Examine the American experience in the Vietnam War from the 1950s through the 1970s. Beginning with the legacy of French colonialism in Vietnam, we will trace the transition of influence from France to the United States and explore how successive presidential administrations—Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon—shaped the course of the conflict. We will also examine the war’s impact on the American homefront, including the rise of antiwar activism and grassroots protest movements. Through lectures, film clips, historical scholarship, class discussion, and primary sources, we will consider one of the central questions of modern American history: how and why did the United States become so deeply involved in Vietnam, and what legacy did the war leave behind?