They had an objective which they hoped to aim: ‘the independence of South and the freedom of the people of South Vietnam to guide their own country in their own way’.
President Kennedy was the first president to send ‘advisors’ to Vietnam. And Johnson was his vice president at the time. Now that Johnson is president, he wants to follow in Kennedy’s footsteps. Johnson also says that this is what Kennedy would have wanted.
The U.S. also believed they were also there to strengthen world order- U.S. as democratic wanting to stop Communism. Most countries from Berlin to Thailand, there were people who counted on America if they were attacked. The Americans believed it was there duty. If they left Vietnam to its fate, it would look bad on America’s commitment and the value of America’s word. As Johnson said in his speech, “The result to this would be instability and unrest, and an even wider war. The battle would be renewed in one country and then another”.
Near the end of the speech, Johnson adds, “We must stay in Southeast Asia as we did in Europe in the words of the bible: ‘Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further”. The Americans always, believed religiously they were fighting God’s war.
However the way, Christianity appeals to the U.S. is very biased.
In my opinion, I find source A, very useful, but however limited because there is no actual fact. Everything said is opinion based. It’s a very biased speech, because it’s just President Johnson’s speech. Also, he is telling the public what they want to hear, he’s therefore trying to persuade the U.S. public.
In source B, President Johnson is speaking in a private conversation in May 1964. At this time Lyndon Johnson only just became president, but when he was vice president he knew Vietnam quite well.
Johnson, in this speech is saying a number of things to criticize the U.S. public about the knowledge they have of Vietnam; [which is not a lot].
This private opinion states that Johnson thinks USA can not win this war. And he obviously has a very low opinion of the U.S. public.
However, ‘hell’ was a word they didn’t use often, especially not in public, in those days. They were very religious people, who believed and stayed faithful, and mostly did not appreciate swearing. Johnson would never say any bad language [cursing] in public. The way Johnson was going about in his private speech, it was as if he was calling the U.S. people ‘stupid’.
Johnson added, “I don’t think we can fight them ten thousand miles away from home... I don’t think its worth fighting for”. In this conversation Johnson is agreeing the U.S. have to stand up to Communism, but he’s trying to get his point across that Vietnam is not worth it.
I think that Source B is and more useful than Source A, because the conversation Johnson had wasn’t public and was not supposed to be heard or viewed by anyone besides the person/people he was talking to at the time, therefore it means this conversation was a secret which has been revealed. There were tapes running everywhere in the ‘White House’ at this time, and everything said would be recorded, this has obviously been revealed because it’s important and quite useful.
In source C, Professor Noam Chomsky [an American critic of the war] was being interviewed, in October 1982. This means this conversation is a secondary source. This man was also a modern writer. This interview states that the U.S. went to war for political reasons to dominate Vietnam and to stop the South of Vietnam being independent; “The U.S. did not want an independent South Vietnam that was no longer dominated by America. It feared that South Vietnam might be able to reform and improve itself- develop its economy- and that it might work!” This part of the conversation especially was biased because Chomsky himself is an Anti-American, and is therefore being biased towards America. Also, over exaggerating when stating your opinion, makes it very weak. Therefore this source isn’t as useful because of the over exaggeration.
To conclude, all of the sources value usefulness but also have limitations.
In my view source B is most useful because, it was a private conversation with Johnson, criticising and humiliating the U.S. public and their knowledge of Vietnam. The conversation, had swearing involved which would be quite shocking knowing that, in those days the U.S. people didn’t appreciate bad language. This conversation was supposed to be kept secret and private. On the other hand, secret tapes were hidden in all of the rooms is the ‘White House’ recording everything said. So when this conversation was found, it was revealed to everyone. You would find a secret most useful in this situation because you find out the real truth, of Johnson’s thoughts and opinions, which are quite shocking in this conversation.
