Vietnam War Era History Posters & Art Prints
for the history and social studies classrooms and home schoolers.

Vietnam is a small, s-shaped country in southeast Asia (also known as Indochina) bordered by China on the north, Laos and Cambodia on the west and the South China Sea on the south and east. Between 1957 and 1975 the Vietnamese people suffered through a conflict that marked the beginning of the ending of the Cold War (and thus a continuation of WWII) that pitted the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN, or North Vietnam, allied with the National Liberation Front [NLF, or “Viet Cong”] against the Republic of Vietnam [RVN, or South Vietnam), and its allies - primarily the United States military. The North claimed they were reuniting the country and it was a war of liberation continued from French imperialism, the South claimed it was a war to stop the spread of Communism from China.

American combat troops were committed from 1965 to 1973, marking a period of intense unrest in the United States. Opposition to the war, beginning on college campuses, eventually highlighted corruption in the highest levels of US government to manipulate and maintain control despite the democratic wishes of the people. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 curtailed the President's ability to commit troops to action without first obtaining Congressional approval.

• aviation posters

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America in the 20th Century -
The Troubled Decade, 1963-1974

From the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, a decade of change transformed American politics and cultural life. Racial upheaval, student rebellion, social reform and an unpopular war in Southeast Asia marked this time of crisis and change.

1). The assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22,1963, shocked the nation. Adding to the unease of millions was the murder a few days later of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of killing the President. Oswald's murder made it impossible to resolve the doubts and suspicions engendered by this fateful day in Dallas.

2). The assassination was traumatic for other reason as well, it came as the civil rights movement in the South and elsewhere was cresting. The age of non-violent protest, as typlified by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. achieved temendous victories. The most notable of those victories were the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, which ended segregatin of public facilities and protected the voting rights of minorities. But the deeper problems of black urban ghettos remained, exploding in many bloody riots in the mid-1960s.

3). President Lyndon Johnson hoped to solve the problems of urban poverty through his many so-called Great Society programs. But the War in Vietnam distracted him. By 1968, more than 500,000 soldiers were in Vietnam. Among young people, doubts about the war grew, many protested and refused to fight in Vietnam. Other Americans were angered by the way the war dragged on and called for a more decisive military effort. In 1968, President Johnson decided not to run for a second term. And huge student riots marred the Democratic Party's Convention that summer, helping Republican Richard Nixon win the election.

4). In spite of its troubles, America had its share of triumphs – especially the successful manned Apollo moon landings. the space program was dramatic proof that America's economic and technological creativity was enormous in these years.

5). Many Americans hoped Richard Nixon would restore orderliness and respect for the law. Instead, the Watergate Scandal destroyed his Presidency. The scandal began on June 17, 1972, when some men working for Mr. Nixon were arrested for breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. A long investigation showed the President himself had helped to hide this crime. On August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. President to resign.

• more America in the 20th Century posters

Daniel Ellsberg
b. 4-7-1931; Chicago, IL

Daniel Ellsberg, who worked as a military analyst while employed by the RAND Corporation (Research ANd Development) released the “Pentagon Papers”, a top-secret study of US government decision-making about the Vietnam War, to The New York Times and other newspapers.

Ellsberg, who had been a Marine platoon leader and company commander, then served as a State Department civilian employee in Vietnam in the mid 1960s. In 1969 Ellsburg heard Randy Kehler, a draft resister, say he was “very excited” that he would soon be able to join his friends in prison - that statement sent Ellsburg soul searching.

Daniel Ellsburg quotes ~
• “Those of us who finally saw through the Vietnam war saw through this war, and all the actions that were necessary to end the Vietnam war will be necessary here. I think the American people will get us out of this (war).”
• “Don't do what I did. Don't wait until the bombs are falling in Iran. Don't wait until people are dying. Go to the press and reveal.”
• “If they keep arresting us without charging us, then they are doing nothing other than restricting our freedom of speech. This needs to be challenged, and if we're arrested again, we'll have a stronger case.”

Good Morning, Vietnam -

In 1965, military D.J. Adrian Cronauer was sent to Vietnam to build morale. His Strategy: keep 'em laughing. His problem: staying out of trouble. ..

Henry Steele Commager
b. 10-25-1902; Pennsylvania
d. 3-3-1998

Henry Steele Commager was a noted educator, historian and author. He was a defender of civil liberties, opposed McCarthyism, and the Vietnam War.

• The Spirit of Seventy-Six: The Story of the American Revolution as told by Participants, ed. Henry Steele Commager

Agent Orange was the code name for a herbicide and defoliant chemical used during the Vietnam War from 1961-1971 by the U.S. military. Agent Orange released dioxins which cause health problems.