War, Peace and Positioning; Nixon’s Strategic Journey from Vietnam to China
analytical Essay
2043 words
Prior to Richard Nixon’s inauguration in January of 1969 there were a plethora of issues on the table, but in foreign policy the most pressing issue was the American involvement in Vietnam. In an attempt to predict the main goals, current realities of the war and possible options for a “victory” in Vietnam a committee was commissioned, named RAND, to layout those predictions. At the head of this RAND committee was Dr. Henry Kissinger, President Nixon’s national security advisor and later Secretary of State. Dr. Kissinger led this study to predetermine Nixon’s foreign policy plan towards Vietnam, and at t the heart of this committee were a series of studies that broke down Vietnam War policies of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. This corporation allowed for they’re to be a stronghold for Nixon with his anticipated struggles, and major problems in foreign policy. The number one problem was clearly American involvement in Vietnam 1969. This also allowed President Nixon to get a jumpstart creating solutions to these struggles when he would actually take office. Also discussed in the study were alternatives and outcomes to policies towards the war. Defining the word “victory” for the Unites States in Vietnam was one of the major struggles and stresses of Nixon in 1969 and something that would stay with him throughout his presidency. With this came to what was attainable for the United States to accomplish “victory”, which was the major objective of the RAND committee. What was found for attainable victories ranged from the Government of Vietnam (GVN) having independent control of the South, to mere territorial accommodations in the South for the GNV. Though all of this the RAND study was an attempt to have an idea how to see...
... middle of paper ...
...d to do anything in his power to prevent a collapse of South Vietnam to communist. This would prove to be President Nixon’s motive to respond to this attack with enormous military force onto the Haiphong Harbor in North Vietnam.
Works Cited
Nixon, Richard M. The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1978. Print.
Anderson, David L. The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War. New York: Columbia UP, 2002. Print.
Kimball, Jeffrey P. The Vietnam War Files: Uncovering the Secret History of Nixon-era Strategy. Lawrence: University of Kansas, 2004. Print.
Lawrence, Mark Atwood. The Vietnam War: A Concise International History. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ., 2010. Print.
Edmonds, Anthony O. The War in Vietnam. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Print
Pratt, John Clark. Vietnam Voices: Perspectives on the War Years, 1941-1982. New York, NY: Penguin, 1984. Print.
In this essay, the author
- Explains pratt, john clark, vietnam voices: perspectives on the war years, 1941-1982, new york, ny: penguin, 1984.
- Explains that the rand committee predetermines nixon's foreign policy plan towards vietnam.
- Analyzes how nixon and his team made a tough choice to go to military actions against the communists. the invasion of cambodia was devastating on many different levels.
- Analyzes how nixon's 2,000 viet cong casualties were a success for the americans and arvn, but what he and his administration assumed about the cosvn was overblown.
- Analyzes the positive and negative impacts of invading cambodia on the communists in north vietnam and on america's home front.
- Explains that nixon was concerned that a major response would devastate his prior negotiations with china and upcoming talks with the ussr.
- Explains that the invasion helped an american ally, lon nol, with communist infiltration in cambodia and setting down the khmer rouge.
- Analyzes how the cambodian invasion re-ignited peace talks between the united states and north vietnam.
- Explains that nixon's memoirs of richard nixon were published by grosset & dunlap in 1978. anderson, david l., kimball, jeffrey p. and lawrence, mark atwood.
Related
- analytical
- explanatory
- narrative
- Mark Atwood Lawrence’s The Vietnam War: A Concise International History shows readers an international affair involving many nations and how the conflict progressed throughout its rather large existence. Lawrence starts his book in a time before America was involved in the war. It starts out with the French trying to colonize the nation of Vietnam. Soon the United States gets involved and struggles to get its point across in the jungles of Indo-China. Much of the book focuses on the American participation in helping South Vietnam vie for freedom to combine the country as a whole not under Communist rule. Without seeing many results, the war drug on for quite some time with neither side giving up. This resulted in problems in Vietnam and the U.S.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how mark atwood lawrence's the vietnam war: a concise international history shows an international affair involving many nations and how the conflict progressed throughout its rather large existence.
- Analyzes how lawrence's purpose in writing this book was concise and to the point. it places the war within the long flow of vietnamese history and captures the goals and experiences of various governments.
- Analyzes how mark atwood lawrence uses primary sources to enhance the credibility of his study and the overall experience of the vietnam war: a concise international history.
- Analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of lawrence's book, the vietnam war: a concise international history.
