Transcript Vietnam and Watergate - Midlands Technical College

Vietnam and Watergate
• The longest and most costly war in American
history; Vietnam stemmed out of the Cold War
and ‘Containment Philosophy.’
• Many American leaders were WWII and Cold
War veterans—they were determined to avoid
another ‘Munich.’
• Unfortunately foreign policy initiatives for
Southeast Asia was often incoherent and
ambiguous—ended in tragedy.
• American involvement begins back in 1945; the
U.S. sent advisors to aid the Vietminh to oust
the Japanese.
• Ho Chi Minh wanted the U.S. to assist the
Vietminh to unify all of Vietnam—It had been
partitioned many years earlier during the first
French occupation of Indochina.
• Unfortunately the U.S., though anticolonialism, allowed the French to re-establish
its French colonial empire to ensure their
participation in NATO.
• 58,000 American lives and over 300,000
wounded left a legacy of bitterness and much
misunderstanding;
• Many had psychological issues, but many—in
fact there was 2x the drug and alcohol
addiction problems than combat injuries by
the end of the war;
• Vietnam left a shattered generation and an
inherent distrust of government.
• Many in America changed opinions on
America’s role in international affairs—many
unrealistically wanted to be isolationists;
• Changed from the last bastion to communism
to ‘Live and Let Live.’ American
exceptionalism was tarnished—until President
Reagan restored patriotic fervor.
• So, how did we get there? What were the
lasting affects? And does Vietnam still haunt
American policy and idealism?
Vietnam Time Line
• 1941—The Atlantic Charter—America denounces
colonialism and promotes self-determinism;
• 1945—Vietnam declares independence (100yrs Chinese,
Japanese, and French occupation); Ho Chi Minh recites the
declaration of Independence Sep 2 1945;
• 1949—China falls the communist forces of Mao Tse
Tung—America fears China communism is spreading
into Indochina;
• 1950—Sec of State, Dean Acheson declares that
America will secure and protect the “Pacific Rim”
against communist expansion; The Korean War
suggests that Asia is becoming unstable;
• 1953—Korean Conflict stalls into a perpetual truce
dividing North and South Korea; this instability
enhances America’s resolve that Asia also must be
part of the containment policy.
• 1954—French are now engaged in a colonialnationalist war with the Vietminh. Ho Chi Minh vows
to fight for as long as it takes. The U.S. funds 75% of
the French-Indochina War; France is humiliated by
the Vietminh and Vo Nyguyen Giap at Dien Bien Phu;
• 1954—Geneva Peace Accords partition Vietnam on
the model of Korea—
• 1956--Eisenhower and
CIA intervene to
prevent free elections—
fearing the communist
will win a free election.
• The Domino Theory is
embraced; if Vietnam
falls soon all the Pacific
rim will collapse;
• 1960—JFK pursues
Vietnam initiatives to
bolster a weak South
Vietnam government
• Why did JFK pursue
Vietnam?
• 1) Reassert American
might after the Bay of
Pigs fiasco, the Berlin
Crisis, and the Cuban
Crisis;
• 2) He was raised an
ardent Cold War
Warrior—saw Ho Chi
Minh as a Soviet Pawn;
• 3) Supported “Limited
Brush Fire Wars” and
containment;
• Early on, I believe that
America should have been in
Vietnam—past experience
was all we had to use as a
litmus test—so Vietnam
seemed logical;
• Idealistic Americans early
also believed that Vietnam
was worth saving—Dr. Tom
Dooley. He saw the tortured
Vietnamese and doctored
many back to health;
• After the partition many
North Vietnamese fled to the
South seeking democracy.
• JFK under CIA urging stepped up the commitment
to train, supply and financially bolster Ngo Dinh
Diem’s regime.
• Diem, however, was very unpopular; an introvert,
staunch Catholic, not a very good leader—His
brother, head of the Secret Police, and his brother’s
wife Madam Nhu, were anti Buddhists and antipeasants—made things worse for Diem.
• The catholic minority ruled ruthlessly over the
ancient religious groups—especially Buddhists.
• The Priests protested
against the government;
• LBJ as VP made a fact
finding trip to Vietnam,
• “Diem is the George
Washington of Asia—he
is a great leader …”
• The Peasants and
Buddhists thought
otherwise—immolated
themselves in protest.
• Diem and Nhu were so
unpopular, that the
Vietnamese Military
under the prodding of
CIA – assassinated Diem
and his brother;
• This created a change of
events of corrupt and
inept leaders in Vietnam;
• By 1964 it was obvious
that this was going to be
an American War—if the
line in the sand was to be
fixed in Asia—JFK
bumped up the 750
advisors to 16000
• The Tonkin Gulf
resolution and Incident
of 1964.
• Ostensibly, America was
running covert and
clandestine interdictions
into North Vietnam;
• In response, the North
Vietnamese sent out
small gun boats to
contest the the
destroyers and
interdiction--
• President Johnson under very murky
information called these so-called unprovoked
attacks “ as devious as Pearl Harbor.” One can
see the picture and emotions this reference
conjures up.
• To Johnson this was justification for direct
military intervention;
• The congressional resolution allowed LBJ to
“take all necessary measures … to prevent
further aggression [by the North Vietnamese]”
• Johnson initiates Operation
Rolling Thunder saturation
bombing of the North;
• Feb 3, 1965 the VC attack
and kill 8 American advisors
at Pleiku Airbase;
• To protect American lives
against physical aggression
Johnson sends Combat
Troops to Vietnam to secure
and maintain security at the
Air Bases—The Marines
land at Da Nang Feb 1965
• Marines and other Army
Units immediately complain
about the heat and being
relegated to sitting ducks at
these bases;
• Finally Johnson gives the
OK to ‘Search out and
Destroy’ the enemy missions;
• To take the countryside away
from the enemy and pursue
the VC aggressively.
• “We marched into the
Rice Paddies on that
damp March afternoon,
we carried, along with
our Rifles and packs, the
implicit convictions that
the Viet Cong would be
quickly beaten and we
were doing something
altogether noble and
good. We kept our packs
and rifles; our
convictions we lost.”
• There has been much exaggeration about the
atrocities by U.S. soldiers on civilians;
• 1) Racist theory—we considered them non-human so
it was easy to inflict barbaric acts against them;
• 2) frontier Heritage—we are by nature violent and
inherently murderous—we just needed a war to act
out on these impulses;
• Hogwash—is there an element of truth—maybe—but
overall what was it about Vietnam that made
otherwise normal moralistic Iowans, Georgians, New
Yorkers, or Californians sadistic and crass to the idea
of humanity and compassion?
• These observations and muses are by
Sociologists and Psychologists who never
experienced first hand war and its savagery;
nor do they take into account how monstrous
the VC, NVA and even ARVN could be to their
own people.
• The Korean Division took delight in cutting off
ears etc … These academic ignore the years of
barbarous warfare inflicted upon one another
during the Chinese occupation and the First
Indochina War with the French.
• The evil was inherent in the circumstances of a
bloody, hate filled civil war and social
revolution—each trying to purge each other
from the landscape; add the ferocity of Jungle
warfare eliminating humanity;
• Atrocities were almost a badge of honor long
before the Americans arrived;
• Twenty years of fratricide and ruthlessness
obliterated any reference point of humanity;
• The average age of the U.S. soldier was 19—In
WWII, the avg age was 26.
• I am not excusing My
Lai or other atrocities,
but I understand how
ethical and moral lines
become blurred;
• Regardless of your
moral compass—the
compass spins losing
direction when
perpetually exposed to
cruelty—and in a place
where no mercy is
given—No mercy is
expected.
• By 1968, 560,000 troops were in Vietnam.
• The Tet Offensive changed the perception of the war;
we thought we had control of the urban areas, but Tet
proved otherwise;
• Irony, VC were never able to amass another attack as
they did at Tet; their infrastructure and ability to
make war was destroyed; however, public opinion in
America changed.
• Now Mom and Pop America began to oppose the war;
LBJ refused to run for office—Peace candidates
popped up everywhere—the most credible was Eugene
McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy—Nixon’s plan was
phased withdrawal “Peace with Honor.”
• Regardless of initiatives or what the Government
said, the enemy controlled the countryside and at
night—well the world belonged to ‘Charlie.’
• This was the first truly mechanized war; also first
televised war; Body counts were on TV each night
while people ate their dinner;
• Lack of frontline awareness and identity of the Good
Guys or the Bad Guys—lines blurred egregiously, by
1970 the morale was bad—over 700 fraggings took
place—and many refused to expose themselves in
Combat—there were many more drug addiction
cases or overdoses than there were combat injuries
buy 1971.
• There was much domestic
opposition to the war;
student deferments kept
much of the Middle Class
and Upper classes out of
Vietnam—much resentment
by Blacks and Poor Whites;
especially by 1970—until
1970 more whites fought in
Vietnam than the Press will
admit—
• after 1971, there were few
left but Poor Whites and
African Americans and
Latinos
• Domestically, The Anti-War movement was
gaining ground; Tet proved the death knell to
American support—some still supported the
Troops, but many did not support the War;
• It was not until Mom and Pop America began
carrying signs around the White House that
legitimate negotiations began—Not the
‘Counter Culture’ or SDS or any other
Peacenik movement—good for TV, but reality,
it made very little headway until after Kent
State—Then, again, it was Mom and Pop
America marching—’why are we killing one
another?’
