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