Vietnam midterm questions...

Without further ado, the Vietnam midterm...the image you see above is the Vietnam Memorial Wall, taken by me with my back to the Korean War memorial.


History 388—US and Vietnam spring 2012
Midterm exam
For Wednesday, 29(!) February 2012

Directions Part I(100%): Prepare the following questions, taking care to support your statements with specific evidence from the lectures, readings, videos and any independent reflection you have done. You MIGHT get a chance to choose your question, but then again, I might reserve that right as class dictator, so make sure you know all three. Trust me, they WILL ask the one you don’t do!

1. One of the architects of the Vietnam war, JFK/LBJ Defense Secretary Robert Strange McNamara, listed as one of his life lessons, “Empathize with your enemy” in a conflict or war. You are an advisor to McNamara and the year is l961, the year JFK came to office. Adopting the perspective of the Viet Minh leadership, write a profile of the group for McNamara, including what conditions in the country account for their appearance, what their objectives are and why they seem to be so popular among ordinary Vietnamese. Conclude by describing how they view Diem and the United States, and what you believe the United States should do about them.

2.As a senator, President John F. Kennedy visited Vietnam in the last years of the Viet Minh’s war with the French. He and his brother Robert declared that the US should not stand in the way of “rekindled nationalism” and criticized their father and others who had backed the re-imposition of French rule on Vietnam after the war. Yet this was the same John Kennedy who told his advisers in l962 that United States foreign policy” must be credible” and the “place to make it credible is Vietnam.” Write an essay in which you explain why changed his mind, and what measures he took to prevent a Ho Chi Minh victory there.

3.Ngo Dinh Diem was the United States’ choice to head an anti-Communist south Vietnamese government. On paper, he was a good candidate: he was intelligent, well-spoken, religious and knowledgeable about his patron, the United States. President Eisenhower and others hoped that he would convince the Vietnamese to reject Ho Chi Minh and embrace the US-backed anti-Communist government. Why were Diem and his government unsuccessful in this?