Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War

Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War DOCUMENTS AND ESSAYS SECOND EDITION EDITED BY ROBERT J. McMAHON UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA D. C. HEATH...
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Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War

DOCUMENTS AND ESSAYS

SECOND EDITION EDITED BY

ROBERT J. McMAHON UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY Lexington, Massachusetts

Toronto

Contents CHAPTER

1

Vietnam and America: An Introduction Page 1

ESSAYS Leslie H. Gelb and Richard K. Betts • The System Worked

2

Norman Podhoretz • A Moral and Necessary Intervention Gabriel Kolko • The Limits of American Power

C H A P T E R

14

21

2

The Development of Vietnamese Nationalism Page 30

DOCUMENTS

Phan Boi Chau's Prison Reflections, 1914

31

Ho Chi Minh Deplores "Imperalist Crimes," 1920

33

Ho's Appeal at the Founding of the Communist Party of Indochina, 1930 33 A Vietnamese Writer Recalls the 1944-1945 Famine, 1956 The Vietnamese Declaration of Independence, 1945

35

36

ESSAYS

John T. McAlister, Jr. • Vietnam: An Historical Overview David G. Man • The Colonial Impact

39

50

William J. Duiker • Communism and Nationalism

C H A P T E R

64

3

The Roots of the American Commitment Page 72

DOCUMENTS

George C. Marshall on the Indochina Dispute, 1947 Statement of U.S. Policy Toward Indochina, 1948

73 75

The United States Praises the Elys£e Agreements, 1949

78 XI

Xll

Contents

The State Department Recommends Military Aid to the French, 1950 National Security Council Paper No. 64, 1950

82

Dean Acheson Urges Aid for Indochina, 1950

84

Ho Chi Minh Denounces U.S. Intervention, 1950

78

84

ESSAYS

Patrick J. Hearden • An Economic Perspective on U.S. Involvement

86

Robert J. McMahon • A Strategic Perspective on U.S. Involvement

102

C H A P T E R

4

Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vietnam: Deepening the Commitment Page 118

DOCUMENTS

Dwight D. Eisenhower Appeals for British Help, 1954 Eisenhower Explains the Domino Theory, 1954 Vo Nguyen Giap on Diebienphu (1954), 1964

120

122 123

Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference on Indochina, 1954 Edward G. Lansdale on the Importance of the South Vietnamese Experiment, 1955 126 National Security Council Discussion of the Sect Crisis, 1955 South Vietnamese Statement of Reunification, 1955

131

Elbridge Durbrow Assesses the Diem Regime, 1957

132

124

127

National Security Council Discussion of Diem's Growing Problems, 1960 133 ESSAYS

Stephen E. Ambrose • The Wisdom of U.S. Nonintervention David L. Anderson • The Tragedy of U.S. Intervention

CHAPTER

134 145

5

John F. Kennedy and Vietnam: Incremental Escalation Page 159

DOCUMENTS

Maxwell Taylor Recommends the Dispatch of U.S. Forces, 1961

160

Dean Rusk and Robert S. McNamara's Alternative Plan, 1961 162 An Early U.S. Army Adviser Remembers His Experiences (1962-1963), 1981 166 Mike Mansfield Questions American Policy, 1962

167

John F. Kennedy Criticizes the South Vietnamese Government, 1963 Kennedy Reaffirms the Domino Theory, 1963

170

169

Contents

Henry Cabot Lodge Discusses Coup Prospects, 1963 McGeorge Bundy Expresses Reservations, 1963 Diem's Final Appeal for U.S. Help, 1963

xiii

171 173

175

ESSAYS Lawrence J. Bassett and Stephen E. Pelz • The Failed Search for Victory John M. Newman • Kennedy's Plan for American Withdrawal

C H A P T E R

176 c —

195

6

Lyndon B. Johnson's Decisions for War Page 207

DOCUMENTS Reassessment of U.S. Objectives in South Vietnam, 1964 The Tonkin Gulf Resolution, 1964

