Contributing teacher:Paul Faeh Time period: 1954–75
Overview
The simulated investigation by the Senate Subcommittee
on Vietnam is set in 1990, one year after the fall of
the Berlin Wall and the beginning of the end of the
Cold War. First, the American public questions why its
government became embroiled in the Vietnam
War. Second, it does not understand why the United
States failed to accomplish its goal of containing
communism. By the time the Cold War had abated in the
late 1980s, America's rationale for fighting it in the
first place had become difficult for many Americans to
understand. The anticommunist sentiment that had
influenced foreign-policy makers in the United States
since the Second World War now seemed remote. Many
citizens wrote to their senators asking for the
establishment of a committee to investigate why the
United States entered the Vietnam War and why it lost
the war. And so the Senate Subcommittee on Vietnam was
created. It has summoned prominent individuals to
testify, historical figures who come from many walks
of life and from many points across the political
spectrum. Some played a role, direct or indirect, in
the establishment or implementation of U.S. policy in
Vietnam. Some influenced public opinion in the United
States or abroad or they reported on it. Still others
are historians informed by hindsight as they consider
the role of the United States in the Vietnam War in
the 1960s and 1970s. For a discussion of the views of
these historians and of the arguments they put forth,
see The U.S. Entry into Vietnam, Michael Flamm's point-counterpoint for The Vietnam War, e-seminar 7 in the Brinkley series.
This simulation has three phases. The first is the pre-simulation phase, at which students are required to research the historical characters assigned to them. During the second phase, the simulation phase, students in the role of senators will interrogate other students in the roles of various historical witnesses. The third phase, the post-simulation phase, involves a writing assignment that will help your students understand the complexity of the foreign and military decisions made particularly during the Johnson and Nixon administrations.
Historical Background
In the 1950s the United States became involved in French Indochina largely by financing the French war effort in Vietnam. Not until the Kennedy administration (1961–63) did the U.S. become involved militarily in Vietnam. The U.S. military presence escalated during the Johnson administration, as a result of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, in which the United States accused North Vietnamese forces of attacking U.S. ships. Congress authorized President Johnson's military response and in effect issued a blank check with respect to the president's power to escalate the United States' involvement in the war. By the end of 1967, there were nearly half a million U.S. troops in South Vietnam. In early 1968, while President Johnson was still in office, the Vietcong launched the Tet offensive, a surprise attack throughout South Vietnam. It proved to be a major turning point for the Johnson administration and public opinion, which began to turn against the administration. Increasingly vocal antiwar protestors demanded U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam. In response to the loss of confidence in the administration, President Johnson announced he would not seek or accept the Democratic nomination for president in 1968. Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, and Robert F. Kennedy were contenders for the Democratic nomination. But it was Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee, who would win the election, promising in his campaign speeches to bring "peace with honor" to Vietnam. Under the Nixon administration, U.S. military involvement in Vietnam escalated further and the territorial boundaries of the war expanded into Cambodia and Laos. After signing the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, the United States withdrew its forces from South Vietnam. In 1975, the North Vietnamese military overran South Vietnam, and the two countries were united under communist rule.
Since the end of the Vietnam War, historians and political scientists
have studied why the United States entered the war and why, despite
its military strength, it failed to defeat North Vietnam. Some critics
blame the political leaders—that is, the presidents and their advisors. Others blame military leaders and fault their strategies. Yet others attribute the final outcome of the war to the antiwar movement, which affected U.S. foreign policy by exerting pressure on the government to withdraw from military involvement in Vietnam.
Pre-Simulation Phase
Step 1: Assigning Historical Characters
Since you know the strengths and weaknesses of your students, it is best for you to assign them their roles, preferably a week or two before the Senate investigation takes place.
American
U.S. Senators (Forming the panel of the Senate Subcommittee on Vietnam: six senators and the teacher as chair)
J. William Fulbright (1905–95)
U.S. senator from Arkansas (1945–75). A Democrat, Fulbright served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1959–74) during the administration of every president who figured in the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. He became a leading critic of that involvement.
Barry Goldwater (1909–98)
U.S. senator from Arizona (1953–65, 1969–87). A conservative and committed anticommunist, Goldwater was the Republican nominee for president in 1964. He lost to the incumbent, President Johnson.
Eugene McCarthy (b. 1916)
U.S. senator from Minnesota (1959–71). A Democrat, McCarthy ran for president in 1968 on an antiwar platform but lost the nomination to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, his mentor.
Robert F. Kennedy (1925–68)
U.S. senator from New York (1964–68). As U.S. attorney general (1961–64), Kennedy established a reputation for vigorously enforcing civil-rights legislation. In 1968, after having supported the U.S. war effort in Vietnam, he declared his opposition to the war and to the Johnson administration's handling of it and began to run for president. He was assassinated on June 4.
Wayne Morse (1900–74)
U.S. senator from Oregon (1945–69). A Republican who became an independent and, in 1955, a Democrat, Morse was an early opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He was one of only two senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964).
Mark Hatfield (b. 1922)
U.S. senator from Oregon (1967–97). A Republican who would go on to establish a reputation as a proponent of nuclear disarmament and, in general, of U.S. restraint in the exercise of military force. Hatfield was an early opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Other U.S. Government Officials
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969)
Thirty-fourth president of the United States (1953–61). Influenced by the domino theory—that, if communism was not contained, nations would fall to it in sequence, like dominoes—Eisenhower in his first term helped finance the French presence in Indochina. For more information, see The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, http://www.bartleby.com/65/ei/EisenhoDD.html.
John F. Kennedy (1917–63)
Thirty-fifth president of the United States (1961–63). Kennedy sent military advisers to South Vietnam and was the first U.S. president to send U.S. troops there. For more information, see The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, http://www.bartleby.com/65/ke/KennedyJF.html.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–73)
Thirty-sixth president of the United States (1963–68). As vice president, Johnson succeeded to the presidency (1963) after the assassination of President Kennedy. As president, Johnson initiated the Great Society, an ambitious program of social-welfare and civil-rights legislation. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, he authorized the escalation of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.
George Ball (1909–94)
Undersecretary of state (1961–66). As early as 1965, Ball criticized President Johnson's plans to escalate U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, warning that the South Vietnamese regime was too fragile for the United States to sustain in power.
Robert S. McNamara (b. 1916)
Secretary of defense (1961–68). A colleague of George Ball in both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. McNamara supported the escalation of U.S. involvement in South Vietnam but would resign as criticism of the Johnson administration's conduct of the war increased.
William Westmoreland (b. 1914)
U.S. general; commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam (1964–68) during the Johnson administration; army chief of staff (1968–72) during the Nixon administration.
Maxwell Taylor (1901–87)
Army chief of staff (1955–59), chairman of the joint chiefs of staff (1962–64), U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam (1964–65). Taylor supported the escalation of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.
Dean Rusk (1909–94)
Secretary of state (1961–69). Rusk vigorously supported the U.S. war effort in Vietnam.
Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–78)
Vice president (1965–69). After President Johnson announced he would not seek reelection in 1968, Vice President Humphrey was put forth as a candidate for the Democratic nomination, which he eventually won, despite strong opposition from the antiwar faction of the Democratic Party. He lost the general election to the Republican nominee, Richard M. Nixon.
Richard M. Nixon (1913–94)
Thirty-seventh president of the United States (1969–74). As president, Nixon, a Republican who in Congress had established his reputation as an anticommunist, authorized the U.S. invasion of Cambodia and Laos as well as the bombing of North Vietnam. During his administration, the United States signed the Paris Peace Accords, and U.S. troops were withdrawn from South Vietnam. He resigned from office in 1974, in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
Henry A. Kissinger (b. 1923)
U.S. secretary of state (1973–77) and, before that, national security adviser (1969–73) in the Nixon administration, after a notable career in academia, as a political scientist at Harvard (1957–69). Eventually he came to advocate U.S. disengagement from the Vietnam War, although his critics argue that behind the scenes he was simultaneously advocating a more hawkish policy. He won the Nobel Peace Prize (1973) for his role in the Paris Peace Accords.
Other Influential Americans
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–68)
A leader of the civil-rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, King, an advocate of nonviolence, organized peaceful demonstrations and spoke forcefully and eloquently for his cause. In 1964 he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He advocated a more participatory democracy and grew increasingly vocal in his opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Bobby Seale (b. 1936)
A cofounder of the Black Panthers, a radical organization who advocated the use of violent means in what they saw as the struggle of African Americans to liberate themselves from oppressive white institutions. A defendant in the Chicago Conspiracy Trial, Seale was charged with planning to disrupt the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968. He was a major critic of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Joan Baez (b. 1941)
A folksinger and songwriter, Baez performed protest songs whose themes include civil rights and opposition to war. She helped bring folk music to a wider audience during the 1960s.
Phil Ochs (1940–76)
A singer and songwriter, Ochs performed protest songs whose themes included labor struggles, civil rights, and opposition to war.
Jerry Rubin (1938–94)
An antiwar activist, Rubin was a founder of the Youth International Society and a defendant in the Chicago Conspiracy Trial in 1968.
Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
A journalist, editor, and author. Lippmann, whose distinguished career began during the administration of Woodrow Wilson, had won two Pulitzer Prizes and established himself as an influential political commentator and adviser to presidents. In the 1960s he became an early critic of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
A member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War
A prisoner of war (POW)
Foreign
Vietnamese
Ngo Dinh Diem (1901–63)
First president (1955–63) of South Vietnam. The Geneva Accords (1954) stipulated that Vietnam was to be temporarily divided into North and South and that after elections, scheduled for 1956, the country would be permanently reunited. Diem, backed by the United States and reportedly concerned that Ho Chi Minh's Communist party would win and unite the country under communist rule, canceled the elections in South Vietnam. Opposition to Diem's rule increased as the military situation in South Vietnam deteriorated. He was assassinated in 1963. For more information, see The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, http://www.bartleby.com/65/di/Diem-Ngo.html.
Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969)
First president (1954–69) of North
Vietnam. Toward the end of the Second World War, Ho, a
nationalist and admirer of the American War for
Independence, helped found the Viet Minh party,
composed of nationalists and communists. It sought
independence from France. When the Viet Minh defeated
the French forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the Geneva
Peace Treaty set the armistice terms between France
and Vietnam. As president of North Vietnam, Ho helped
organize the Vietcong, the resistance forces against
the South Vietnamese government. He did not live long
enough to see Vietnam reunited. For more information, see The Columbia
Encyclopedia, 6th edition, http://www.bartleby.com/65/ho/HoChiMin.html.
Nguyen Van Thieu (1924–2001)
President (1967–75) of South Vietnam. A general involved in the U.S. supported overthrow of Diem in 1963, Thieu was elected president in 1967. In 1975, after the United States had withdrawn its troops and communist forces were proceeding to overtake the South, Thieu fled the country. For more information, see The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, http://www.bartleby.com/65/th/Thieu-Ng.html.
A South Vietnamese soldier (Vietcong)
North Vietnamese soldier
Pierre Mendès-France (1907–82)
French prime minister at the time of the Geneva Conference (1954) at which Vietnam was divided into two parts, North and South, at the 17th parallel. Mendès-France largely orchestrated France's withdrawal from Indochina. For more information, see The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, http://www.bartleby.com/65/vi/Vietnam.html.
Anthony Eden (1897–1977)
British prime minister (1955–57) and foreign secretary (1935–38, 1950–45, 1951–55) at the time of the Geneva Conference (1954) at which Vietnam was divided into North and South and a cease-fire between French and Vietnamese forces was declared.
Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971)
Leader of the Soviet Union (1953–64) following Stalin's death. In his roles both as party leader and then as head of state, Khrushchev shaped Soviet policy toward China, the United States, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. For more information, see The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, http://www.bartleby.com/65/kh/Khrushch.html.
Chinese
Mao Zedong (1893–1976)
Founder (1949) of the People's Republic of
China, where, until his death, he remained head of
state and chair of the Communist Party. The "little
red book," or Quotations from Chairman Mao,
included teachings about revolutionary struggle and
guerrilla warfare and appealed to many Third World
revolutionaries, including Ho Chi Minh. China
supported North Vietnam. For more information, see
The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition,
http://www.bartleby.com/65/ma/MaoZedon.html.
