• May 19, 1890-September 2, 1969
• Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader
• Was prime minister
• President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam)

• January 3, 1901-November 2, 1963
• South Vietnamese politician
• Went into a self-imposed exile
• Consolidated his power as the President of South Vietnam in 1956

• December 26, 1893-September 9, 1976
• Chinese communist revolutionary
• Founding father of the People's Republic of China
• Spent 22 years in the wilderness

• October 14, 1890-March 28, 1969
• American politician and Army general
• Served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961

• August 27, 1908-January 22, 1973
• American politician
• Served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969
• Known for escalating war in Vietnam

• January 9, 1913-April 22, 1994
• American politician
• Served as the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until 1974
• Claimed to end war with Vietnam

• Founded on December 29, 1960
• National Liberation Front
• Political organization with its own army- People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam

• Replaces MAAG-Vietnam, the Military Assistance Advisory Group which had been established in 1950

Countries:

• French Indo China:
• Grouping of French colonial territories in Southeast Asia
• North Vietnam:
• Democratic Republic of Vietnam
• A state in Southeast Asia which existed from 1945 to 1976
• South Vietnam:
• Republic of Vietnam
• A state governing the southern half of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975
• It received international recognition in 1949 as the "State of Vietnam", and later as the "Republic of Vietnam"
• China:
• Chinese took measures to weaken the Vietnamese communists at the same time they were sending aid and personnel to assist in the effort
• China was wary of Vietnam becoming too strong in Indochina
• United States:
• The role of the United States in the Vietnam War began after World War II
• Escalated into full commitment during the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975

Terms:

• Domino Theory:
• Theory that a political event in one country will cause similar events in neighboring countries, like a falling domino causing an entire row of upended dominoes to fall
• Fear that communism would spread to multiple countries
• Geneva Accords:
• Arranged a settlement which brought about an end to the First Indochina War.
• A ceasefire was signed and France agreed to withdraw its troops from the region.
• Gulf of Tonkin:
• Body of water located off the coast of northern Vietnam and southern China. It is a northern arm of the South China Sea.
• The incident drew the United States more directly into the Vietnam War. It involved two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin.
• Ho Chi Minh Trail:
• The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia.
• Guerrilla War:
• Guerrilla warfare is a very unconventional style of warfare; it refers to small conflicts where groups of stealthy combatants use the element of surprise to eliminate the opponent
• Widely used by the North Vietnamese Communists, also called the Vietcong
• Napalm:
• Flammable liquid used in warfare
• Agent Orange:
• Toxic chemical herbicide that was used from about 1965 – 1970 in the Vietnam War
• It was one of the main mixtures used during Operation Ranch Hand
• Tet Offensive:
• The Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, launched on January 30, 1968, by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam