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KENNEDY’S FOREIGN POLICY IN VIETNAM: A SERIES OF DECISIONS THAT ULTIMATELY LIMITED DIPLOMATIC OPTIONS

Authors

Taoxi Xie

Rubric:History. Historical sciences
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Annotation

John F. Kennedy’s political rhetoric, unwavering support for aid-packages and military equipment, and his lack of reliable local partnership in the South Vietnamese government restricted possible diplomatic options in the escalation of the Vietnam War.

Keywords

Vietnam War
diplomacy
1960s
communism
democracy
Kennedy

Authors

Taoxi Xie

References:

Primary Sources

  1. Bigart, Homer. "A 'VERY REAL WAR' IN VIETNAM--AND THE DEEP U.S. COMMITMENT." New York Times, February 25, 1962, 121. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/1962/02/25/archives/a-very-real-war-in-vietnamand-the-deep-us-commitment-as-the.html. This is an article that discusses the prospect of the Vietnam War in 1962. Though the living conditions and the conflicts are difficult, the article still expresses the view that the Vietnam War is strategically important. This prevalent view receives a wide range of support from the general public and the Kennedy Administration.
  2. Breen, Tom. "Johnson and Diem." UConn Today. Last modified May 4, 2020. Accessed February 25, 2022. https://today.uconn.edu/2020/05/uconn-historian-south-vietnam-archives-provide-new-insights-war/johnson-diem/#. Vice President Johnson met with Diem in his palace. He even praised Diem as the reincarnation of Sir Winston Churchill.
  1. Faas, Horst. "35 years after the fall: The Vietnam War in pictures." National Broadcasting Company. Last modified April 29, 2010. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/slideshow/news/35-years-after-the-fall-the-vietnam-war-in-pictures-36859810. This picture shows the difficulty and hardship of war. Women were forced to stay in a muddy canal to escape fierce fire from the Viet Cong.
  2. Herring, George C. "How Not to 'Win Hearts and Minds.'" New York Times. Last modified September 19, 2017. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/opinion/vietnam-war-americans-culture.html. This picture shows an American soldier rescuing a woman and her children.
  1. Johnson, Lyndon B. "Address at Johns Hopkins University: 'Peace Without Conquest.'" The American Presidency Project. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-johns-hopkins-university-peace-without-conquest. President Johnson expresses his personal view on Vietnam to students at Johns Hopkins University. He believes that Americans have a national responsibility to help the South Vietnamese to protect their democracy and home. Johnson utilizes his rhetoric to try and persuade the American public that the Vietnam War is necessary and worthy.
  1. Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam: A History. New York: Viking Press, 1984. Karnow offers an historical insight into the beginning and progression of Vietnam through a journalist’s perspective. Karnow includes substantial details regarding the discussion of diplomatic decisions by high level officials as well as how the Vietnam War unfolds locally in Vietnam. Karnow reveals the thinking of the Kennedy Administration on Vietnam policy as well as the common district of the South Vietnamese people toward the Diem Administration.
  2. Kennedy, John F. "JFK on the containment of Communism, 1952." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/jfk-containment-communism-1952 This handwritten note by President Kennedy reflects his anti-communist view when he was a United States Senator. He concludes Communism as the enemy of the West and the West must eradicate Communism by balance of power. His view on Communism sheds light on why Kennedy essentially adopts a hardliner strategy on foreign policy.
  1. Kennedy, John F. "REMARKS OF SENATOR JOHN F. KENNEDY AT THE CONFERENCE ON VIETNAM LUNCHEON IN THE HOTEL WILLARD, WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 1, 1956." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/vietnam-conference-washington-dc-19560601. Kennedy’s remark at the conference confirms the infamous domino theory, in which the fall of Vietnam will lead to the collapse of Asia to Communism. His political rhetoric gains substantial public support and further limits other diplomatic possibilities in Vietnam.
  2. McGeorge, Bundy. "National Security Action Memoranda [NSAM]: NSAM 263, South Vietnam." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Last modified October 11, 1963. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKNSF/342/JFKNSF-342-007. National Security Action Memorandum 263 formally authorizes the withdrawal of 1000 U.S troops in Vietnam. This memorandum does reflect on a level of President Kennedy’s reservation about a full-scale war. 
  1. McNamara, Robert S. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (Vintage). N.p.: Vintage, 1996. Secretary of Defense(1961-1968) McNamara contemplates the reasons why the United States failed in Vietnam. His accounts include vivid discussion between President Kennedy, Gov. Harriman, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and others on the subject of Vietnam policy. His personal account even consists of the discussion on whether to sanction the coup of Diem in 1963.
  1. "MEETING WITH SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT S. MCNAMARA, and GEN. MAXWELL D. TAYLOR, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF (JCS), 11:00AM." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. Accessed March 1, 2022. https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKWHP/1963/Month%2010/Day%2002/JFKWHP-1963-10-02-C. President Kennedy meets with Gen. Taylor and Secretary McNamara to discuss the Vietnam conflict and future vision of policy during a meeting.
  2. "Self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc in protest during the Vietnam War." Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War/The-conflict-deepens#/media/1/628478/244365. A Vietnamese monk self-immolates to protest the repressive Diem government. This shows the unpopularity of the Diem Administration among the public.
  1. "TRANSCRIPT OF NBC BROADCAST WITH CHET HUNTLEY, 9 SEPTEMBER 1963." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKPOF/046/JFKPOF-046-032. Kennedy expresses his concern over the interview with Huntley. He still believes that the Vietnam War is fundamentally the  war of South Vietnamese people, not the American people. Though he is restrained in sending in the U.S military, he considers a certain magnitude of intervention necessary.

