Few topics are more difficult to teach, nor more important for our students to understand, than our country's involvement in Vietnam. Just as the Great Depression and World War II were defining experiences for previous generations of Americans, so too did the Vietnam War shape the perspectives and values for many who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s. Even those who were too young to have personal recollections of the period have been affected by the cultural backwash from Hollywood and the controversies surrounding American M.I.A.s and relations with Hanoi.
Students become active participants in the decision-making process.
At several key historical junctures, they examine the same range of policy options that confronted U.S. leaders. The unit relies heavily on primary sources, such as speeches, newspaper articles and editorials, political cartoons, songs, and policy memoranda. In the second part, students study the relevance of Vietnam in U.S. Cold War strategy and examine America's growing involvement in the region. Students then evaluate the events that led to the passage of the Tonkin Gulf resolution in 1964. Part III of the background reading probes four critical junctures in America's Vietnam experience from 1968 to 1973.