Primary Sources Access – Foundation (Plan E): Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975

Associated Press, Saigon Bureau Records, Series 1: News Reports, 1953, 1960-71

This collection includes news reports from the Associated Press Saigon Bureau on South Vietnamese and U.S. military and political activity in Vietnam from 1953 to 1972. These documents are organized chronologically. For additional research, refer to related ProQuest History Vault collections, Associated Press Saigon Bureau Records-Series II. Message Wires, 1963-72; Records of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Part 2: Classified Studies from the Combined Intelligence Center Vietnam, 1965-1973; Records of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Part 3: Progress Reports on Pacification in South Vietnam, 1965-1973; and Vietnam War: A Documentary Collection, Records of the Westmoreland vs. CBS Case.

Associated Press: Saigon Bureau Records, Series 2: Message Wires, 1963-1972

The Vietnam War spanned two decades and involved France, the United States, North and South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and an assortment of allies and proxies. The United States first joined the war in the fall of 1950 in support of France's combat operations against the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong, a group of irregular communist guerrillas. The United States remained involved in the war until 30 April 1975, when the final U.S. troops withdrew and the South Vietnamese capital city of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, fell to elements of the North Vietnamese Army. In 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson, recently sworn in as President of the United States following John F. Kennedy's assassination, escalated the U.S. involvement in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Starting in 1962, the records of the AP's Saigon office report on the escalation of U.S. involvement and the increasing casualties experienced by U.S. armed forces. The AP message wires are usually not complete stories, and do not always provide background information, though a few ready-to-publish articles exist in the records. Researchers will find reports covering everything from the pivotal moments of the war to its most mundane aspects, and insight into the life of war correspondents and photojournalists. The documents focus on North and South Vietnam, but coverage includes U.S. and South Vietnamese involvement in Laos and Cambodia.

CIA Records on the Cold War: The CAESAR, ESAU, and POLO Papers on China and the Soviet Union, 1953-1973

The CAESAR, POLO, And ESAU Papers

CIA Research Reports, Vietnam and Southeast Asia, 1946-1976

CIA Research Reports, Vietnam and Southeast Asia, Supplement

Confidential U.S. State Department Special Files, Vietnam Working Group, 1963-1966

This collection from the State Department records at the National Archives focuses on the activities of the Vietnam Working Group, a special group formed in the State Department's Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs in 1963 to deliberate on U.S. policy in Vietnam. Over the life of the group, members included Chalmers B. Wood, James M. Montgomery, Thomas F. Conlon, Theodore J. C. Heavner, Joseph Brent, H. Freeman Matthews Jr., and Paul M. Kattenburg. Members corresponded with many people in the State Department and collected reports on a wide array of topics related to Vietnam.

Crises in Panama and the Dominican Republic: National Security Files and NSC Histories

Early in his presidency, Lyndon Johnson confronted major crises in Panama and the Dominican Republic. Panama had long resented the privileged position conferred on the United States by the original canal treaty. Panamanians also came to resent the second-class citizenry imposed on Canal Zone residents and Panama's small share of the earnings received from operating the canal. When U.S. students refused to fly the flag of Panama at a Canal Zone high school in January 1964, large numbers of Panamanians demonstrated in protest. The demonstrations turned to rioting and street warfare. Twenty-four Panamanians and three U.S. soldiers were killed, and $2 million in property was destroyed. Panama accused the United States of "unjustified aggression" and broke relations. The crisis produced a turnabout in U.S.-Panamanian relations. After three months of sporadic discussions, the two nations agreed to resume diplomatic relations and to work to resolve their differences, prompted by slightly veiled U.S. threats to explore alternative routes for construction of a new canal.

Documents of the National Security Council, 1947-1977, Basic Set

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Documents of the National Security Council, 1st Supplement

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Documents of the National Security Council, 2nd Supplement

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Documents of the National Security Council, 3rd Supplement

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Documents of the National Security Council, 4th Supplement

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Documents of the National Security Council, 5th Supplement

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Documents of the National Security Council, 6th Supplement

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Documents of the National Security Council, 7th Supplement

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Documents of the National Security Council, 8th Supplement

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Documents of the National Security Council, 9th Supplement

This collection and its companion supplements have been arranged to follow the sequence in which the various types of NSC documents were initially created. A brief description of the types of material found in each segment is provided below.