Secondary Sources

  1. Beck, Kent M. "The Kennedy Image: Politics, Camelot, and Vietnam." The Wisconsin Magazine of History 58, no. 1 (1974): 45-55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4634927. The article articulates the perplex Kennedy image through many perspectives.(etc. historians, politicians) This paper also discusses the connection between Kennedy and the Vietnam War.
  2. Bostdorff, Denise M., and Steven R. Goldzwig. "Idealism and Pragmatism in American Foreign Policy Rhetoric: The Case of John F. Kennedy and Vietnam." Presidential Studies Quarterly 24, no. 3 (1994): 515-30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27551281. This article analyzes Kennedy rhetoric during Vietnam. Though Kennedy deems himself a pragmatist, his political rhetoric is sometimes fused with idealist pledge and argument. However, Kennedy is able to largely adopt a certain level of practicality into his political rhetoric.
  1. "The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962." Department of State: Office Of the Historian. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/cuban-missile-crisis.The State Department offers an official account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The threat from Cuba is quite real. Kennedy struggles to understand Khrushchev’s strategic intention. Nevertheless, Kennedy recognizes the immense danger of this crisis.
  1. Erskine, Hazel Gaudet. "The Polls: Kennedy as President." The Public Opinion Quarterly 28, no. 2 (1964): 334-42. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2747000. This is a poll by Gallup Poll for President Kennedy over his presidency. Kennedy receives a tremendous amount of approval rating; his average approval rating is about 70%.
  2. Fishel, Wesley R. "American Aid to Vietnam." Current History 49, no. 291 (1965): 294-99. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45311388.This article delves into the specific of American Aid to Vietnam during the Vietnam War. This article states the strategic objective of American Aids. Furthermore, this article analyzes the progress and failure of the American Aids during the Diem Administration. 
  1. Herring, George C. "The Cold War and Vietnam." OAH Magazine of History 18, no. 5 (2004): 18-21. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25163717.This article encapsulates the history of the Vietnam War from WWII to the Vietnam War. The article connects the domino theory as well as the prevalent fear of the spread of Communism to the beginning of the Vietnam War. The War escalated under President Johnson and ended at the Ford presidency.
  1. Hersch, William R. "Kennedy:." In Images of Inherited War: Three American Presidents in Vietnam, 33-68. N.p.: Air UP, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13962.9. This chapter of the book discusses Kennedy’s relationship with the Vietnam War and his foreign policy preference.
  1. Hopkins, George W. "Historians and the Vietnam War: The Conflict over Interpretations Continues." Studies in Popular Culture 23, no. 2 (2000): 99-108. This article compiles evolving perspectives of historians on the Vietnam issue. Some say Kennedy’s hubris eventually led to the Vietnam War. Some claims the containment objective of Communism caused the Vietnam War. This shows the complexity of the Vietnam War by showing competing visions of interpretations on the Vietnam conflict.
  2. Medland, William J. "The Cuban Missile Crisis: Evolving Historical Perspectives." The History Teacher 23, no. 4 (1990): 433-47. https://doi.org/10.2307/494397.This article illustrates the strategic confusion from the American and Soviet perspective. The article analyzes Soviet and American diplomatic challenges and lack of mutual understanding on the Cuban Missile Crisis.
  1. "MILITARY ADVISORS IN VIETNAM: 1963." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/education/teachers/curricular-resources/high-school-curricular-resources/military-advisors-in-vietnam-1963. The article describes the progression or the history of military advisors from 1960 to 1963. The number of military advisors soars over the period of three years.
  1. Pious, Richard M. "The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Limits of Crisis Management." Political Science Quarterly 116, no. 1 (2001): 81-105. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657821. This article critiques Kennedy’s position and handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This article argues that Kennedy blatantly sacrificed his moral responsibility by not making the term public and making an impression that a crisis could be managed.
  1. Sandman, Joshua H. "Analyzing Foreign Policy Crisis Situations: The Bay of Pigs." Presidential Studies Quarterly 16, no. 2 (1986): 310-16. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40574652. This article delineates flaws in Kennedy’s approach to the Bay of Pigs. The author includes lack of inter-agency communication, following through and neglect of international law and moral position of the United States.
  2. Selverstone, Marc J. "It's a Date: Kennedy and the Timetable for a Vietnam Troop Withdrawal." Diplomatic History 34, no. 3 (2010): 485-95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24915895. This article discusses the National Security Memorandum 263 and possible interpretations over the effect of this memo. This article incorporates details and recording to reveal Kennedy and his advisor’s thoughts on the withdrawal of troops in Vietnam.
  3. Spector, R. H. "French rule ended, Vietnam divided." Britannica Encyclopedias. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War/French-rule-ended-Vietnam-divided. This britannica article discusses the colonial history of Vietnam, which induces a wide range of insurgency and nationalism to the French colonial rule.  Later, the Geneva convention in 1954 which divided Vietnam into South Vietnam and North Vietnam.
  4. Vu Van Thai. "Vietnam: Nationalism under Challenge." Vietnam Perspectives 2, no. 2 (1966): 3-12. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30182492.  This article outlines the history of nationalism over the modern history of Vietnam. Nationalism rose from the early 1930s to the end of WWII. In the 1950s, Ho Chi Minh propagated mass indoctrination of Communism in North Vietnam, while prestige nationalism spread in South Vietnam.

 

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