Primary sources

Secondary Sources
Assess the Reasons for American withdrawal from Vietnam
Key argument – The US withdrawal was due to military failures which
resulted in an unwinnable stalemate

Paragraph 1 – (Military failures )

 The United States withdrawing its military out of Vietnam in 1973 was due to a failure of
military tactics against the Viet Cong hence due to a succession of military failures, they
were unable to make progress  this meant they were unable to defeat the enemy which
resulted in a prolonged stalemate  Therefore withdrawal was the only viable political and
military solution
 This is the view of Frances Fitzgerald and Stanley Karnow  they argue that US military
doctrine were fundamentally flawed and were exposed by the Tet Offensive.
 The US hadn’t effectively prepared for war  General Bruce Palmer - the “American forces
found themselves in the unenviable situation of having to react and dance to the enemy’s
tune”.
 America underestimated the Viet Cong  National security advisor Henry Kissinger
speaking in July 1969 to NSC aides, “I refuse to believe that little fourth-rate power like
North Vietnam doesn’t have a breaking point”
 The US were naïve in thinking they could win on foreign terrain  Robert J. MCMAHON “It
was rooted in large part in a stubborn refusal to accept that no degree of U.S. military
pressure could alter the prevailing stalemate"
 Contemporary American Colonel Robert Heinl claimed “morale, discipline and battle
worthiness of the U.S Armed forces was lower and worse than at anytime in this century ”
 Therefore, military failures were to blame

Paragraph 2 – Counter argument

 However, US military failures were not the principle reason for US withdrawal as the US was
let down by poor South Vietnamese leadership  this meant it was difficult for US tactics to
prevail when many South Vietnamese were unwilling to fight against the North  the US
was unable to establish a strong non-communist regime in the South which could resist the
North as many South Vietnamese were sympathetic to the North and resented Southern
leadership.
 This a view appreciated by George Herring who argues that no amount of support would’ve
been enough to save an army that refused to fight and “the American effort to create a
bastion of anticommunism South of the Seventeenth parallel was doomed from the start”
 Instead of US tactics failing, it was the ability of Ho Chi Minh to motivate his men and employ
effective guerilla tactic which negated the overwhelming military superiority of the US
Paragraph 3 (evaluation)
 Ultimately, the poor military decision of the US played into the Viet Cong’s hands this
depleted the morale of the South Vietnamese who were unwilling to fight this made the
US’ task harder because they were now effectively fighting another country’s war without
their support
 Sir Robert Thompson agrees with interpretation and argues that the US strategy was a
mistake. “If Westmoreland had used aggressive small unit patrols, he could’ve detected
communist main force attacks” and “the Viet Cong would have been unchallenged in vast
unpopulated areas of jungle, but cut off from their source of supplies and recruits”.
 Therefore it was failure of US military tactics that led to the eventual withdrawal.

Paragraph 4 (The role of the media was to blame)

 It was the influence of the media in turning the people against the government that led to
America’s withdrawal (a view shared by both Daniel Hallin and Peter Breastrup)
 Breastrup claims that “the media completely ignored official sources including General
Westmoreland, Ambassador Bunker, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Earle
Wheeler, and President Lyndon Johnson”.
 Rather than publishing reports provided by government officials which could be verified, the
press incorrectly reported that the Viet Cong were winning certain battles when they
weren’t  This is significant since negative information created a hostile environment in
America and therefore put more pressure on Washington to act.
 This is evidenced by George Herring who claimed that “reporters groaned in disbelief when
General William Westmore land explained the battlefield situation.
 And Breastrup summarised the information being published as a “failure of the media” and
“distortion of reality”. This suggests that media let the government down instead of
supporting during this period.
 The media should’ve been objective and neutral, however many believe that they were
strongly biased against the war effort  effectively meant that the government was fighting
two battles  By failing to give the pro-war interpretation of the 1968 Tet Offensive and its
effect on pacification anything like equal space. Time prevented its readership from having
the opportunity to make an informed discission about the war.
 This is reinforced in a memorandum between Nixon and Haldeman where Nixon claimed he
“he had entered the Presidency with less support from the major publications and TV
networks than any President in history".
 Nixon’s war with the press continued and in a recorded white house tape he claimed that
journalists wanted "the operation to fail since they oppose it and predicted it would fail,"
just as they had the Cambodian invasion. He admonished his aides never to give useful
information to journalists. "Don't help the bastards ever," he asserted, "because they're
trying to stick the knife right in our groin." "I respect people that are trying to kill me," Nixon
continued, but "I don't give them the knife” This continuous struggle would put more
pressure on the government as they didn’t know which journalists were on their side or not
and had to fight to spread the correct coverage to the people.
 This struggle is demonstrated by a Gallup Poll released in late May where two-thirds of
American people thought that the president was not telling them all they should know about
the war. In addition, 72 percent doubted that leaving the Saigon government in a position to
defend itself would lead to a generation of peace.
 Therefore, this shows that the federal government had its voice suppressed by the lies of the
media which catalysed their military withdrawal as they wanted to regain support of the
people.

