VIETNAM WAR: POLICY MAKING

SIMULATIONS

•   VIETNAM EXPERIENCE ONLINE SIMULATION OF THE 1964-65 ESCALATION:  An on-line collaborative simulation prepared for the Associated Colleges of the South web course by Dr. Thomas Lairson.  It assigns students into diplomatic teams representing American, Chinese, Soviet, North Vietnamese and NLF policy makers.

CHRONOLOGICALLY-ORGANIZED PRIMARY DOCUMENTS

• ROW OF DOMINOES:  The Text of President Dwight Eisenhower's famous April 7, 1954 press conference.

•   FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES (VIETNAM 1961):  Official documents from the U.S. Department of State.

•  FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES (VIETNAM 1962):  Official documents from the U.S. Department of State.

•   FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1964:  Official documents from the U.S. Department of State.

•   HISTORY AND POLITICS OUT LOUD -- JOHNSON'S VIETNAM ANGUISH, MAY 27, 1964:  President Johnson discusses Vietnam with Press Secretary George Reedy.

•   HISTORY AND POLITICS OUT LOUD -- JOHNSON'S VIETNAM ANGUISH, MAY 27, 1964:  President Johnson discusses Vietnam with National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy.

•   HISTORY AND POLITICS OUT LOUD -- JOHNSON'S VIETNAM ANGUISH, MAY 27, 1964:  President Johnson discusses Vietnam with Senator Richard Russell, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

•   HISTORY AND POLITICS OUT LOUD -- JOHNSON'S VIETNAM ANGUISH, MAY 27, 1964:  President Johnson discusses Vietnam with United Nations Ambassador Adlai Stevenson.

• TONKIN GULF INCIDENT, 1964:  The text of Johnson's August 5 address to Congress and of Joint Resolution of Congress H.J. Res 1145.

• AGGRESSION FROM THE NORTH:  A February 27, 1965  State Department White Paper that assessed American options in Vietnam against the backdrop of an escalating Rolling Thunder bombing campaign.

• PEACE WITHOUT CONQUEST:  The text of an April 7, 1965 Johnson address at Johns Hopkins University justifying American intervention in Vietnam.

•   FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, JAN - JUNE 1965:  Official documents from the U.S. Department of State.

•   FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, JUN - DEC 1965:  Official documents from the U.S. Department of State.

•   FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1966: Official documents from the U.S. Department of State.

• MODERN HISTORY SOURCEBOOK:  The text of 1967 letters exchanged between President Johnson and Ho Chi Minh.

• NIXON'S ADDRESS TO THE NATION ON THE WAR IN VIETNAM:  The famous "Silent Majority Speech" of November 3, 1969.

•   WORD FOR WORD/ NIXON AND VIETNAM:  An April 29, 2000 New York Times article that offers short snippets from conversations between President Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger regarding Vietnam.

• PEACE WITH HONOR:  The transcript of President Nixon's January 23, 1973 address announcing the peace agreement.

• WAR POWERS RESOLUTION:  The November 7, 1973 Congressional Joint Resolution restricting the war-making capabilities of the Executive Branch.

MISCELLANEOUS

•   CIA AND VIETNAM POLICY MAKERS:  THREE EPISODES, 1962-1968: Harold P. Ford's analysis for the Center For the Study of Intelligence.

• WHY CIA ANALYSTS WERE SO DOUBTFUL ABOUT VIETNAM:  A short 1997 paper by Harold P. Ford.

• ROBERT MCNAMARA INTERVIEW:  C-Span Booknotes host Brian Lamb's  interview of the former American Secretary of Defense on the occasion of his 1995 publication of In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam.

• LESSONS OF VIETNAM:  A circa May 12, 1975 declassified analysis by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

• PAUL HENDRICKSON INTERVIEW:  C-Span Booknotes host Brian Lamb's 1996 interview of the author of Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara -- Fives Lives of A Lost War.