The following is an example of a good paper. The question and primary source document book were NOT from the material offered this term, but it is a good representation of what I expect you to accomplish in 2-3 pages. Note the following features which I expect in your papers:

• the accuracy of the cover page
• paper is double spaced, using a normal font
• student does NOT use first person, eg. "I think", "What matters to us", "We in America", "When you look at it", etc.
• the easy way sources are footnoted (in parentheses following the quote)
• long quotes are indented an extra 1" on the left and single spaced
• paper combines information from the video, text(s), and primary source document (other sources are optional only)
• paper is analytical, not simply narrative
• paper is written using scholarly language (no cliché language or rhetorical questions, such as "Diem thought he was so tough and acted like a king." or "Why did the United States support this guy?"

*******************************************


Jane Doe Student
HST 195 Vietnam Telecourse
Written Assignment # 1

Question # 8
Countrywide elections were an important issue in Vietnam. See Document #27. What reasons did Diem give for refusing to take part in the elections scheduled for 1956? Why did the United States support Diem’s decision? What did this decision indicate about Diem’s attitude toward democracy?

Grade on paper = ________ / 100

Spelling
Grammar
No Use of First Person
Answer the question(s)
Document evidence
Other evidence

Instructor Comments:


*******************************************


Ngo Dinh Diem was appointed Prime Minister by Emperor Bao Dai at the

culmination of the 1956 Geneva Conferences. It was during these conferences that agree-

ments were made in regards to the divisions of government that were currently in place.

A countrywide election would take place in two years time, to decide the fate of the

Vietnamese government. Diem refused to go along with the electoral process for the

Reunification of Vietnam. It was Diem’s belief that a free election would be impossible

because the Vietminh favored communism over the interests of the people. In a govern-

ment press release, Diem made the following statement:

Faced now with a regime of oppression as practiced by the Vietminh,
we remain skeptical concerning the possibility of fulfilling the conditions
of free elections in the North. We shall not miss any opportunity which
would permit the unification of our homeland in freedom, but it is out
of the question for us to consider any proposal from the Vietminh if proof
is not given that they put the superior interests of the national community
above those of communism, if they do not cease violating their obligations
as they have done by preventing our countrymen of the North from going
South or by recently attacking, together with the Communist Pathet Lao,
the friendly State of Laos. (Cohen, p.64-65)

Diem made it very clear that he did not agree with the actions set forth by

the Geneva Accords of 1956. Furthermore, he did not feel bound by the agreements

because he instructed his delegate not to sign. According to Diem, the agreements were

made "against the will of the Vietnamese people."

The United States supported the creation of a counter-revolutionary

alternative in South Vietnam. They saw Diem as a rigid anti-communist and gave him

political support. They called him the "best man for the job of stemming communist

Imperialism" (Cohen, p.58) and "an official remote from the people" (Cohen, p.57). As

long as Diem’s enemies were communists, the U.S. would support him.

Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, did not support the Geneva

Accords. He thought the agreements granted too much power to the Communist

party of Vietnam. In a March 1954 Address, Dulles said, "If the Communist forces

won uncontested control over Indochina or any substantial part thereof, they would

surely resume the same pattern of aggression against other free people in the area."

(Cohen, p.63)

A State Department Research Unit, conducted a study in February 1955

concerning the upcoming election and concluded that, " almost any type of election

that could conceivably be held in Vietnam in 1956 would, on the basis of present trends,

give Communism a very significant if not decisive advantage." (DeGroot, p.60)

To American leaders, Ho Chi Minh represented international communism

directed by Moscow, and after China’s fall to the communists only 5 years before, they

saw Ho’s victory as another threat to the west. In a speech at Gettysburg, President

Dwight D. Eisenhower explained the United States interest in Indochina. He said, "The

loss of South Vietnam would set in motion a crumbling process that could, as it

progressed, have grave consequences for us and for freedom."(Cohen, p.65-66)

In a similar speech, Eisenhower expressed

the importance of U.S. support in Vietnam against communism. In 1953, he stated:

Now let us assume that we lose Indochina. If Indochina goes, several things
happen right away. The crop peninsula, the last little bit of end hanging on
down there, would be scarcely defensible. The tin and the tungsten, that we
so greatly value from that area would cease coming, but all India would be
outflanked. Burma would certainly, in its weakened condition, be no defense.
So you see, somewhere along the line, this must be blocked. It must be blocked
now! And that’s what the French are doing. So when the United States votes
400 million dollars to help that war, we’re not voting for a giveaway program.
We’re voting for the cheapest way that we can prevent the occurrence of
something that would be of the most terrible significance to the United States
of America...our Security! (Vietnam: A Television History Tape #1)

Security and freedom was something that Diem wanted for the Vietnamese

people. His refusal to take part in country wide elections, was a stand against the

communist regime. He would have nothing to do with them or their terrorist actions

against innocent civilians. The United States saw Diem as a patriotic leader who would

lead his countrymen out of the darkness of oppression and into the light of freedom. He

seemed to be a true democrat. It would be later revealed to the U.S. public, that Diem

was brutal and corrupt, although he had been portrayed as representing democracy and

freedom in South Vietnam. The U.S. administration under President John F. Kennedy

came to view Diem as an embarrassment. When a group of ARVN generals made known

their wishes to stage a coup d’etat against Diem, Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge

informed them the United States would not object. On November 2, 1963, in a suburb of

Saigon, Diem was assassinated along with his brother Nhu while both were attempting to

flee.


SOURCES:

Cohen, Steven "Vietnam: Anthology and Guide to A Television History", 1983

DeGroot, Gerard J. "A Noble Cause? America and the Vietnam War", 2000

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 98, South Vietnam, 1998

Brigham, Robert K. "Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief History", www.pbs.org

Vietnam: A Television History, "America’s Mandarin (1954-1963)