| A | B |
|---|
| Ho Chi Minh | Leader of the Indochinese Communist Party who after Wold War II declared Vietnam an independent nation and began fighting French with the Vietminh. |
| Vietminh | An organization of Vietnamese Communists and other nationalist groups that between 1946 and 1954 fought for Vietnamese independence from the French. |
| Domino Theory | The idea that if a nation falls under Communist control, nearby nations will also fall under Communist control. |
| Geneva Accords | A 1954 peace agreement that divided Vietnam into Communist controlled North Vietnam and non-Communist controlled South Vietnam until unification elections could be held in 1956. |
| Ngo Dinh Diem | South Vietnam's president who recieved aid from the Eisenhower administration in order to form a stable reform government. |
| Vietcong | The South Vietnamese Communists, who, with North Vietnamese support, fought against the voernment of South Vietnam in the Vietnam War. |
| Ho Chi Minh Trail | A network of paths used by North Vietnam to transport supplies to the Vietcong in South Vietnam. |
| Tonkin Gulf Resolution | A resolution adopted by Congress in 1964, giving the president broad powers to wage war in Vietnam. |
| Dien Bien Phu | The location of a French outpost that fell to the Vietminh |
| Robert McNamara | President Johnon's Secretary of Defense. |
| Dean Rusk | President Johnson's Secretary of State. |
| William Westmoreland | The American commander in South Vietnam during the Vietnam war. |
| Napalm | A gasoline-based substance used in bombs that U.S. planes dropped in Vietnam in order to burn away jungle and expose Vietcong hideouts. |
| Agent Orange | A leaf-killing chemical sprayed by U.S. planes in Vietnam to expose Vietcong hideouts. |
| Search-and-destroy-mission | A U.S. military raid on a South Vietnamese village, intended to root out villagers with ties to the Vietcong but often resulting in the destruction of the village and the displacement of its inhabitants. |
| Credibility gap | A public distrust of statements made by the government. |