• Staunton Lynd, Jane Fonda
and Susan Sontag actually
went to North Vietnam and
posed for pictures to support
the Anti-War Movement;
• Sontag, “the North
Vietnamese genuinely care
about the welfare of
captured American Pilots
…they get more food than
the actual Vietnamese
people, they are larger, used
to more and expect more, so
we give them more … NVA
believe in the goodness of
man … and are morally
concerned …”
• Because of the political
and social dissension in
America, the 1968
Presidential election
became a free for all in
the streets in Chicago;
• Democrats were split
and this left room for
Richard M. Nixon and
his “Peace with Honor”
and “Law and Order”
platform to win the
election
• Nixon actually widened the war, invaded
Cambodia and Laos, beefed up Bombing of
North Vietnam—unlike Johnson, Nixon okayed
the bombing of civilian targets and Haiphong
harbor—in essence almost brought the war to
an end—Hanoi was on its knees and teetering,
but because they controlled their media – we
did not learn this fact until the 1980s—
• Tet and Nyguyen Hue offensives of 1968 and
1972 was all the VC and NVA had left—but
Nixon was trying to get Hanoi back to the
bargaining table—not concerned with winning
the war—at this time …
• Nixon did by 1970 begin ratcheting down Troop
numbers, until in 1973 America completely disengaged
from Vietnam—Yes some advisors and CIA personnel
left, but in effect America was out of the war—POWs
came home—some ague there are still those there—
who really knows?
• The aftermath of Vietnam, however, forces America to
rethink its involvement: The brutal repression, torture
and murders of South Vietnamese people by the
victorious Northern Communists, the Boat People
fleeing oppression, prison and death, Genocide in
Cambodia and Laos and the Mekong delta region—
Hanoi was absolutely ruthless enforcing their will and
power over the southern peoples …
• Strategically and
tactically the U.S. failed;
• “it was the wrong war
and the wrong place at
the wrong time, when we
were losing we said we
were winning … But as
wrong as the war fought
in Vietnam was in many
respects, it was not
wrong in the purposes
and philosophy, for
which it was fought.”
• Being anti-communist
was and remains the
right attitude …
• Nixon played on the
attitudes of most of
Middle America;
• Tired of the war; racial
strife, lawlessness and
political chaos
• Spoke of the “Silent
Majority:”
• 1) rising crime rates
• 2) social violence
• 3) drug abuse
• 4) promiscuity
• 5)no patriotism
• Nixon appealed:
• 1) Urban ethnic voters (Catholics, Italians, Irish
and Polish descent)
• 2) Blue Collar Workers
• 3) Southern and Suburban Whites
• Developed three strategies:
• 1) appeal to the fears of the Blue Collar
workers;
• 2) exploit social issues that mattered to the
Catholics
• 3) exploit the conservativeness of the South
• Though Nixon would be slow ending the war—
and he did order secret invasion and bombing
of Cambodia and Laos—he also initiated
saturation bombing of the North and mined
Haiphong harbor—he did end the war;
• 1) He did withdraw troops from Vietnam
• 2) he advocated and got the Russians to
reciprocate in Détente. (a partial thawing to
the Cold War)—initiated the “Five Policemen”
concept to maintain global peaceful coexistence—and police other nations.
•
•
Policemen—U.S.; China; Russia; Japan; and
Western Europe.
China invited America to a Ping Pong
Tournament – “Ping Pong” diplomacy
opened the door for Nixon to visit Chin and
begin new open relations;
1) Realism—very populace country; markets etc
2) World Opinion—many agreed China should
be recognized;
3) Bargaining Chip—Russia and China
traditional enemies—two adversaries as allies
frightened Russia;
4) Nixon could get away with
it—strong reputation
against communism—this
is just politics;
5) Press Coverage—positive
coverage for an election
year—over look Vietnam
and Watergate;
He also visited Russia:
1) SALT I missile limitation;
2) Cooperation with space
exploration;
3) Better trade agreements
between USSR and US
4) The Berlin Agreement of
1972.
• Watergate was truly unnecessary; however,
Nixon wanted a mandate a landslide—a show
of love from the people;
• Operatives called “Plumbers” bugged the
Democratic offices at the Watergate Complex
located in ‘Foggy Bottom’ on the banks of the
Potomac. They were caught.
• Woodward and Bernstein Washington Post
pursued the story relentlessly—why were these
common burglars carrying White House
connections and credentials?
• Nixon got his mandate,
but he also had to
appear to prosecute the
Watergate Break-in;
These were his guys, but
he promised to pursue
the burglars.
• Mushroomed into a
national Trial on TV—
Sam Ervin led a host of
Senators pursuing the
truth or expose a
suspected cover-up
• By chance, Butterworth made an off-hand
comment about what he had heard in these
meetings—”well it should be on the Oval Office
Taping system.”
• Stuff hits the fan—all Oval Office conversations
had been taped (not that unusual—these were
secret tapings);
• President refused to hand over the tape—
“Executive Privilege. [national security]”
• Huge battle between Executive, Legislative,
and Judicial—Court said turn them over;
• 18 mins were “accidentally” erased; The
House began impeachment proceedings for
‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’
• Nixon became very paranoid—Saturday Night
Massacre—fired the special counsel and all the
assistants; finally he had to resign
• The OFFICE was BIGGER than the MAN!!!