Vietnam Coursework: Question One

Question One: How useful are sources A to C to explain why the United States became involved in the war in Vietnam?

Source A is an extract from a speech called “peace without conquest”. The speech was delivered to the American people on 7, 1965. By this point, Operation rolling thunder was well underway. The source could be interpreted as the official view from the government on why it was so important for America to fight in Vietnam.

The source states several reasons for the USA’s involvement in Vietnam making it quite useful. The source shows that the USA had “a promise to keep”, since 1954. This makes reference to SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organisation), which was set up by President Eisenhower in September 1954. It was a South East Asian version of NATO, and aimed to block further communist gains in the Asia. SEATO was originally part of the Truman Doctrine, which aimed to promote the containment of communism. The USA felt very loyal to SEATO as they felt very threatened that more countries would become communism after China did in 1949. The source is also useful because it states that the USA was there also to “strengthen world order”. This links back to America’s role as “world’s policemen” The USA had put it upon them to try to keep the world in order and promote freedom to all. The role of world’s policeman also link back to the promises made in the Truman Doctrine and the formation of SEATO. Thirdly the source states that if America wasn’t involved in Vietnam the battle “would be renewed in one country and then another.” This makes large reference to the vast amount of countries becoming communist in Asia, also known as the domino theory. The domino theory is the fear that as one country falls to communism another country nearby will follow. The domino effect was a huge threat to America’s policy of containment. During the 1950s America became deeply concerned that Vietnam would be the next country to fall and the domino effect would escalate.

The source however is limited due to the fact that it was speech delivered after President Johnson had been re-elected in 1964. After gaining the trust of the American public and winning the election Johnson did not want to be seen as a weak president like his predecessor John F Kennedy. Also like Kennedy, Johnson felt obliged to show America’s support for Vietnam. Johnson’s primary motive for delivering this speech to the American people was to further gain the trust of the American people and promote the American cause in Vietnam as something the USA was doing for the good of the Vietnamese people. Another factor making the content of the speech limited is that President Johnson does not mention how the USA cancelled the 1956 scheduled elections in Vietnam. Free elections were a primary feature of a democracy, which the USA had been promoting ever since the beginning of the Cold War. However the elections in Vietnam were abruptly disbanded after the South Vietnamese capitalist leader, Ngo Dinh Diem and the USA realised the people would not vote for the unpopular Diem regime and the country would fall to the communist north and this worried both parties greatly. Another final limitation of the source is that it is an official government written speech, (unlike sources B and C), moreover the content of the source would be modified in order to show America in the best light. The government did not want to become unpopular with its people at this crucial time in trying to gain support for America’s cause in Vietnam.

Source B is an extract taking from a phone call between President Johnson and his Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, McGeorge Bundy. The source is from May 1964, and is a private phone call therefore making it unofficial and separate from the government. It could be argued that the source shows the real opinions of Johnson and the war in Vietnam making it more useful; however it is also this exact reason which makes it limited.

Like source A, the source states many reasons for the USA’s involvement in Vietnam. However they are fairly different to those ...

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Like source A, the source states many reasons for the USA’s involvement in Vietnam. However they are fairly different to those in Source A. Source B states that Johnson felt under pressure to comply with his predecessors, when it came to the USA’s involvement in Vietnam. The source states “All the Politicians are saying ‘let’s move, let’s go into the north.’ They’d bring me down if I ran.” This shows Johnson’s worry and the pressure he is under to support South Vietnam and US allies France. He is also concerned about staying in power as the source is also taking from 1964, election year. The source is also useful as it tells of Vietnam being “the biggest damn mess”. This makes reference to the chaos in South Vietnam at this time. During the early 1960s Vietnam was a complete mess. The Vietcong were continuously murdering top officials in the south as they intensified their campaign for an independent communist Vietnam. There were many military coups and in 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem was murdered by his own officials South Vietnam now had no real leader. Also the source is useful as it mentions the domino effect, which was also highlighted in Source A. the source says “Of course if you start running from the communists, they may chase you into your own kitchen.” This shows how Johnson was so concerned about the rapid spread of communism and the Domino effect; he was even beginning to worry that Western Europe would begin turning to communism.

