Vietnam and the Transformation of American Life

The Vietnam War, which dominated American life during the 1960s, helped to create, radicalize, and alter social and political life in the US.

Acknowledgements vi Introduction: Intersection: The Vietnam War and the Social and Political Movements of the 1960s 1 Part I The Vietnam War 1 Containment, Liberalism, and Vietnam: Background to the American War 13 2 Why (Not) Vietnam? The Vietnamese, the French, and the Americans to 1960 22 3 Destroying the Country to Save It: The American War on Vietnam, 1960-1968 61 4 The Empire Strikes Back: The Vietnam War from 1968 to 1975 101 Part II The Movements of the 1960s 5 “Many Deeds of War”: Hope and Anguish in the 1960s 139 6 Love Me, I’m a Liberal: The Politics of 1960s and Vietnam 150 7 The Struggles at Home: Civil Rights and Women’s Liberation 191 8 “One, Two, Three, What Are We Fightin’ For?” Cultural Politics in the Vietnam Era 234 Notes 252 Bibliography 264 Index 270