1155 wordsRead More - The Vietnam Waranalytical essayFrom the outset, the Vietnam War manifested itself as a conflict that could only be settled by prolonged engagement. Because the war was fundamentally an ideological struggle between the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist bloc of the U.S.S.R. and China, the strategy formulated by both democratic and communist advisory forces in North and South Vietnam conformed to accepted Cold War military practices. However, while initially similar to the war in Korea, the war in Vietnam soon outgrew and exceeded the expectations of U.S. strategists, evolving into one the longest and most bitterly contested campaigns in U.S. history. The reasons for this relative loss of control on the part of the American executors of the war were manifold, but perhaps the most influential forces can be attributed, firstly, to the obduracy of the North Vietnamese and their allies in the South in the face of perceived American imperialism and, secondly, to the respective international policies of five successive American presidents in regards to U.S. military action in Vietnam and neighboring Laos and Cambodia. In the following essay I will provide a relatively brief but concise outline of the ways in which these distinct yet interrelated factors contributed to a protracted U.S. military presence in Vietnam.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the vietnam war manifested itself as an ideological struggle between the democratic, capitalist united states and the communist bloc of the u.s.
- Explains that the north vietnamese communist represented a new wave of vietnamese nationalists and freedom fighters.
- Analyzes how the reversal of president franklin delano roosevelt's policy calling for the liberalization of colonial rule during the administration of harry s. truman and the subsequent u.s. support of french colonies after world war ii alienated vietnamese nationalists.
- Explains that the resolute commitment to resistance was duplicated in the "south" designated by the abstract demarcation line laid out by u.s. led geneva convention in 1954.
- Analyzes how the vietcong and their counterparts in the north garnered enough popular support to feasibly prolong the war indefinitely.
- Analyzes how presidents truman, eisenhower, kennedy, johnson, and nixon's international policies led to the quagmire in vietnam.
- Analyzes how president johnson's efforts to solve the crisis through a process called vietnamization led to the sending of 500,000 american troops to vietnam during the 1968 escalation.
- Analyzes how nixon was determined to end the war in vietnam as quickly as possible, but this task proved more difficult than he had perhaps anticipated. nixon's contradiction is emblematic of the attempts made by the u.s.
- Analyzes how the conflict between vietnamese nationalists and u.s. policy-makers led both nations into war.
1667 wordsRead More - (1) Robert D. Schulzinger, A Time for War: The United States and Vietnam, 1941-1975 (Oxford University Press 1997), 145-146.
In this essay, the author
- Cites edwin e. mose's tonkin gulf and the escalation of the vietnam war.
- Cites joseph c. goulden's book, truth is the first casualty: the gulf of tonkin affair, illusion and reality.
- Analyzes how president johnson's advocacy of the tonkin gulf resolution influenced congress to unintentionally give him a blank check in conducting the vietnam war.
- Cites robert d. schulzinger, david l. anderson, and fredrik logevall.
1488 wordsRead More - LBJ and the Vietnam Waranalytical essayThus far the Vietnam War has shown to be a highly complex situation. Many of times, I have found myself agreeing with Lyndon B. John’s decisions to escalate the war. First and foremost, the United States had made a promise of freedom and tranquility to the people (whom were not part of Viet-Cong) of Vietnam. As an American, it is my opinion that the United States had to uphold its word, essentially its credibility. Secondly, withdrawing troops from Vietnam when the situation was really out of control would make the United States appear weak. In midst of the Cold War, the one thing that was not going to prove true was that the United States was weak. Although these reasons were and are valid, the anti-war movement in conjunction with the Tet offensive required President Johnson to make a decision that changed the perception of the war; he chose to call a halt on the bombardment in Vietnam. The purpose of this essay is to further analyze how the continuing anti-war movement and the Tet Offensive were the reasons that “America’s fate was effectively sealed by mid-1968.”
In this essay, the author
- Agrees with lyndon b. john's decisions to escalate the vietnam war. the anti-war movement in conjunction with the tet offensive changed the perception of the war.
- Analyzes how the antiwarriors, described in melvin small's book, were relentless, fighting for a just cause. they were able to organize and rally others to join in their quest to end the violence that was occurring in vietnam.
- Explains that the pentagon siege was one of the underlying reasons lbj had decided to end the bombing in vietnam.
- Analyzes how the tet offensive was highly detrimental to the united states.
- Opines that lbj's decision to end the war in vietnam marked the end of a gruesome war, which was not fulfilling its principle objectives.
930 wordsRead More - Comparing World War Two and Vietnam Veteransanalytical essayLawrence, Mark Atwood. The Vietnam War: A Concise International History. N.p.: Oxford University Press, n.d. Print.
