The Great Silent Majority: Nixon's 1969 Speech on Vietnamization

Notes

[] Notes “The Great Silent Majority” ฀ 1.฀This฀text฀is฀a฀transcription฀of฀the฀speech฀as฀delivered.฀It฀was฀originally฀entitled ฀“The฀President’s฀Pursuit฀for฀Peace.” ฀ 2.฀John฀F.฀Kennedy,฀“The฀President’s฀News฀Conference,”฀July฀17,฀1963.฀Online฀ by฀Gerhard฀Peters฀and฀John฀T.฀Woolley,฀The American Presidency Project (hereafter ฀cited฀as฀APP),฀http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9348. ฀ 3.฀Richard฀Nixon,฀“Address฀before฀the฀24th฀Session฀of฀the฀General฀Assembly฀ of฀the฀United฀Nations,”฀Sept.฀18,฀1969,฀APP,฀http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ ws/?pid=2236;฀Richard฀Nixon,฀“Address฀at฀the฀Air฀Force฀Academy฀Commencement ฀Exercises฀in฀Colorado฀Springs,฀Colorado,”฀June฀4,฀1969,฀APP,฀http://www฀ .presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2081;฀Richard฀Nixon,฀“Statement฀on฀United฀ States฀Troops฀in฀Vietnam,”฀Sept.฀16,฀1969,฀APP,฀http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ ws/?pid=2232.฀See฀also฀Richard฀Nixon,฀“Remarks฀Following฀Initial฀Meeting฀with฀ President฀Thieu฀at฀Midway฀Island,”฀June฀8,฀1969,฀APP,฀http://www.presidency฀ .ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2088;฀Richard฀Nixon,฀“Joint฀Statement฀Following฀the฀Meeting ฀with฀President฀Thieu,”฀June฀8,฀1969,฀APP,฀http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ ws/?pid=2089;฀Richard฀Nixon,฀“Remarks฀on฀Departure฀from฀Midway฀Island,”฀ June฀8,฀1969,฀APP,฀http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2091. ฀ 4.฀In฀the฀reading฀version฀of฀the฀speech,฀this฀sentence฀is฀omitted,฀but฀a฀line฀ space฀is฀left฀between฀the฀other฀two฀statements. Chapter 1. Introduction ฀ 1.฀“Text฀of฀the฀President’s฀Address,”฀Minneapolis Star Tribune,฀Jan.฀21฀1969,฀9A. ฀ 2.฀For฀a฀short,฀highly฀readable฀biography,฀I฀recommend฀Wills,฀Nixon [] notes to pages – Agonistes,฀which฀tracks฀Nixon’s฀responses฀to฀the฀crises฀in฀his฀life.฀See฀also฀Reeves,฀ Alone in the White House. 3. Richard฀Nixon,฀“Address฀to฀the฀Nation฀on฀the฀Situation฀in฀Southeast฀Asia,”฀ Apr.฀30,฀1970. ฀ 4.฀On฀July฀26,฀1948,฀President฀Truman฀issued฀Executive฀Order฀9981,฀which฀ abolished฀racial฀discrimination฀in฀the฀US฀armed฀forces.฀The฀key฀section฀reads:฀ “It฀is฀hereby฀declared฀to฀be฀the฀policy฀of฀the฀President฀that฀there฀shall฀be฀equality ฀of฀treatment฀and฀opportunity฀for฀all฀persons฀in฀the฀armed฀services฀without฀ regard฀to฀race,฀color,฀religion฀or฀national฀origin.฀This฀policy฀shall฀be฀put฀into฀ effect฀as฀rapidly฀as฀possible,฀having฀due฀regard฀to฀the฀time฀required฀to฀effectuate฀ any฀necessary฀changes฀without฀impairing฀efficiency฀or฀morale.” ฀ 5.฀See฀Bill฀Moyers฀Journal,฀“Race฀and฀Politics฀in฀America’s฀Cities,”฀Mar.฀28,฀ 2008,฀broadcast฀on฀PBS฀stations฀on฀the฀fortieth฀anniversary฀of฀the฀Kerner฀Commission ฀Report. ฀ 6.฀During฀the฀height฀of฀US฀involvement,฀1965–69,฀African฀Americans,฀who฀ formed฀11฀percent฀of฀the฀US฀population,฀made฀up฀12.6฀percent฀of฀the฀soldiers฀ in฀Vietnam.฀The฀majority฀of฀these฀were฀in฀the฀infantry,฀and฀although฀authorities ฀differ฀on฀the฀figures,฀the฀percentage฀of฀African฀American฀combat฀fatalities฀ in฀that฀period฀was฀a฀staggering฀14.9฀percent,฀a฀proportion฀that฀subsequently฀ declined. The Oxford Companion to American Military History,฀found฀at฀http:// www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/stevens/africanamer.htm.฀For฀details฀ about฀King’s฀speech,฀see฀“MLK:฀A฀Call฀to฀Conscience:฀A฀Tavis฀Smiley฀Special฀ Report.” ฀ 7.฀See,฀for฀example,฀Gitlin,฀The Sixties. ฀ 8.฀Walker,฀director฀of฀the฀Chicago฀Study฀Team,฀to฀the฀National฀Commission฀ on฀the฀Causes฀and฀Prevention฀of฀Violence,฀Rights in Conflict.฀The฀report฀was฀ based฀on฀the฀Chicago฀Study฀Team’s฀review฀of฀over฀20,000฀pages฀of฀statements฀ from฀2,437฀eyewitnesses฀and฀participants,฀180฀hours฀of฀film,฀and฀over฀12,000฀ still฀photographs. ฀ 9.฀Writing฀in฀the฀style฀of฀the฀“new฀journalism,”฀Norman฀Mailer฀covered฀these฀ two฀conventions฀in฀“Miami฀Beach฀and฀Chicago”฀for฀Harper’s Magazine,฀which฀ became฀a฀book,฀Miami and the Siege of Chicago. ฀ 10.฀Walter฀Dean฀Burnham,฀“Election฀1968—The฀Abortive฀Landslide,”฀cited฀by฀ Emmet฀John฀Hughes,฀“The฀Politics฀of฀the฀Sixties,”฀192–214;฀cited฀material,฀201. [] notes to pages – Chapter 2. A Short History of US Involvement in the Wars in Vietnam ฀ 1.฀No฀short฀history฀of฀the฀Vietnam฀War฀can฀do฀justice฀to฀all฀of฀its฀many฀elements ฀and฀ramifications.฀Many฀good฀sources฀of฀information฀are฀listed฀in฀notes฀ in฀this฀chapter฀and฀those฀that฀follow.฀For฀a฀single฀volume,฀see฀Karnow,฀Vietnam. See฀also฀Ellen฀J.฀Hammer’s฀The Struggle for Indochina฀and฀Frances฀Fitzgerald’s฀ Pulitzer฀Prize–winning฀Fire in the Lake. ฀ 2.฀Douglas฀Martin,฀in฀“Henry฀Prunier,฀91,฀Dies;฀Was฀Part฀of฀US฀Mission฀to฀ Train฀the฀Viet฀Minh”฀(New York Times,฀Apr.฀24,฀2013,฀A17...