Environmental Protection Agency: Records of the U.S./USSR Joint Commission on Environmental Programs, 1972-1976

During the years 1972-1976, representatives for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Soviet Union signed environmental agreements in eleven areas. The EPA environmental projects were divided into working groups and subgroups. Each group produced a protocol and agreement, and each agreement and protocol had project leaders or chairmen from both the United States and USSR who signed the protocol and agreement in both English and Russian.

Gerald R. Ford National Security Files, 1974-1977: The Middle East and South Asia, Presidential Country Files

This edition of The Gerald R. Ford National Security Files covers a turbulent three-year period in the Middle East and South Asia. In August 1974 when Ford took over after Richard Nixon's resignation, Egypt, Syria, and Israel were only ten months removed from the Yom Kippur War of 1973. In the Mediterranean Sea, beginning in the summer of 1974, Turkey and Greece fought for control of the island of Cyprus. In November 1975, Syrian military forces invaded Lebanon. Documents in the collection cover each of these crises, as well as the diplomatic response at the highest levels of the U.S. government. Other major topics are military assistance and arms sales from the United States to countries in the region; OPEC and oil prices; and the impact of the cold war.

Henry A. Kissinger Telephone Conversations on World Affairs, 1969-1974

Henry A. Kissinger wielded unparalleled influence within the administration of Richard M. Nixon, often circumventing State Department personnel, until he eventually assumed dual roles as national security advisor and secretary of state. The Henry A. Kissinger Telephone Conversations on World Affairs, 1969-1974, includes transcribed telephone conversations with diplomats and high-ranking members of Congress, celebrities and journalists, and future presidents. Replete with humor, Kissinger's conversations reveal insight into the major events of the Nixon presidency. The chronological transcript dovetails with rising tension in the Arab-Israeli conflict, the final years of the Vietnam War, and nuclear proliferation talks with the Soviet Union.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Africa

The National Security Files (NSF) were the working files of John F. Kennedy's special assistant for national security affairs, McGeorge Bundy. Documents In these files originated in the offices of Bundy and his assistants, Walt W. Rostow and Carl Kaysen; in the various executive departments and agencies, especially those having to do with foreign affairs and national defense; and in diplomatic and military posts around the world.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Africa, First Supplement

This collection contains a vast number of documents on political, social, and economic developments in Africa, as well as on the Kennedy administration's efforts both to respond to these developments and to shape them. The 1961-1963 span overlaps much of the critical period during which African societies achieved the transition from their status as colonies of European powers to that of full independence and sovereignty.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Asia and the Pacific

The John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Asia and the Pacific provides detailed insight into the challenges of U.S. foreign policy in the early 1960s. This collection contains documents concerning Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, and West New Guinea with fragmentary material on Australia, Borneo, Burma, and Thailand. This collection consists of memos, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence and special studies created by the National Security Council. These documents are organized into country files and the documents appear chronologically within those files.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Asia and the Pacific, First Supplement

The National Security Files (NSF) were the working files of President John F. Kennedy's special assistant for national security affairs, McGeorge Bundy. These NSF Country Files for Asia, arranged alphabetically by country, provide an in-depth look into foreign policy decision making in the period 1961-1963. Memoranda, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence, and special studies are arranged chronologically within each country, allowing the researcher to follow on a day-to-day basis the administration's handling of crises and to trace the evolution of major policies. Documents in this collection originated in the offices of Bundy and his assistants, Walt W. Rostow and Carl Kaysen; in the various executive departments and agencies, especially those having to do with foreign affairs and national defense; and in diplomatic and military posts around the world.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Latin America

The John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Latin America provide detailed primary source information on the region that required more attention from Kennedy than any other. Kennedy and his administration were determined to promote moderate change in a region overcome by revolutionary ideas and leaders. This collection focuses on Brazil, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic and contains memos, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence and special studies separated by country and organized chronologically. The State Department, Defense Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, and the Agency for International Development contributed heavily to this collection.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Latin America, First Supplement