In this essay, the author
- Describes how branson's "operation welcome home" for vietnam veterans allowed them to heal wounds that had been open for decades due to horrendous things they saw in battle and the lack of appreciation by the american people.
- Analyzes how the return of soldiers from vietnam contrasted with the homecoming received by soldiers returning from world war ii. the american public was not supportive of the war and the treatment of these soldiers was reflective upon this.
- Analyzes how the scenes in new york city of soldiers returning from world war ii have been remembered for decades.
- Analyzes how veterans of the vietnam war were not treated with respect and recognized for their service as they should have. many vietnam veterans were called terrible names, such as "baby killer", "war monger", and other cruel obscenities.
- Analyzes how the proximity of the war influenced the overall public opinion of these two wars, which in turn affected the treatment of troops.
- Analyzes the differences between the world war ii and vietnam eras. the soldiers who bravely fought in vietnam were returning from a war that was not supported by the country.
- Explains that american merchant marine in world war ii. american merhant marine at war.
- Describes greene, bob, and putnam's sons' homecoming: when the soldiers returned from vietnam.
- States lawrence, mark atwood, the vietnam war: a concise international history. oxford university press, n.d.
- Describes sherr, lynn's six wars, six vets, and six stories of courage.
- States that president franklin d. roosevelt's address to congress. national archives and records administration.
- Explains that the film born on the 4th of july is based upon the story of ron kovic, a soldier severely wounded during his service in vietnam.
- Analyzes how world war ii affected the treatment of soldiers returning from the war. the immensity of the conflict is almost undeterminable.
- Explains braverman, jordan, boyer, paul, et al. the enduring vision.
- Analyzes crowe, pervis, and jackson's interview with the history channel. vietnam: homecoming. sammy jackson. a & e television networks, 2006.
- Explains field enterprises inc.'s "pearl harbor attack." the world book encyclopedia. vol. 18. chicago, 1957.
2153 wordsRead More - Overview of Vietnam Warexplanatory essayAbernathy, Ralph. "The Vietnam War." The Sixties in America. Hackensack, New Jersey: Salem Press, March 1999. 753-755.
In this essay, the author
- Describes the vietnam war as a lengthy and costly armed conflict involving the communist north vietnamese regime known as the viet cong, south vietnam and the united states.
- Explains how ho chi minh formed the viet to fight against the french colonial administration and seized hanoi after the japanese withdrew.
- Explains how ngo dihn diem, a strongly anti-communist, ousted the french backed emperor bao and became president of the newly formed republic of vietnam.
- Narrates how the vietnam war escalated under the presidency of johnson, with the permission of congress, allowing for recurring bombings under operation rolling thunder.
- Explains that the strategy for war was simple: a war of attrition, the military's primary goal was to kill as many enemy troops as possible, to wear them down.
- Explains that there were 500,000 american soldiers stationed in vietnam in 1967 with 15,000 killed and more than 100,000 wounded. the war received tons of media coverage and many american's were vocally opposed to the war.
- Explains that winning a long-drawn-out war requires more than powerful military. without support to back up and defend the war, it became harder to continue with the occupation.
- Explains that the antiwar movement opposed the vietnam war for both moral and ethical grounds along with economic reasons. they saw the american leaders only attacking to protect foreign interests and supporting the corrupt regime in south vietnam.
- Explains that the antiwar movement was a huge factor in the ending of the war and when peaceful protests became ineffective with demands and questions being ignored, demonstrations turned violent.
- Analyzes how king's opposition to the vietnam war cost him a substantial amount of support among white allies, including president johnson, union leaders, publishers and journalists.
- Explains that nixon introduced a new method for fighting the war in vietnam, which involved withdrawing american troops to limit further casualties, increasing aerial and artillery bombing, and giving south vietnam control over ground operations.
- Narrates how nixon ended the draft and called for a volunteer army for the next year. after multiple failed offensives, the u.s and north vietnam compromised and created peace agreement.
- Explains that the war between north vietnam and south vietnam did not end when the u.s made peace agreements, and continued until april 30, 1975 when north vietnamese forces captured saigon, the south vietnamese capital.
- Explains that the vietnam war destroyed the american belief that they were invincible. many veterans returning from war also experienced negative reactions from both war opponents and supporters.
- Cites the u.s. history textbook "55d. the antiwar movement." the sixties in america.
1777 wordsRead More - The Myths of Vietnamanalytical essay...Robert S with Brian VanDeMark. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. Vintage Books Edition published by Vintage Books, New York, 1996. Original hardcover edition published by Times Books, New York, 1995.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the military leadership in vietnam was equally incompetent and ignorant of the history and true nature of their situation.
- Analyzes how garfinkle argues that the war was lost because the american ship of state had lost its bearings.
- Analyzes the third myth concerning the fate of the mia/pows in vietnam.
- Argues that richard nixon changed the definition of "missing in action" and the rules of war to generate domestic support for his war policy.
- Argues that government intransigence in the agent orange issue breeds a distrust of authority.
- Opines that the answer to the agent orange and gulf war controversies lies in the mechanism that allows the myths to grow, an open society.
- Explains garfinkle, adam's telltale hearts: the origins and impact of the vietnam antiwar movement.
- Opines that myths must contain a kernel of truth, especially in the first myth, that of the micromanaging, meddling civilians from the pentagon.
- Explains that the vietnam war and the antiwar movement are better termed myths than versions of history because they function less as explanations of reality than as new justifications for old positions.
- Analyzes the four "myths" of the post-war controversy over vietnam, including the "rambo" myth, which claims that american prisoners of war were kept in captivity in southeast asia.
- Analyzes how mcnamara's argument for civilian control of the military is based on the failure of coordination between diplomacy and military action in 1968.
- Argues that the anti-war movement was a fringe hysteria with no real political power.
- Analyzes how the anti-war movement divided the american people over the nature of government. the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s is still influencing american society and politics as the u.s. closes out the 1990s.
- Analyzes how nixon used the pows as hostages to convince the american people to back continued escalation of hostilities.
- Analyzes how fred wilcox's book, waiting for an army to die, discusses the fate of those who thought they survived 'nam only to come home and suffer bizarre health problems.
- Analyzes the myths that focus on americans and ignore the vietnamese. the first myth dealt with the american management of the war, ignoring the vietnam governments and military forces.
- Explains how the edition used for this paper was published as an addendum to admiral zumwalt's testimony before the house science committee
5545 wordsRead More - The Death of Communismanalytical essay"Vietnam War," MicrosoftÆ EncartaÆ 96 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation. All rights reserved.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the united states longest and bloodiest war was the vietnam war, which was fought from 1959 until 1975. the domino theory stated that if the u.s. allowed one country to fall to communism, those around it would fall.
- Explains that the communist manifesto has three sections: an outline of the bourgeois and the proletariat's history, the framework of communist goals, and their long-range plan to abolish private property.
- Analyzes how the bourgeois marx speaks of in the manifesto is simply the capitalist of the time.
- Explains that the second section of the communist manifesto clarifies the aims of communist.
- Analyzes how marx attacks various countries attempts at socialism and proclaims that communist "disdain to conceal their aims."
- Explains that the communist manifesto was written in a time when people were beginning to realize all the injustices the industrial revolution and modern industry had created.
- Analyzes how marx describes the rise of the bourgeois by saying "the place of manufacture was taken by the giant, modern industry," but this leader has disappeared in our world today.
- Opines that communism no longer can be applied to modern societies and the vietnam war rages on.
- Cites karl marx and frederick engels' "the communist manifesto" from microsoft encarta 96 encyclopedia.
820 wordsRead More - The Things They Carried by Tim OBriennarrative essay"Overview of the Vietnam War." Digital History. Digital History, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
In this essay, the author
- Explains cnn library's "vietnam war fast facts." cnn. cable news network, 01 july 2013.
- Describes the u.s. department of state's "ending the vietnam war."
- Describes the vietnam war's "overview." digital history, n.d.
- Distinguishes between subjective truth and objective fact in the honors ignition seminar.
2258 wordsRead More - Analysis Of Philip Caputo's A Rumor Of Waranalytical essayThe Vietnam War has become a focal point of the Sixties. Known as the first televised war, American citizens quickly became consumed with every aspect of the war. In a sense, they could not simply “turn off” the war. A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a firsthand account of this horrific war that tore our nation apart. Throughout this autobiography, there were several sections that grabbed my attention. I found Caputo’s use of stark comparisons and vivid imagery, particularly captivating in that, those scenes forced me to reflect on my own feelings about the war. These scenes also caused me to look at the Vietnam War from the perspective of a soldier, which is not a perspective I had previously considered. In particular, Caputo’s account of
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how a rumor of war by philip caputo is a firsthand account of this horrific war that tore our nation apart.
- Analyzes how caputo struggles with his feelings of loss through a juxtaposition of the able-bodied ingram versus the crippled sullivan.
- Analyzes how caputo struggles with great loss throughout the novel, and his changing attitude towards the war.
- Opines that wars are defining characteristics of a period in time, such as the vietnam war and the sixties.
954 wordsRead More