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

1. Introduction: Nixon, Vietnam, and the Cultural Context

chap te r  Introduction Nixon, Vietnam, and the Cultural Context In฀military฀terms,฀the฀war฀in฀Vietnam฀ended฀in฀April฀of฀1975฀when฀ North฀and฀South฀Vietnam฀were฀unified฀as฀one฀nation.฀Yet฀the฀continuing ฀influence฀of฀the฀Vietnam฀War฀was฀apparent฀in฀the฀1989฀inaugural฀ address฀of฀Pres.฀George฀H.฀W.฀Bush฀when฀he฀said,฀“That฀war฀cleaves฀ us฀still.฀.฀.฀.฀The฀final฀lesson฀of฀Vietnam฀is฀that฀no฀great฀nation฀can฀ long฀afford฀to฀be฀sundered฀by฀a฀memory.”1 ฀Despite฀his฀plea,฀the฀war’s฀ influence฀persisted,฀in฀part฀because฀of฀the฀thousands฀of฀veterans฀who฀ were฀injured฀or฀died฀there฀and฀in฀part฀because฀its฀story฀has฀been฀told฀ and฀retold฀by฀journalists฀who฀experienced฀it,฀US฀veterans฀who฀lived฀it,฀ and฀novelists฀who฀wrote฀about฀the฀war,฀such฀as฀Tim฀O’Brien,฀author฀ of Going after Cacciato and The Things They Carried.฀The฀Vietnam฀ War฀remains฀a฀powerful฀national฀memory฀because฀for฀the฀first฀time฀in฀ modern฀history,฀the฀United฀States฀discovered฀that,฀despite฀its฀enormous฀ resources,฀its฀power฀was฀limited,฀and,฀in฀spite฀of฀great฀efforts,฀it฀was฀ unable฀to฀impose฀its฀will฀on฀a฀small฀Asian฀nation. ฀ The฀decision฀to฀focus฀on฀a฀speech฀by฀Pres.฀Richard฀Nixon฀is฀a฀result฀of฀ his฀key฀role฀in฀the฀war’s฀history.฀Two฀figures฀who฀had฀opposed฀the฀war— the฀Rev.฀Dr.฀Martin฀Luther฀King฀Jr.฀and฀Sen.฀Robert฀F.฀Kennedy—had฀ been฀killed฀in฀1968฀by฀assassins.฀Pres.฀Lyndon฀B.฀Johnson,฀although฀eligible ฀to฀run฀for฀re-election,฀chose฀not฀to฀do฀so,฀in฀part฀because฀military฀ [] introduction success฀and฀success฀at฀the฀negotiating฀table฀in฀Paris฀still฀eluded฀him.฀As฀a฀ senator,฀Vice฀Pres.฀Hubert฀H.฀Humphrey฀had฀opposed฀the฀war,฀but฀while฀ he฀served฀under฀President฀Johnson,฀he฀was฀compelled฀to฀support฀the฀ president’s฀policies.฀Accordingly,฀Humphrey฀was฀tainted;฀US฀voters฀did฀ not฀trust฀him฀to฀end฀the฀war.฀Instead,฀a฀plurality฀cast฀their฀ballots฀in฀the฀ hope฀that฀Richard฀M.฀Nixon฀would฀find฀a฀way฀to฀achieve฀peace.฀Thus,฀ the฀focus฀of฀this฀book฀is฀on฀the฀speech฀in฀which฀President฀Nixon฀offered฀ his฀plan฀to฀end฀the฀fighting฀and฀to฀achieve฀what฀always฀had฀been฀the฀ primary฀US฀goal:฀the฀preservation฀of฀South฀Vietnam฀as฀an฀independent฀ nation. ฀ Nixon’s฀November฀3,฀1969,฀speech฀announced฀consequential฀and฀ controversial฀decisions฀about฀the฀war,฀and฀its฀importance฀and฀impact฀ provoked฀several฀rhetorical฀critics฀to฀analyze฀and฀evaluate฀it.฀Moreover,฀ President฀Nixon฀considered฀it฀his฀best฀speech,฀among฀his฀other฀best฀ efforts,฀the฀1952฀“Checkers”฀speech฀that฀enabled฀him฀to฀remain฀the฀ vice฀presidential฀candidate฀on฀the฀Republican฀ticket฀and฀his฀speech฀ resigning฀the฀presidency฀in฀1974,฀which฀attempted฀to฀frame฀the฀way฀ in฀which฀his฀presidency฀would฀be฀remembered. ฀ This฀book฀is฀not฀a฀biography฀of฀Pres.฀Richard฀M.฀Nixon,฀although฀his฀ personal฀history฀and฀his฀rhetorical฀experience฀informed฀his฀rhetorical฀ and฀presidential฀choices฀on฀Vietnam.2 ฀This฀book฀is฀not฀a฀history฀of฀the฀ wars฀in฀Vietnam,฀although฀I฀devote฀a฀separate฀chapter฀to฀the฀history฀of฀ US฀involvement฀in฀its฀wars฀to฀offer฀a฀wider฀context฀for฀understanding฀ the฀issues฀that฀arose฀during฀the฀Nixon฀presidency. ฀ Like฀others฀in฀this฀series,฀this฀book฀focuses฀on฀a฀single฀speech,฀ delivered฀on฀November฀3,฀1969,฀by฀Pres.฀Richard฀M.฀Nixon;฀however,฀ no฀single฀speech฀can฀stand฀alone฀and฀in฀analyzing฀it,฀I฀refer฀to฀earlier฀ speeches฀that฀previewed฀key฀elements฀that฀recur฀in฀it.฀I฀also฀refer฀to฀the฀ speech฀he฀delivered฀on฀April฀30,฀1970,฀announcing฀the฀“incursion”฀of฀ US฀troops฀into฀Cambodia.฀Not฀only฀did฀it฀echo฀arguments฀made฀on฀ November฀3,฀1969,฀but฀he฀also฀characterized฀that฀decision฀as฀an฀effort฀ “to฀guarantee฀the฀continued฀success฀of฀our฀withdrawal฀and฀Vietnamization ฀programs,”฀which฀were฀the฀policies฀he฀announced฀on฀November฀ 3.3 ฀The฀choice฀to฀widen฀the฀war,฀even฀temporarily,฀re-energized฀antiwar฀ protestors.฀In฀all฀of฀the฀speeches฀to฀which฀I฀refer,฀Nixon฀talked฀about฀ [] chapter 1 his฀policies฀for฀ending฀the฀Vietnam฀War,฀and฀each฀of฀them฀facilitates฀ understanding฀the฀arguments฀he฀made฀and฀the฀strategies฀he฀used฀on฀ November฀3,฀1969. ฀ The฀events฀surrounding฀that฀speech฀have฀faded฀from฀the฀memories฀ of฀much฀of฀the฀US฀public,฀but฀I฀lived฀through฀them฀as฀a฀professor฀ teaching฀courses฀in฀communication฀studies฀at฀what฀was฀then฀California฀ State฀University,฀Los฀Angeles,฀a฀school฀of฀considerable฀diversity,฀whose฀ student฀body฀was฀predominantly฀nonwhite฀and฀whose฀students’฀average...