Description
Author Patrick Hearden examines the key decisions and questions surrounding the tragic American entanglement in Vietnam, providing readers with a fascinating discussion of why the United States became involved in this war and why this involvement persisted for nearly a quarter of a century.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acronyms
Map of Southeast Asia
Chapter 1 The French Indochina Empire
The Emergence of Vietnam
The Establishment of French Rule
The Roots of Nationalism and Communism
The Rise of the Vietminh
Document 1-1 Jules Ferry On the Preservation of Capitalism and Colonialism
Document 1-2 Appeal on the Founding of the Communist Party
Document 1-3 Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam
Chronological List of Main Events
Study Questions
Chapter 2 The Dream of a Pax Americana
Blueprints for a New World Order
The First Indochina War
The Crisis of World Capitalism
The Bao Dai Regime
Document 2-1 State Department Policy Statement on Indochina prepared on September 27, 1948.
Document 2-2 Problem Paper prepared by a Working Group in the State Department on February 1, 1950
Document 2-3 Paper on Indochina prepared in the State Department on March 27, 1952
Chronological List of Main Events
Study Questions
Chapter 3 America’s Mandarin
The Road to Dien Bien Phu
The Geneva Peace Settlement
The Birth of a Client State
The Revolt in the Rice Fields
Document 3-1 The Final Declaration on Indochina of the Geneva Conference promulgated on July 21, 1954
Document 3-2 Report on the Covert Operations Conducted by the Saigon Military Mission in 1954 and 1955
Document 3-3 John Foster Dulles, Report on Meeting with Chiefs of American Missions, March 2, 1955
Chronological List of Main Events
Study Questions
CHAPTER 4 The Summons of the Trumpet
The Global Domino Theory
The Second Indochina War
The Growth of the Vietcong
The Plot to Topple Diem
Document 4-1 State Department Cable to Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge in Saigon on August 24, 1963
Document 4-2 Ambassador Lodge Cable to the State Department on October 5, 1963
Document 4-3 National Security Adviser Mc George Bundy Cable to Ambassador Lodge on October 30, 1963
Chronological List of Main Events
Study Questions
CHAPTER 5 The Master of Deceit
Political Disorder in South Vietnam
The Gulf of Tonkin Affair
The Rhetoric of Restraint
The Decision to Bomb North Vietnam
Document 5-1 The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, August 7, 1964
Document 5-2 Lyndon Johnson on the Bombing of North Vietnam, September 8, 1964
Document 5-3 Memorandum from McGeorge Bundy to President Lyndon Johnson, February 7, 1965
Chronological List of Main Events
Study Questions
CHAPTER 6 The Escalating Military Stalemate
The Dispatch of American Ground Troops
The Protracted War of Attrition
The American Antiwar Movement
The Tet Offensive
Document 6-1 Memorandum on Combat Troops in South Vietnam, July 1, 1965
Document 6-2 Memorandum on Increasing American Troops in Vietnam, July 20, 1965
Document 6-3 Notes from Lyndon Johnson’s Meeting with Advisory Group, March 26, 1968
Chronological List of Main Events
Study Questions
CHAPTER 7 Withdrawal Without Victory
The Madman Theory
The Vietnamization Policy
The Paris Peace Treaty
The Fall of Saigon
Document 7-1 Richard Nixon, Address on the War in Vietnam, November 3, 1969
Document 7-2 Statement on Vietnam Peace Treaty Negotiations, October 26, 1972
Document 7-3 Richard Nixon, Letter to Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, February 1, 1973
Chronological List of Main Events
Study Questions
CHAPTER 8 The War That Nobody Won
The Ugly Aftermath of War
The Failure of Communism in Vietnam
The Vietnamese Turn Toward Capitalism
The Road to Reconciliation
Document 8-1 Report on POW/MIAs, January 13, 1993
Document 8-2 Free Trade Agreement, July 13, 2000
Document 8-3 Condoleezza Rice, Remarks at Asia-Pacific Economic Summit, November 18, 2006
Chronological List of Main Events
Study Questions
Selected Bibliography
Credits
Index
Purchase Info 
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Tragedy of Vietnam, The, CourseSmart eTextbook, 4th Edition
Format: Electronic Book
$20.99 | ISBN-13: 978-0-205-74430-5