208

209

Lyndon B. Johnson Explains Why Americans Fight in Vietnam, ? — 1965 210 "^ Robert S. McNamara Recommends Escalation, 1965 George Ball Dissents, 1965

213

217

Johnson Recalls His Decision to Commit Troops (1965), 1971 Philip Caputo Remembers His Idealism (1965), 1977

219 t£r;

223

^

"™

ESSAYS

David Halberstam • To Achieve a Victory Brian VanDeMark • To Avoid a Defeat

224 231

C H A P T E R

7

U.S. Military Strategy Page 243

DOCUMENTS Robert S. McNamara Urges Additional Troop Deployments, 1965

244

George F. Kennan Criticizes the American Military Commitment, 1966 246 The Central Intelligence Agency's Assessment of the Bombing Campaign, 1967 248 McNamara on the Improved Military Outlook, 1967

249

William C. Westmoreland Reflects on a War of Attrition, 1977 A Soldier's Perspective on Combat in Vietnam, 1977

251

254

/

ESSAYS

Harry G. Summers, Jr. • A Critical Appraisal of American Strategy Gary R. Hess • Were There Viable Alternative Strategies? Loren Baritz • The Limits of Technological Warfare

275

262

257

XIV

Contents

C H A P T E R

8

The Enemy: North Vietnam and the "Vietcong" Page 282

DOCUMENTS

Ho Chi Minh's Appeal After the Geneva Agreements, 1954

283

Truong Nhu Tang on the Origins of the National Liberation Front(1957-1959), 1985 285 Manifesto of the National Liberation Front, 1960

289

A Vietcong Recruit Explains Why He Joined the Revolution (1961), 1986 292 A South Vietnamese Peasant Girl Becomes a Vietcong Supporter (C. 1961), 1989 293 Vo Nguyen Giap on People's War, 1961

297

Nguyen Chi Thanh on Communist Strategy, 1963

299

Ho Vows to "Fight Until Complete Victory," 1966

302

ESSAYS

Douglas Pike • Revolutionary Mystique

304

Eric M. Bergerud • The Success of Communist Strategy at the Village Level 312

C H A P T E R

9

The Tet Offensive Page 337

DOCUMENTS

Lyndon B. Johnson on the Failed Communist Offensive, 1968

338

Robert McNamara and Dean Rusk Assess the Tet Offensive, 1968 Robert F. Kennedy Calls Vietnam an Unwinnable War, 1968

339

341

Earle G. Wheeler's Report on Military Prospects After Tet, 1968 A Communist Party Evaluation, 1968

344

347

A U.S. Air Force Nurse Remembers the Tet Offensive (1968), 1987 Robert Komer Recalls Tet's Impact (1968), 1987

Clark M. Clifford Remembers His Post-Tet Questions (1968), 1969 Johnson Calls for Negotiations, 1968

356

ESSAYS

William S. Turley • Tactical Defeat, Strategic Victory for Hanoi Gabriel Kolko • A Decisive Turning Point

373

350

352

361

354

Contents

C H A P T E R

XV

10

The Ally: South Vietnam Page 389

DOCUMENTS

Ngo Dinh Diem Requests Additional U.S. Aid, 1957

390

Tran Van Don on the Need for Reforms After the Coup Against Diem (1963), 1978 391 Nguyen Cao Ky on the Battle for Hearts and Minds, 1976

393

Nguyen Van Thieu's Address to the National Assembly, 1969

396

An American Serviceman's View of the South Vietnamese Army, 1987 397 ESSAYS y

Gabriel Kolko • A Doomed Dependency Bui Diem • A Viable State

398

413 C H A P T E R

11

Richard M. Nixon's Strategy for Withdrawal Page 422

DOCUMENTS

Henry A. Kissinger Reflects on the Nixon Administration's Dilemma in Vietnam (1969), 1979 423 National Security Study Memorandum No. 1, 1969

426

A Guerrilla Leader Remembers 1969 as "The Worst Year" (1969), 1986 431 Richard M. Nixon on Vietnamization, 1969