This collection of National Security Files is arranged alphabetically by country, and covers the following twenty-six Latin American nations or areas: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, British Guiana, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Dutch Guiana, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the West Indies. Within each country or area the files are arranged into chronological General and Subject sections with only the Dominican Republic having a Cables section.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Latin America, First Supplement: Cuba

Foreign Policy and the Kennedy Administration

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Middle East

The John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Middle East provides researchers with an introduction to the U.S. efforts to promote order in this chaotic and volatile region. This collection includes primary source documents produced by the U.S. government on Afghanistan, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Republic. Divided into country files and then organized chronologically, this collection includes memos, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence and special studies produced for or by the National Security Council. Though limited in size, this collection offers valuable original material to researchers with an interest in the Middle East or U.S. foreign policy.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Middle East: First Supplement

This collection contains a large number of documents on national security issues in the Middle East, as well as on the Kennedy administration's efforts both to respond to these developments and to help shape them.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, USSR and Eastern Europe

This collection documents critical developments in the evolution of U.S. relations with Moscow and its satellites between 1961 and 1963. Countries covered include Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the most independent satellite, renegade Romania. Topics covered include the 1962 Geneva Conference on Laos, disarmament, Soviet relations with Cuba, Eastern Europe, and China, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S.-Soviet wheat deal of 1963, and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. There is also information on the Soviet seizure of American scholar Frederick Barghoorn in 1963, an event that briefly set back the budding of detente. In all, the collection provides a good feel for the twists and turns of U.S.-Soviet relations during a critical and, indeed, seminal period. The collection consists of memos, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence, and special studies produced by the U.S. government. These documents were used by Kennedy's special assistant for national security affairs, McGeorge Bundy. Organized into country files and arranged chronologically, these documents provide a linear analysis of foreign policy issues and U.S. responses.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, USSR and Eastern Europe, First Supplement

This collection consists of documents on political, diplomatic, economic, and social developments concerning the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Europe. The files are organized alphabetically by country and chronologically within each country. The collection contains cables, letters, and reports from diplomatic personnel; memoranda and analyses from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the State Department; transcripts of speeches; and political/economic assessments.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Vietnam

The John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Vietnamcomprise an invaluable archive of the Kennedy administrations' commitments in Vietnam and the escalation of U.S. involvement. Documents in this collection are mostly chronological. The collection includes cables between Washington and Saigon and between Washington and other embassies that dealt with Vietnam issues. Also included in this collection are reports by William Jorden and General Maxwell Taylor on Vietnam and the North Vietnamese, and counterinsurgency doctrine reports produced by the Military Assistance and Advisory Group.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Vietnam, First Supplement

The presidency of John F. Kennedy represents an important period in the history of U.S. foreign policy. The Kennedy administration significantly escalated the war in Vietnam. Inheriting from Dwight D. Eisenhower a small and still qualified commitment to uphold the fledgling South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dinh Diem, the Kennedy administration expanded that commitment rhetorically by repeatedly proclaiming Vietnam's importance to U.S. security and tangibly by increasing the number of U.S. military advisers to more than 16,000 and authorizing their involvement in combat. The National Security Files for 1961-1963 provide an indispensable documentary record of this critical period in U.S. foreign relations. The world changed dramatically during the 1960s, and the volume and diverse nature of the documents contained in these files represent an essential foundation for understanding U.S. foreign policy during this period.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Western Europe

The John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Western Europe provides detailed insight into the complex and contradictory U.S. goals in Western Europe. The U.S. and its allies faced a crisis in Berlin that drew them together for a common cause, but the overall state of their relations deteriorated as the Cold War entered its second decade. France and West Germany resisted increasing U.S unilateralism and began to consider independent approaches to foreign policy. This collection contains memos, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence, and special studies produced by the U.S. government. These documents were used by Kennedy's special assistant for national security affairs, McGeorge Bundy. Organized into country files and arranged chronologically, these documents provide a linear analysis of foreign policy issues and U.S. responses.

