Containment and Credibility by Pat Proctor

Author:Pat Proctor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

… the war in Vietnam is essentially a civil war which involves no direct threat to the national security of the United States. That the war cannot be won without running unacceptable risks, including the risk of a world war. But that, nonetheless, a unilateral American withdrawal would leave a situation of confusion and disorder in South Vietnam. Accordingly, the Democratic Party [should commit] itself to a policy of seeking, through the Paris peace negotiations a peace settlement based on the principles of self-determination and neutralization.204

Senator George McGovern, representing supporters of slain candidate Robert Kennedy, argued that the platform should contain a pledge that the United States would “cease our opposition to participation by the NLF in the government of South Vietnam.”205 McGovern also proposed that the platform contain a “60-days-to-peace” plan that included the immediate withdrawal of 275,000 U.S. troops. Senator Eugene McCarthy’s camp argued only that the platform should include support for communist participation in a coalition government in South Vietnam.206

While Vice President Hubert Humphrey was less specific about his own policy prescription, he rejected suggestions that would end the war without containing communist expansion into South Vietnam. Humphrey implied that such suggestions would alienate the American people and urged antiwar delegates to be practical by reminding them that none of the urgent domestic needs of the country would be addressed if Richard Nixon became president. Humphrey even suggested that he might make either McGovern or McCarthy his running-mate (in the end he chose Democratic Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine instead). Humphrey also promised he would “do all that is humanly possible without regard to my own political future to bring … peace as speedily and as honorably as I can.” The emphasis on “honorably” separated him from the other two men, who had laid out terms for ending the war that he believed the American people would not accept.207

Johnson administration officials took the opportunity of the platform committee to once more use the ideology of containment to argue for continued U.S. military intervention in Vietnam. Secretary of State Dean Rusk took the extraordinary step of appearing before the Democratic party platform committee—presumably on behalf of the Humphrey camp—to argue against making any concessions to the North Vietnamese a part of the Democratic party platform. In a reference to the lessons of Munich, Rusk equated antiwar recommendations to saying, “Give the aggressor another bite—perhaps he’ll be satisfied.” Rusk also argued against saying, “It’s too far away,” “It’s not our business,” or “Security treaties should be ignored if they come to involve cost, pain and sacrifice.” Rusk claimed that there was no need to debate the “domino theory” since the communists were already active across Southeast Asia. He added that events in Southeast Asia were directly tied to U.S. and world security. Like Humphrey, Rusk argued that the Democratic platform should affirm the party’s desire for “an early but honorable peace that will enable the peoples of Asia to live together in freedom.”208

In the end, the Democratic platform reflected President Johnson’s and Vice President Humphrey’s wishes.

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