432

Nixon Explains the Cambodian Incursion, 1970

437

Henry A. Kissinger Reveals the U.S. Negotiating Position, 1972

440

Negotiating Position of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, 1972 442 ESSAYS

Arnold Isaacs • The Limits of Credibility

443

Walter Isaacson • Vietnam and the Nixon-Kissinger World Order

C H A P T E R

453

12

The Antiwar Movement and Public Opinion Page 466

DOCUMENTS

SDS States Opposition to the War, 1965

467

Carl Oglesby Denounces the "Liberals' War," 1965

468

Martin Luther King, Jr., Declares His Opposition to the War, 1967

470

XVI

Contents

--- Proclamation of the Antidraft Resistance, 1967

476

James Fallows Reflects on the Draft's Inequities (1969), 1975 • \ A Veteran Remembers His Bitter Homecoming, 1981

477

480

Todd Gitlin Recalls the New Left's Revolutionary Romanticism, 1987 481 ""•> A Vietnam Veteran Opposes the War, 1971

483

ESSAYS

J

Melvin Small • The Impact of the Antiwar Movement

487

Charles DeBenedetti and Charles Chatfield • The Antiwar Movement and American Society 494 Christian G. Appy • American Veterans and the Antiwar Movement

CHAPTER

511

13

The Media and the War Page 466

DOCUMENTS

The New York Times Supports American Policy, 1962

521

Neil Sheehan Recalls Initial Press Attitudes Toward the War (1962-1963), 1988 522 Walter Lippmann on a "Limited War" with "Unlimited Aims," 1967 Newsweek Editorializes About "A Nation at Odds," 1967

525

Walter Cronkite Criticizes a Policy "Mired in Stalemate," 1968 Life Publicizes One Week's Dead in Vietnam, 1969

524 528

529

Spiro T. Agnew Assails the Television Networks for Biased Coverage, 1969 531 Don Oberdorfer on Charges of Media Bias, 1987

534

ESSAYS

Robert Elegant • How to Lose a War

535

Peter Braestrup • Missing the "Big Story"

543

Daniel C. Hallin • A Critique of the Oppositional Media Thesis

C H A P T E R

553

14

The Paris Peace Accords of 1973 and the Fall of South Vietnam Page 563

DOCUMENTS

Richard M. Nixon Reassures Nguyen Van Thieu, 1973 The Paris Peace Accords, 1973

564

565

Henry A. Kissinger Appeals to Congress for Emergency Aid, 1975

569

Contents

XVli

James R. Schlesinger, Jr., Recalls the Collapse of South Vietnam (1975), 1987 573 A South Vietnamese Pilot Reflects on His Country's Defeat (1975), 1990 573 A South Vietnamese Civilian Remembers His Last Days in Saigon (1975), 1990 575 A North Vietnamese Commander Celebrates the "Great Spring Victory" (1975), 1977 577 Nixon Blames Congress for the Fall of South Vietnam (1975), 1978 580 ESSAYS

Allan E. Goodman • What Went Wrong?

582

William J. Duiker • Why the Communists Won

C H A P T E R

594

15

Consequences and Lessons of the War Page 608 D 0 C U M"E N T S

Gerald R. Ford on the Lessons of Vietnam, 1975

609

Jimmy Carter Sees a "Profound Moral Crisis," 1977 Richard M. Nixon Reads Vietnam's Lessons, 1985

609 610

William Sullivan Identifies Some Positive Consequences, 1987 Ronald Reagan Calls Vietnam a Noble and Just Cause, 1988

612 614

President Bill Clinton Lifts the Trade Embargo on Vietnam, 1994 An American Veteran Helps to Dedicate the Vietnam War Memorial (1982), 1985 617

615 /^

An African-American Draftee Reflects on the War's Impact, 1984

619

A Former Army Nurse Considers the War's Impact, 1987

621

ESSAYS

Paul Kennedy • The Impact of Vietnam on America's World Role EricM. Bergerud • Lessons of an Intractable Conflict Marilyn B. Young • The War's Tragic Legacy

637

627

622