John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, Western Europe, First Supplement

This collection brings together a large number of documents on political, economic, and military developments in Western Europe. The emphasis of the documents is on U.S. relations with each country, as well as Kennedy administration policies designed to help strengthen European security and achieve U.S. foreign policy objectives.

Johnson Administration and Pacification in Vietnam, The Robert Komer-William Leonhart Files, 1966-1968

In 1966, the political, social, and economic development (nation-building) of South Vietnam began to receive increased U.S. emphasis. The failure of earlier rural development and nation-building projects (i.e., rural reconstruction) was due primarily to the lack of coordination and cooperation between the various competing U.S. civilian agencies of the U.S. Mission and Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) and the "creaking" South Vietnamese government bureaucracy. With the South Vietnamese government's renewed interest and redesignation of pacification to Revolutionary Development, it was recognized by both MACV and the U.S. Mission that a change in U.S. support of pacification (revolutionary development) and nation-building activities was necessary. The primary question was who or what agency would coordinate and control the various pacification and related aid programs.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Africa

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Agency File

"This Nation will keep its commitments from South Vietnam to West Berlin." This statement from Lyndon B. Johnson's first address before a joint session of Congress on November 27, 1963, highlighted his determination to maintain America's role in foreign affairs. While domestic issues were of primary interest to Johnson, he took on the burden of Vietnam, the cold war, and various world crises with the determination that the United States would remain strong, "prepared to defend ourselves and friends, and work for a just world peace." The Vietnam War is considered the central focus of the Johnson administration's foreign affairs efforts. But it would be wrong to think of this period in terms of Vietnam alone, for the administration also faced crises in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Asia and the Pacific

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Asia and the Pacific provides insight into the chaotic and turbulent politics of East Asia and Southeast Asia during the 1960s. In Southeast Asia, Sukarno's Indonesia launched a systematic campaign against Malaysia and flirted with Communist China. A major crisis for the United States was averted only when the army overthrew Sukarno and destroyed the Indonesian Communist Party. In mainland Southeast Asia, U.S. escalation of the war in Vietnam threatened to engulf neighboring Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. China went through a profound internal crisis in the late 1960s, and Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution sent shock waves throughout the region.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Asia and the Pacific, First Supplement

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Asia and the Pacific, First Supplement provide an indispensable documentary record of a critical period in U.S. foreign relations with East and Southeast Asia. Though the Vietnam War was the dominant event of this period, the Johnson years cannot be examined in terms of Vietnam alone, and the volume and diverse nature of the documents contained in the National Security Files represent an essential foundation for understanding U.S. foreign policy during this period.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Committee File

"This Nation will keep its commitments from South Vietnam to West Berlin." This statement from Lyndon B. Johnson's first address before a joint session of Congress on November 27, 1963, highlighted his determination to maintain America's role in foreign affairs. While domestic issues were of primary interest to Johnson, he took on the burden of Vietnam, the cold war, and various world crises with the determination that the United States would remain strong, "prepared to defend ourselves and friends, and work for a just world peace." The Vietnam War is considered the central focus of the Johnson administration's foreign affairs efforts. But it would be wrong to think of this period in terms of Vietnam alone, for the administration also faced crises in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Israel

The National Security Files on Israel that are reproduced in this collection include hundreds of pages of reports and correspondence from a critical period in the evolution of Israel's relations with both its Arab neighbors and the United States. The collection includes a wide range of documents: regular and special messages from American diplomatic personnel in Israel, minutes of meetings of the U.S. ambassador with Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and Foreign Minister Abba Eban, background studies by the CIA and the NSC, and briefings for the President.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Latin America

The National Security Files (NSF) were working files of Lyndon B. Johnson's special assistants for national security affairs, McGeorge Bundy and Walt W. Rostow. Documents in these files originated in the offices of Bundy and Rostow and their staffs; in the various executive departments and agencies, especially those having to do with foreign affairs and national defense; and in diplomatic and military posts around the world.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Latin America, First Supplement

