

• Dove

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8.D

8.E

President Johnson relied on advisers like Defense Secretary Robert McNamara to help formulate Vietnam policy. What was McNamara's stance toward escalation of forces in Vietnam?

• Opposed to escalation
• Neutral towards escalation
• Unaware of escalation
• Supportive of escalation

Tags

8.D

8.E