Even though it may be suggested that because the source was taken from a private conversation it is more useful than Source A. the source also has many limitations. The source is taken from election year election year, this was also the year when President Johnson gave his great society speech. Due to this Johnson is very aware of his public image at this time, as he did not want to loose his place in the White House. The source is also limited as it is taken from before the events of the gulf of Tonkkin and Plieku incidents. In 1965, 8 Americans were killed at Plieku and more than 100 were wounded after an attack by the Vietcong. This signified the start of Operation Rolling Thunder (Americans heavy bombing campaign and the beginning of the war of attrition in Vietnam.) On the other hand the source is useful because it gives us a deep insight into Johnson’s Personal view and what motivates him.

Source C is an extract from an interview with Professor Noam Chomsky who was an American journalist and highly critical of the war. He was also very critical of the US government, which adds to the limitations and the usefulness of the source. The interview was held in October 1982, around 10 years after the war had finished. Unlike the two previous sources, Chomsky is looking at the War in Hindsight, which could possibly distort his view on the USA’s involvement after knowing the terrible atrocities that were caused making the source both useful and limited.

Source C again suggests a possible reason for the USA’s involvement in Vietnam. However unlike sources A and B it is highly critical and shows the view that the war was a complete waste of time. However the source is useful as it states that American’s sphere of influence was a reason the USA entered Vietnam. In 1947 after Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech, President Truman announced his Truman Doctrine. The document stated the need for the containment of communism and how the United States would support any country fighting for freedom against communism. The Truman doctrine game hand in hand with the Marshall plan, which gave economic aid to countries in Europe to help them rebuild and become economically stable in order to fight off the communists and SEATO the South East Asian Treaty Organisation, mentioned in Source A. Many critics of America including the communists saw America as untrustworthy and instead of helping these countries fight for their freedom the US wanted them to be under their sphere of influence. The source claims that the USA “could not allow south Vietnam out of its orbit.” it also indicates that The USA received great economic gain from being in Vietnam and that they did not care about fighting for democracy they just wanted to keep themselves in Vietnam. The source is also useful as it suggest that anyone critical of the US government could be accused of being a communist. This makes direct reference to “Red Scare” in the 1920s and the policy of McCarthyism, which was passed by congress in 1940 and caused suspicions to be aroused further.

Source C is however limited due to the motive of the Source. The writer of the source

Professor Noam Chomsky was highly critical of the government and the source was taken after the war had ended. Noam Chomsky was interviewed and could have been influenced by his knowledge of the atrocities and the huge causalities that happened. The motive of the source is to get Chomsky’s view across. He would also be influenced because he is writing for the American public and is aware of public opinion. Because Chomsky is looking back in hindsight it makes the source limited and ‘its official truth now’ meaning that he is sympathising with the US public as they all were now aware of the Vietnam true nature of the war.

In conclusion all the sources suggest reason such as the domino effect, America’s role as world policeman and SEATO and for the USA’s involvement in the War. Each source is useful and limited, but out of all the sources, source B is the most useful. Source A is the official reason for why the USA became involved and was taken the election year and therefore would contain limitations in order to please the American public and win the election. Source B on the other hand is from the same election year but is the unofficial reasons. The source is taken from a private conversation and underlines the pressures Johnson had to face, from the president himself. Source C is also limited because it is taken after the war and could be argued that Chomsky was highly influenced by his knowledge. Source B is the most useful to explain why American became involved in the war because it gives the most truthful view from Johnson to why the USA entered Vietnam. However from the sources it becomes evident that the threat of communism spreading across Asia and the repercussions of the domino theory are the most important reason the USA entered Vietnam, rather than the wanting to promote freedom and preserve the interest people of Vietnam.