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Latin America, First Supplement provide valuable insight into the crisis-oriented foreign policy that pervaded during the 1960s. This period of U.S. relations with Latin America was dominated by responses to Cuba and Fidel Castro, interventions in the Dominican Republic and Panama, and an inconsistent U.S. policy of avoiding intervening in Latin American governments. This archive contains documents prepared by various U.S. government departments and includes memos, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence, and special studies. These documents were the working files of McGeorge Bundy and Walt W. Rostow, Johnson's special assistants for national security affairs. Documents are organized into country files and then arranged chronologically.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Middle East

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Middle East provides detailed and primary source insight into President Johnson's foreign policy challenges in a turbulent region. Johnson's predecessor, John F. Kennedy, expended a great deal of energy in the Middle East and Johnson's experience would be no different. This collection covers Cyprus, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the United Arab Republic and consists of memos, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence, and special studies. These documents were compiled for Johnson's special assistants for national security affairs, McGeorge Bundy and Walt W. Rostow. These documents are organized into Country Files and arranged chronologically, providing a glimpse into the foreign policy decision making process of the Johnson administration.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Name and Speech Files

"This Nation will keep its commitments from South Vietnam to West Berlin." This statement from Lyndon B. Johnson's first address before a joint session of Congress on November 27, 1963, highlighted his determination to maintain America's role in foreign affairs. While domestic issues were of primary interest to Johnson, he took on the burden of Vietnam, the cold war, and various world crises with the determination that the United States would remain strong, "prepared to defend ourselves and friends, and work for a just world peace." The Vietnam War is considered the central focus of the Johnson administration's foreign affairs efforts. But it would be wrong to think of this period in terms of Vietnam alone, for the administration also faced crises in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, United Nations

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, United Nations shows the evolution of world politics during the 1960s. The United Nations, much as the rest of the world did, began to change in the 1960s, with some power shifting from powerful countries to smaller, newer countries. In spite of the beginning of change in composition and power, the United Nation continued to focus on challenges related to the Cold War. This collection consists of memos, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence, and special studies. These documents were compiled for Johnson's special assistants for national security affairs, McGeorge Bundy and Walt W. Rostow, and are arranged chronologically, providing a glimpse into the foreign policy decision making process of the Johnson administration.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, USSR and Eastern Europe

Lyndon B. Johnson's years as president marked an important transitional period in the cold war. The shrill rhetoric and intense conflict of the late 1950s and early 1960s had abated. The United States and Soviet Union began the tortuous process of controlling nuclear weaponry, and negotiated agreements on various lesser issues as well. Despite these advances, however, real progress in improving U.S.-Soviet relations remained quite limited. U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was a major impediment to better relations, and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 ended arms control negotiations before they began. Thus, between 1964 and 1969, U.S.-Soviet relations were characterized by "small and tentative steps along a darkened pathway leading toward an uncertain goal." [Richard P. Stebbins, The United States in World Affairs, 1966 (Washington, D.C.: Council of Foreign Relations; New York: Harper and Row, 1967), p. 100.]

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Vietnam, First Supplement

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Vietnam, First Supplement provides primary source documentation of the central foreign policy issue facing the Johnson administration: the Vietnam War. In November 1963, the U.S. had committed only sixteen thousand advisors to Vietnam, but under Johnson, the U.S. increased the number of troops to nearly two hundred thousand combat troops by the end of 1965. Ultimately, the Vietnam War would contribute heavily to Johnson's decision to withdraw from the 1968 presidential campaign. The Country Files from which this collection was obtained were maintained in the White House by McGeorge Bundy and Walt Rostow, Johnson's national security advisors. These men coordinated the flow of intelligence and information to the president, ultimately determining what information reached him. These documents provide a window into the administration's perception of foreign policy threats and issues.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Vietnam, November 1963-June 1965

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, Vietnam, November 1963-June 1965provides an indispensable documentary record of a critical period in U.S. foreign relations. For Lyndon B. Johnson, the Vietnam War represented a great tragedy. Johnson had not created the commitment in Vietnam and he would have preferred to shun it, but the war he took on so reluctantly and struggled so unsuccessfully to conclude destroyed his cherished Great Society domestic programs and tore the nation apart.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Vietnam, Second Supplement