Paragraph 4 (Counter Argument)

 However, despite this, government approval ratings were strong, indicating that that the
media didn’t have a significant effect on turning public opinion against the government
 Herbert Gans and Clarence Wyatt appreciate the argument that the media wasn’t to
blame as they argue that the routines of objective journalism and the institutional nature
of the media prevented journalists from selecting the news on an ideological basis. In
this view journalists strove for objectivity, and used a variety of techniques to balance
the news coverage. They had to because if any particular publication were perceived to
be biased, it would lose credibility and its audience.
 Gary Hess – argues that the balance of scholarship shows that the media was not biased
against the United States, indeed it was generally supportive, and that the war weariness
that eventually sapped the American effort in Vietnam would probably have happened
anyway, with or without the new medium of television. Consequently, the revisionist
view that the media was biased towards the doves merely makes ‘the Media a
“scapegoat” for the shortcomings of the policies of the nation’s civilian and military
leaders
Paragraph 5 (Evaluation)

 Clarence Wyatt appears to have used the available evidence selectively, publishing those
parts that support his interpretation and ignoring the evidence that contradicts his
position.
 The unacceptably selective use of evidence in Paper Soldiers is particularly significant
because Dr George Herring, author of the standard text book used in many university
classes on the Vietnam War, America's Longest War, was Clarence Wyatt's thesis advisor.
 In the May 3, 1972, issue Time devoted 63 column inches to an attack on "the reckless
President Nixon [who] risked WWIII by mining Haiphong Harbor .... [It was] the act of an
emperor, a dictator," who acted alone against all advice. Lost in the middle of several
pages of radical anti-war rhetoric Time included three column inches stating that, "A Lou
Harris survey showed that 59% of Americans backed Nixon's mining decision." If 59
percent supported the President's decision, why did Time give only three column inches
to this view, while spending twenty times as much print space condemning, "the act of
an emperor, a dictator," who acted alone against all advice?
 Ultimately, whilst it is evident that public support waned throughout the war as a
result of media coverage, support for the government was generally high( A poll in June
1970 showed that 27 percent of the American public were sympathetic to the anti-war
protest demonstrations (53 percent condemned them) . indicates that public pressure
didn’t determine withdrawal.
Paragraph 6 (America withdrew for economic reasons)
 Vietnam was America’s longest war and this had profound effects on the domestic
economy The cost of the war meant social programs such as President Johnson’s
“The Great Society” and the “War on Poverty”, which were designed to help and
improve the poor and deprived were abandoned due to the expense of fighting a
prolonged overseas war.
 A contemporary article from The New York Times, quoted that “the war in Vietnam
produced what is widely recognised as the greatest blunder in Government
economic policy since WWII”.
 The economic impact of the Vietnam war led to inflation and an economic
downturn and Historian Tom Riddel reported that it was responsible for “the
economic difficulties faced by the United States during the 1970’s” and it would also
have a “direct role in creating the massive deficit in the United States balance of
payments”.
 Therefore, fighting a prolonged war was having a detrimental effect on the US
economy and also its ability to implement social reforms which was significant since
this reluctancy to implement promised reform would help fuel widespread social
unrest in the cities.
Paragraph 7 (Counter Argument / Evaluation)

 Whilst a prolonged overseas war was expensive, Tom Riddel neglects to mention
that the US remained the richest economy in the world and exaggerates the impact
of the War on treasury finances
 Riddel underplays the significance of this and selectively chooses economic data to
support his argument when in fact America could’ve afforded to continue the war
 Therefore, America was not forced to withdraw from Vietnam for economic reasons
and instead it was military failures. If America hadn’t have failed in a series of
military offensives, it wouldn’t have had to invest more resources to fund a military
victory.

Paragraph 8 (America withdrew because political reasons and the

incoming election)
 There was intense pressure on Nixon to withdraw from Vietnam in order to secure
the 1972 presidential election  he was aware that the anti-war movement, the
media bias and widespread unpopularity could damage his election hopes unless
he withdrew.
 Nixon knew he couldn’t win the Vietnam War  but as soon as American troops
pulled out, Nguyen Van Thieu’s US- backed government in the South would fall to
the North but he also knew that this would hurt his re-election chances in 1977 
so he delayed withdrawal until 1973 by prong longing the war, he prevented
humiliating scenes of military surrender, risking negative public opinion and instead
he wished to withdraw from Vietnam when it was politically favourable in order to
“bring peace with honour”.
 At a White House press conference about the Paris Peace negotiations on October
26th, Kissinger remarked “We believe that peace is at hand”  this was significant
 since it was only two weeks before the presidential election and it indicates the
importance of withdrawal for the American vote.
 Nixon meeting with political advisers, September 27, 1969, FRUS, 1969-76, 1: 109.
along with his oft-stated determination not to be "the first American President to
lose a war."
 According to declassified white house documents Kissinger told Nixon in March of
1971 “We can’t have it talked over - to put it brutally - before the election”  this
shows the importance of withdrawing from Vietnam without a humiliating defeat
which would again damage election prospects  this is further evidence of how
foreign policy regarding Vietnam was focus on the re-election.

Paragraph 9 (Counter argument / Evaluation)

 Whilst the election influenced the timing of the withdrawal, it was not the
decisive factor
 By March 1971 Nixon had accepted the war was lost as he told Kissinger “we
can’t have it knocked before the election” indicates that US withdrawal was
inevitable as the war had already been lost
 Therefore, the withdrawal was not due to political motives and instead military
failures.