For written assignment #2, students will choose ONE of the following
FOUR questions to complete.
***Written Assignment #2 is due Friday, May 31, by 3pm.
- Clark Clifford's change of opinion of American strategy in Vietnam was a key
influence on President Johnson's March 31, 1968 speech. Read Document #14
(Hall) and describe how much the decisions anounced in the President's speech owe
to Clifford's work in the month preceding it.
- In his speech, which appears as Document #17 (Hall), President Nixon reviewed
the risks and possible rewards of his decision to allow American troops to enter
Cambodia. The President was willing to widen the war in order to gain military advantages.
How do yo evaluate his decision? What were his assumptions about American foreign
policy? What were his beliefs about American patriotism? What did he mena when we
warned that without takint this step the United States would turn in to a "pitiful,
helpless giant"?
- The North Vietnamese Easter Offensive which occurred during the spring of 1972
was seen as a referendum of Vietnamization. Document #19 (Hall) presents the
official U.S. Army history of this action. How did the South Vietnamese do? How did
the author account for their victory? Was the American role an important one? What
were the factors which led to this assault? What were the results of the success
of the South Vietnamese?
- John Kerry's speech, which appears in Document #18 (Hall), was a clear
anti war comment by a man who had served in Vietnam. What did he mean by a war crime?
What are the rules of war? Had the United States acted immorally in Vietnam? What
had the Vietnam War meant for Kerry?