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Vietnam, Second Supplement provides primary source documentation of the central foreign policy issue facing the Johnson administration: the Vietnam War. In November 1963, the U.S. had committed only sixteen thousand advisors to Vietnam, but under Johnson, the U.S. increased the number of troops to nearly two hundred thousand combat troops by the end of 1965. Ultimately, the Vietnam War would contribute heavily to Johnson's decision to withdraw from the 1968 presidential campaign. The Country Files from which this collection was obtained were maintained in the White House by McGeorge Bundy and Walt Rostow, Johnson's national security advisors. These men coordinated the flow of intelligence and information to the president, ultimately determining what information reached him. These documents provide a window into the administration's perception of foreign policy threats and issues.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Vietnam, Special Subjects

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Vietnam, Third Supplement

This collection was acquired from the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. The files include correspondence between government officials, CIA intelligence memos and cables, U.S. military briefing books, White House memos, situation reports, congressional briefings, Joint Chiefs of Staff memos, and airgrams. From the early decision to heavily increase troop deployment in the region to the struggle to push for peace talks, these files capture many highs and lows during the early years of the Vietnam War. Prominent correspondents include George W. Ball, McGeorge Bundy, Ellsworth Bunker, Robert N. Ginsburgh, Walt Rostow, Dean Rusk, Maxwell D. Taylor, William C. Westmoreland, and Earle G. Wheeler, as well as other White House staffers, U.S. military personnel, and foreign contributors.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Western Europe

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Western Europe provide insight into some of President Johnson's most challenging foreign policy encounters. The Vietnam War created conflict between the U.S. and its European allies while the decades long Cold War exacted a financial toll on both the U.S. and Western Europe. This collection, sorted by country and arranged chronologically, contains memos, cables, intelligence reports, correspondence and special studies produced by the U.S. government and used by the National Security Council in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy. The majority of these documents concern France and Great Britain with the Netherlands, Portugal, and West Germany adding small amounts to the collection.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Western Europe, First Supplement

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Security Files, 1963-1969, Western Europe, First Supplement provides researchers a unique look into the national security considerations of the Johnson administration. Foreign policy management can be studied in depth in the "Country Files" section of the National Security Files. The "Country Files," maintained in the White House by Johnson's national security advisers, represent some of the most important documents on the promulgation and implementation of foreign policy. They contain extensive cable traffic between the departments and agencies in Washington and embassies and missions abroad; memoranda of conversations between U.S. and foreign officials and among top U.S. officials; intelligence reports assessing critical foreign policy issues; internal memoranda, such as those from the national security advisers to the president; and agendas for and records of top-level meetings. The "Country Files" provide a clear sense of the way the administration perceived major foreign policy issues and framed its responses. For an individual country, the chronological arrangement of documentation permits the researcher to follow on a day-to-day basis the administration's handling of crises and to trace the evolution of major policies.

Memos of the Special Assistant for National Security Affairs: McGeorge Bundy to President Johnson, 1963-1966

As special assistant for national security affairs, McGeorge Bundy played an integral role in the development of national security policies and initiatives from 1961 to 1966. The volatile period during which Bundy served in this capacity encompassed crises in Panama and the Dominican Republic, increasingly tense relations between Israel and the Arab states, and the escalation of the war in Vietnam. This collection consists of memoranda from Bundy to President Johnson, arranged chronologically.

Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council with Special Advisory Reports

This collection consists of Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council during the Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower administrations. In addition to the meeting minutes, special reports of the National Security Council from the same time period are also included. The documents include formal minutes of meetings, informal summaries of discussions that took place at NSC meetings, and documents that were either documentation in preparation for the formal meeting, documents from the meeting itself, or follow-up documentation.

Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council, 1st Supplement

Under the National Security Act of 1947 and the Reorganization Plan of 1949, the composition and function of the National Security Council (NSC) are clearly and simply defined. Chaired by the President, the NSC consists of statutory members (the vice president and the secretaries of State and Defense), statutory advisers (the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of Central Intelligence), the assistant to the president for national security affairs, and professional staff members who are on temporary assignment from the armed forces, the CIA, and elsewhere in the government or who have been recruited from universities and think tanks. The statutory function of the NSC is to advise the president with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to national security.

Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council, 2nd Supplement

Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council: 2nd Supplement contains three separate types of formerly classified materials: minutes of meetings, documents associated with such meetings, and summaries of discussions held during the meetings. This publication covers the administrations of presidents Truman and Eisenhower, during which period the NSC normally met on a regular weekly basis. The NSC met more frequently during times of foreign crisis and less frequently when the president was traveling, ill, or preoccupied with domestic issues. (In contrast to Truman and Eisenhower, presidents Kennedy and Johnson held few NSC meetings, relying less on the formally structured NSC and more on ad hoc committees to discuss national security policy.)

Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council, 3rd Supplement

Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council: Third Supplement contains three separate types of formerly classified materials: minutes of meetings, documents associated with such meetings, and summaries of discussions held during the meetings.

Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council: 4th Supplement

Spanning three administrations, Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council, Fourth Supplement, reproduces the agendas, minutes, and discussion summaries of NSC meetings between January 1969 and December 1979. The NSC meeting minutes record the time and location of all meetings, along with a list of NSC members and others present. Guided by three strong-minded National Security Advisors--Henry A. Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft, and Zbigniew Brzezinski--the National Security Council helped set U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I and SALT II). This collection largely consists of documents covering U.S. policy alternatives in Vietnam, international response to events in the Middle East, and East-West relations in the context of SALT negotiations.

Papers from the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection at the National Archives, Part 1: Kennedy Administration Policy toward Cuba

Peers Inquiry of the Massacre at My Lai

The records comprising this collection are subdivided into four groupings or volumes. Two of the volumes, Volumes II and III, are further subdivided into "books" (e.g., Volume II, Book 24). Volume I consists of the investigative report. Volume II consists of transcripts of testimony, subdivided into thirty-one books. Volume III comprises the supporting documents entered into the inquiry record as exhibits. These include directives, operational/after-action reports, maps, overlays, sketches and drawings, statements, photographs, and administrative documents. Volume IV consists of statements collected by the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Division during its investigation of My Lai and the case against Lieutenant Calley and other officers. This volume consists of only those relevant to the Peers Inquiry. These include statements from personnel in AMERICAL Division, 123d Aviation Battalion, 174th Aviation Company, 11th Infantry Brigade, C Company, 1st Battalion, Task Force BARKER, Vietnamese witnesses, and American civilian and non-Vietnamese witnesses.

Public Statements by the Secretaries of Defense, 1961-1969, The Kennedy and Johnson Administrations

During the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, the position of Secretary of Defense was held by Robert S. McNamara from the beginning of the Kennedy administration until February 1968, when he was replaced by Clark M. Clifford. Clifford served for the remainder of Johnson's term, until the inauguration of President Nixon in January 1969.

Public Statements by the Secretaries of Defense, 1969-1977, The Nixon and Ford Administrations

This collection consists of statements by the Secretaries of Defense during the Nixon and Ford administrations. These public statements come in the form of press conferences, background briefings, press statements, and official testimony, along with interviews, speeches, and supporting documents. The documents were collected by the office of the Secretary of Defense. The collection is organized in chronological order and spans from December 13, 1968-January 1977.

Public Statements by the Secretaries of Defense, 1977-1981, The Carter Administration

This collections consists of statements by Harold Brown, Secretary of Defense during the Carter administration. These public statements come in the form of press conferences, background briefings, press statements, and official testimony, along with interviews, speeches, and supporting documents. The documents were collected by the office of the Secretary of Defense. The collection is organized in chronological order and spans from December 21, 1976-January 26, 1981.

Records of the Military Assistance and Advisory Group, Vietnam 1950-1964, Part 1: Adjutant General Division--Security Classified Files

The involvement of the United States in the affairs of Vietnam began with grants of money and military equipment, grew with the dispatch of military advisers and maintenance personnel, and mushroomed with the commitment of ships, planes, tanks, and 550,000 troops. Dragging out into the longest conflict in U.S. history, the conflict in Vietnam remained an issue through four presidential elections, and it divided the country more sharply than any controversy since slavery.

