LECTURE
AND READING SCHEDULE
The
Pentagon Papers and Vietnam
(HIS
1930)
Week 1 (1/8):
* Introduction
* Background Lecture: Getting into the Vietnam War, 1945-1968
Week 2 (1/15):
* Quiz on Background lecture.
* Read Secrets,
chapter 2.
* Discussion: National Security and Individual Responsibility
Answer the following in a paragraph each
(due in class):
(a)
Under what
conditions, if any, should the government be allowed to keep secrets from the
citizenry?
(b)
Under what
conditions, if any, should national security considerations override the Bill of
Rights?
(c)
What would
you do if you were drafted into the military to participate in a war that you
believed to be unjust or immoral?
(d)
Interview two
people who were alive while the Vietnam War was going on. What do they remember about that period of
American history, and what is their attitude toward the war today?
(e)
Judging from Secrets chapter 2, what kind of person
was Daniel Ellsberg and what were his attitudes toward U.S. foreign policy?
* In-class film: Vietnam: A Television History, Roots of a War
(1945-1953)
*1/18: Extra Credit Guest Lecture, Friday
January 18
Douglas Little: “The United States and Iraq: Past and Future”
10:00-11:30am, Senate
Chambers, Student Union
(seating
limited, please arrive early!)
Optional Event:
The
Future of U.S. Foreign
Policy in the Middle East
Roundtable
Discussion
12:00pm-1:30pm,
Senate Chambers, Student Union
Week 3 (1/22):
* Discussion: How
American Presidents Presented the Vietnam Conflict
Paper
1 due: Read the online documents below, then answer: “How did five American presidents explain U.S. involvement in Vietnam to the American
people?”
(Note
that each of the online sources represents public statements about Vietnam. As you
go through the readings, it will be helpful to make a list of all the main
arguments that were made. Then try to
identify patterns and repeated ideas and phrases; then identify the most
important points; and then focus your paper on those key points.):
- President Truman's Special Message to Congress on Mutual
Security Program, May 24, 1951 [President Truman explains the “mutual security program,” a
program for giving economic aid to U.S. allies in the Cold War. Here he explains his decision to provide
aid to Asia, including assistance to the French to continue fighting in
Indochina (Vietnam)]
- President Eisenhower's News Conference, April 7, 1954,
Public Papers of the Presidents, 1954, p. 382 [Eisenhower articulates the Domino theory,
as he defends U.S.
involvement in Indochina.]
- President Kennedy's Remarks at the High School Memorial
Stadium, Great Falls, Montana, September 26, 1963
- President Kennedy's View of the "Domino
Theory," News Conference, April 24, 1963
- TV Interview
with President Johnson in which Johnson Endorses the "Domino
Theory," 15 March 1964
- U.S.
State Department on North Vietnamese Aggression (1965) [President
Johnson’s State Department summarizes several key arguments that were made
about the war.]
- Statement by President Johnson at White House News
Conference on July 28, 1965, "We Will Stand in Viet-Nam,"
Department of State Bulletin, August 16, 1965, p. 262.
- Statement by Nixon on Vietnam War (May 14, 1969) [By
the time president Nixon is elected in 1968, public pressure for peace in Vietnam
has grown. Here, Nixon defends his
plans to continue the war until “peace with honor” has been achieved.]
* In-class film: Vietnam: A Television History, America’s
Mandarin, 1954-1963
Week 4 (1/29):
* Discussion: Origins of U.S.
Involvement, 1954-1963
Paper
2 due: “To what extent did the Eisenhower
administration violate the Geneva accords on Vietnam? How did it do so?”
- Read Herring, Pentagon Papers, pgs. 1-3, 18-41;
- “Eisenhower Decision Undercut the Geneva Accords, Study
Says,” New York Times, July 5,
1971, pg. 1 [from the
original New York Times
publication of Pentagon Papers];
- “Study Said to Show Diem Blocked Vote,” New York Times, June 19, 1971, pg.
1 [from the original New York Times publication of Pentagon Papers];
- “Geneva Disaster,” New
York Times, July 5, 1971, pg. 13 [from the original New York Times publication of Pentagon Papers];
- “Vietnam Papers: Cast Doubt on View That the North
Imposed War on the South,” New York
Times, July 5, 1971, pg. 12 [from the original New
York Times publication of Pentagon
Papers].
* In-class film: The Fog of War (exerts)
Week 5 (2/5):
*
Discussion: Diem’s Overthrow
Paper
3 due: “What role did the United States
play in overthrowing Diem? Why would
Americans have been shocked to learn of this role in the Pentagon Papers?”
* In-class film: Vietnam: A
Television History; LBJ Goes to War, 1964-1965
Week 6 (2/12):
Tonkin Gulf Incident and the Selling of the War
Paper
4 due: “What do we know now
about the Gulf of
Tonkin incident,
that we did not know in 1964? Why
does it matter?” (Note the dates on the documents as you read them).
- Read Ellsberg, Secrets, prologue & chapter 1;
- Herring, Pentagon
Papers, pgs. 83-85;
- “Red PT Boats
Fire at U.S. Destroyer on Vietnam Duty,” New York Times, August 3, 1964, pg. 1 [original story of first attack in Tonkin Gulf];
- “Reds Driven Off,” New
York Times, August 5, 1964, pg. 1 [original story of second attack in Tonkin Gulf];
- “What They Said In Public and In Private,” New York Times, June 20, 1971, pg.
E1; [from the
original New York Times
publication of Pentagon Papers];
- President Johnson's Message to Congress and Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution (1964);
- Excerpt From "Address by the President, Syracuse
University, 5 August 1964," Department
of State Bulletin, 24 August 1964;
- "Vietnam Study, Casting Doubts, Remains
Secret," New York Times, 31
October 2005;
- "Johnson, in 1964, Saw War In Vietnam as
Pointless," New York Times, February
15, 1997;
- National Public Radio reexamines Tonkin Gulf (go to this web page and
then click links to listen online to two stories: “Cronkite’s full analysis” and “Morning
Edition Report”).
* In-class film: Vietnam, A Television
History; America
Takes Charge (1965-1967)
Week 7 (2/19):
* 2/19 No regular class
meeting. Attend Required Guest Lecture
Instead.
Helen Thomas: The First Lady of the
Press Speaks on Women, Washington,
and the War
3:30-5:00 p.m., Kaye Auditorium
Tickets are required! Bring
student ID to get FREE tickets at the Student Union box office.
Week 8 (2/286:
Debating Escalation
Paper 5 due: “How did American officials
rationalize the escalation of the war? How
did George Ball and Daniel Ellsberg view those arguments?”
·
Read
Ellsberg, Secrets, chapters 3-5;
·
Herring, Pentagon Papers, pgs. 85-92, 100-113,
115-117, 122-128, 137-140.
* In-class film: Vietnam: A Television History; Homefront U.S.A.
[3/3-3/9: SPRING BREAK]
Week 9 (3/11):
The View from the Ground: Ellsberg in Vietnam
Paper 6 due: “How did Ellsberg’s
experience in Vietnam
affect his view of the war?”
·
Read
Ellsberg, Secrets, chapters 6-11.
* In-class film: Vietnam: A Television History; Tet
1968
Week 10 (3/13):
* Discussion: Ellsberg’s Transformation
Paper
7 due: “Why did reading the Pentagon Papers change Ellsberg’s view
of the war?”
- Read Ellsberg, Secrets, chapters 12-17.
* Background Lecture: Nixon Pursues “Peace with Honor,” 1968-1973
Week 11 (3/25):
* Quiz on Background Lecture
* In-class film: Hearts and Minds
Week 12 (4/1):
* Discussion: Civil Disobedience
Paper
8 due: “Why did Ellsberg decide to leak the Pentagon Papers, and why did he have so
much difficulty making them public?”
- Read Ellsberg, Secrets, chapters 18-29
* In-class film: Vietnam: Vietnamizing the
War, 1969-1973
Week 13 (4/8):
* Discussion: Attacking the Messenger
Paper 9
due: “The Pentagon Papers detailed U.S.
decision-making in Vietnam
prior to Nixon’s presidency. Why then did Nixon view them as threatening,
and why did Ellsberg believe the Papers
could undo Nixon’s Vietnam
policies?”
- Read Ellsberg, Secrets, chapters 30-32;
Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger and others discuss Ellsberg
on the telephone.
* In-class film: Vietnam: A Television History; Peace is at Hand,
1968-1973
Week 14 (4/15):
* Discussion: Ellsberg Debates the Iraq War
Homework: Read the
online documents below, then answer in a paragraph: “Was
Ellsberg Right … Again?”
- Read: “I Wrote Bush's War Words—in 1965,” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2005;
- “Truths Worth Telling,” New York Times, September 28, 2004;
- “Where Are Iraq's Pentagon Papers?” Boston Globe, February 22, 2004;
- “Would Clinton Ban the Release of the Pentagon Papers?”
Salon.com, November 2000;
- “Is Daniel Ellsberg Right…
Again?” San Francisco Chronicle,
February, 29 2004;
- “A White House Smear,” Nation, July 16, 2003.
* In-class film: Ellsberg debates William Kristol over Iraq on the Washington Journal
Week 15 (4/22):
No
Class.
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