Zhou Enlai (1898–1976)
Premier of the People's Republic of China (1949–76). He and
President Nixon worked to create closer ties and new
forms of cooperation between China and the United
States. For more information, see The Columbia
Encyclopedia, 6th edition,
http://www.bartleby.com/65/zh/ZhouEnla.html.
Commentators and Moderators
Your students should answer, in two pages, the seven questions below. In the course of doing so, they can conduct guided research on their respective historical characters.
Step 2: Writing the First Assignment
The number of journalists and historians assigned for students to play will vary according to class size. Teachers can have students double up or add other publications as needed.
Guiding Questions
Why did your character support or oppose the war?
Did your character change his or her mind during the course of the war? If so, when and why?
Did your character influence your country's military or foreign policy in Vietnam?
Did your character influence public opinion, domestic or foreign?
Did your character have any responsibility, big or small, direct or indirect, in the U.S. decision to enter the war, escalate its military presence, or withdraw its forces?
Did your character have any effect on the inability of the United States to stem the communist takeover? Think about efforts your character made or did not make, on either the home front or the military front.
Almost twenty years have elapsed between the war's end in 1973 and the Senate subcommittee's investigation in 1990. During that time, did your character change his or her point of view? How do you know? (This question is especially relevant for students adopting the role of historians.)
Ask your students to submit their papers a few days before the subcommittee is scheduled to meet. Allow yourself enough time to check the quality and accuracy of their work. You can suggest to some students that they do more work if you think they did not fully comprehend the characters they were assigned.
II. The Simulation Phase
Step 3: The Senate Subcommittee Conducts Interviews
As senators, students will cross-examine witnesses in order to explore the extent to which the U.S. presidents and their advisers—particularly the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, and the national security advisor—and military leaders were responsible on three counts: entering the war, escalating the U.S. military presence, and losing to North Vietnam. The Senate subcommittee will also consider South Vietnam's military defeat and North Vietnam's victory and then attempt to assess the degree of responsibility held by parties to the conflict who were Vietnamese—the governments, the military, and the people, of North Vietnam and of South Vietnam alike.
Keeping in mind the seven guiding questions above, the senators should focus their interrogation on the three specific counts.
The teacher will serve as chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Vietnam. The chairs and the committee will prepare a list of the witnesses and will arrange it in the order they will be called to testify. The senators on the panel will sit so that they face the witnesses, the audience, and the press.
The senators will speak first, one at a time. Because they sit on the committee and make judgments, it is important for the witnesses, the press, and the general audience to know the senators' opinions and points of view and to view with skepticism any claims of neutrality, nonpartisanship, or objectivity. Each senator will introduce himself by explaining, in less than one minute, whether he supported, opposed, or changed his mind about the war. Each senator will be questioned by the chair and his Senate colleagues.
After each senator is questioned, he will resume his seat on the subcommittee panel. Each senator will take turns interviewing the witnesses.
While witnesses testify, students will take notes on their testimony. The notes will be cited in the final writing assignment (see below).
III. Post-Simulation Phase
Step 4: Writing the Final Paper: The Editorial
Students who are not senators have a double role. They play journalists and historical witnesses. Their assignment is to be ready to answer questions in character. When they are not testifying, they are sitting in the audience, watching the deliberations, and taking notes on the testimony of the other witnesses. As journalists, they are analyzing the proceedings for an editorial they are preparing for a major newspaper. They will state clearly why the Untied States entered the war but failed to win it. The student-journalists will cite the testimony of other witnesses brought up in the Senate discussion.
Each student who is a senator will write a final paper in the form of an op-ed piece from the perspective of the senator he or she represents. It can be written in response to one of the editorials written by the journalists.
Concluding Remarks
This simulation will help students understand the many aspects—domestic, diplomatic, military, political, economic, and cultural—of the events and circumstances behind U.S. policy in Vietnam, and specifically behind the United States' decision first to enter the war, and then to escalate its military involvement, and finally to withdraw its troops.