Records of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Part 1. The War in Vietnam, 1954-1973, MACV Historical Office Documentary Collection

Part 1. The War in Vietnam, 1954-1973. MACV Historical Office Documentary Collectionof the series entitledRecords of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, constitutes a portion of the historical reference files maintained by the Military History Branch. These materials were submitted by the various staff offices, advisory groups, and subordinate commands to the Military History Branch, as required by the MACV directive 870-1 that instituted the command historical program.

Records of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Part 2. Classified Studies from the Combined Intelligence Center Vietnam, 1965-1973

This collection includes classified reports, studies, surveys, and guides on the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army from the Combined Intelligence Center Vietnam (CICV) between 1965 and 1974. These documents are organized first by their originating branches, then in chronological order within each group. Branches of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) include Order of Battle, Area Analysis, Research and Analysis, Targets, Technical Intelligence, and Strategic Research and Analysis. The roles and functions of these branches are described in more detail below.

Records of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Part 3. Progress Reports on Pacification in South Vietnam, 1965-1973

Records of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Part 3: Progress Reports on Pacification in South Vietnam, 1965-1973 includes five types of monthly reports on the progress of pacification collected by the Command Historian's Office, Military History Branch, MACSJS. The documents in this collection were included in the boxes of documents evacuated from South Vietnam when MACV closed down in 1973, and they are arranged in chronological order from July 1965 through January 1973. These materials were sent to the U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. These reports on the progress of pacification in South Vietnam are reproduced in their entirety, including oversize maps. Each type of report is described in detail below.

Records of the U.S. Information Agency, Cold War Era Research Reports, Series A: 1960-1963

This collection brings together a large number of reports that USIA prepared on topics relevant to the cold war, U.S. foreign policy and international relations, and American politics and culture. The purpose of these reports was to inform the president, secretary of state, and other foreign policy leaders on international events and foreign public opinion of the United States.

Records of the U.S. Information Agency, Cold War Era Research Reports, Series B: 1964-1982

This collection brings together a large number of reports that the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) prepared on topics relevant to the cold war, U.S. foreign policy and international relations, and American politics and culture. These reports were intended to inform the president, secretary of state, and other foreign policy leaders on international events and foreign public opinion of the United States.

Records of the U.S. Information Agency, Cold War Era Special Reports, 1964-1982

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) in August 1953 to explain and support U.S. foreign policy and to promote U.S. interests abroad. USIA operated under that name until April 1978, when Congress approved President Jimmy Carter's plan to consolidate the agency's functions with those of the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The new agency became known as the International Communication Agency (USICA). The agency once again became known as USIA in August 1982. (For more information about the history of the agency, see 103380-021-0893.)

Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 1. Fleet Marine Force, Pacific Command Histories, 1964-1973

The Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (FMFPAC) Command History or Chronology, compiled semi-annually beginning in 1966, highlighted the operational activities of the U.S. Marine and attached ARVN and Free World Military Forces operating in the I CTZ. These chronologies highlighted Marine strategy and tactics, lessons learned, operations, and logistical support. These chronologies were used by FMFPAC in coordination of plans and operations with MACV and in evaluating the U.S. Marine role in Vietnam.

Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 2: III Marine Amphibious Force Command Histories, 1964-1971

The Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 2: III Marine Amphibious Force Command Histories, 1965-1971 contains valuable primary source documents from the U.S. Marine Corps involvement in the Vietnam War. These histories include reports of significant events from the military units directly involved in conflicts and battles. These reports provide summaries of engagements and served as tools for operational planning and orientation and indoctrination of newly arrived personnel. Document formats vary based on the unit and the subject, but are generally narrative, and contain organizational data, personnel and administration information, intelligence reports, statistical information, logistical details, and training documents. These histories provide extensive primary source material for the research and exploration of the U.S. Marine Corps operations in Southeast Asia.

Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 3: Divisional Command Histories, 1965-1971

The Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 3: Divisional Command Histories, 1965-1971 contains valuable primary source documents from the U.S. