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

3. Nixon’s War Rhetoric

chapter  Nixon’s฀War฀Rhetoric Richard฀Nixon’s฀speeches฀presenting฀his฀policies฀to฀end฀the฀war฀in฀Vietnam ฀are฀examples฀of฀a฀distinctive฀kind฀or฀genre฀of฀presidential฀public฀ discourse:฀war฀rhetoric,฀that฀is,฀rhetoric฀responding฀to฀฀ aggression฀or฀ leading฀the฀nation฀into฀war.฀They฀occurred฀in฀an฀unusual฀set฀of฀circumstances ฀because,฀as฀a฀result฀of฀many฀prior฀decisions,฀US฀involvement฀ in฀the฀war฀in฀Vietnam฀was฀spread฀over฀the฀presidencies฀of฀Franklin฀ Roosevelt,฀Harry฀Truman,฀Dwight฀Eisenhower,฀John฀Kennedy,฀Lyndon฀ Johnson,฀and฀Richard฀Nixon.฀By฀contrast,฀World฀War฀II฀was฀concluded฀ by฀Truman฀but฀was฀directed฀and฀fought฀primarily฀during฀the฀presidency฀ of฀Franklin฀Roosevelt.฀The฀Korean฀War฀began฀under฀Truman,฀and฀the฀ truce฀that฀still฀persists฀was฀negotiated฀by฀Eisenhower.฀The฀Gulf฀War฀was฀ fought฀and฀concluded฀by฀Pres.฀George฀H.฀W.฀Bush.฀The฀wars฀in฀Afghanistan ฀and฀Iraq฀begun฀under฀the฀leadership฀of฀Pres.฀George฀W.฀Bush;฀that฀ in฀Iraq฀was฀formally฀concluded฀during฀the฀first฀term฀of฀the฀presidency฀ of฀Barack฀Obama,฀and฀the฀US฀combat฀presence฀in฀Afghanistan฀has,฀ likewise,฀been฀reduced฀with฀further฀reductions฀pending.฀In฀other฀words,฀ the฀Vietnam฀War฀stands฀alone฀because฀of฀its฀long฀and฀ongoing฀role฀in฀ presidential฀foreign฀policy฀decision฀making. ฀ Like฀the฀Korean฀War,฀it฀was฀an฀undeclared฀war.฀Franklin฀Roosevelt฀ connived฀in฀the฀decisions฀that฀led฀to฀the฀first฀war฀in฀Vietnam,฀and฀ ฀ Truman฀and฀Eisenhower฀supported฀French฀efforts฀to฀reclaim฀their฀colonies ฀with฀money฀and฀matériel.฀Kennedy฀introduced฀the฀first฀US฀troops,฀ [] chapter 3 under฀the฀pretext฀that฀they฀were฀entirely฀advisory,฀although฀some฀took฀ part฀in฀combat,฀and฀some฀died.฀Lyndon฀Johnson฀used฀reports฀of฀North฀ Vietnam฀attacks,฀now฀challenged฀by฀some฀sources,฀on฀US฀ships฀Maddox and Turner Joy฀to฀gain฀passage฀of฀the฀Gulf฀of฀Tonkin฀resolution,฀which฀ he฀treated฀as฀the฀equivalent฀of฀a฀declaration฀of฀war฀that฀authorized฀him฀ to฀introduce฀combat฀troops฀into฀this฀arena.1 ฀Intense฀conflict฀over฀the฀ war฀led฀President฀Johnson฀to฀withdraw฀as฀a฀candidate฀for฀re-election฀in฀ 1968.฀Nixon฀faced฀Vice฀Pres.฀Hubert฀Humphrey,฀who฀early฀had฀been฀a฀ voice฀supporting฀withdrawal฀and฀ending฀the฀war,฀but฀who,฀despite฀reservations ,฀backed฀Johnson’s฀policies฀almost฀to฀the฀end,฀in฀part฀because฀ he฀needed฀Johnson’s฀support฀for฀the฀Democratic฀nomination฀and฀to฀ gain฀funds฀for฀campaign฀expenditures.฀Nixon฀feared฀that฀Humphrey฀ would฀be฀elected฀if฀Johnson฀was฀able฀to฀achieve฀his฀goal฀of฀reaching฀a฀ peace฀agreement.฀Nixon฀allegedly฀used฀indirect฀means฀of฀communication ฀to฀encourage฀President฀Thieu฀not฀to฀join฀the฀peace฀negotiations฀ in฀Paris,฀and฀he฀believed฀that฀Thieu’s฀refusal฀to฀participate฀in฀them฀was฀ an฀important฀factor฀in฀his฀election.฀Accordingly,฀his฀support฀of฀Thieu฀ persisted฀to฀the฀very฀end.฀Thus,฀although฀his฀speeches฀on฀Vietnam฀ clearly฀are฀examples฀of฀war฀rhetoric,฀these฀circumstances฀make฀them฀ distinctive. ฀ Kathleen฀Jamieson฀and฀I฀have฀called฀attention฀to฀the฀warning฀offered฀ by฀political฀scientist฀Edward฀Keynes:฀“Future฀presidents฀should฀recall฀ one฀of฀the฀Vietnam฀War’s฀most฀important฀lessons—the฀nation฀should฀ not฀wage฀a฀long,฀protracted,฀undeclared฀war฀without฀fundamental฀prior฀ agreement฀between฀Congress฀and฀the฀president฀and฀broad,฀sustained฀ public฀support฀for฀the฀government’s฀decision฀to฀send฀the฀nation’s฀sons฀ and฀daughters฀off฀to฀war.”฀Keynes’s฀judgment฀benefits฀from฀hindsight,฀ but฀his฀point฀is฀echoed฀by฀those฀in฀the฀military.฀They฀note฀that฀the฀ constitutional฀provision฀that฀it฀is฀the฀Congress฀that฀must฀declare฀war฀ is฀protection฀against฀wars฀made฀by฀the฀executive,฀wars฀that,฀as฀a฀result,฀ lack฀the฀direct฀commitment฀of฀the฀US฀public.2 ฀As฀this฀book฀will฀remind฀ you,฀however,฀presidents฀who฀involved฀the฀United฀States฀in฀military฀ action฀in฀Vietnam฀believed฀that฀they฀were฀fighting฀a฀battle฀in฀the฀Cold฀ War,฀and฀much฀of฀the฀US฀public฀supported฀what฀they฀were฀doing฀almost฀ until the end. [] nixon's war rhetoric ฀ The฀speeches฀that฀Jamieson฀and฀I฀identified฀as฀war฀rhetoric฀concern฀ “the฀introduction฀of฀United฀States฀Armed฀Forces฀into฀hostilities,฀or฀ into฀situations฀where฀imminent฀involvement฀in฀hostilities฀is฀clearly฀ indicated฀by฀circumstances,฀and฀.฀.฀.฀the฀continued฀use฀of฀such฀force฀ in฀hostilities฀or฀in฀such฀situations,”฀according฀to฀the฀language฀of฀the฀ War฀Powers฀Resolution฀of฀1973.฀In฀Presidents Creating the Presidency, Jamieson฀and฀I฀identified฀“five฀pivotal฀characteristics฀of฀this฀kind฀of฀ discourse,฀that฀(1)฀every฀element฀in฀it฀proclaims฀that฀the฀momentous฀ decision฀to฀resort฀to฀force฀is฀deliberate,฀the฀product฀of฀thoughtful฀deliberation ;฀(2)฀forceful฀intervention...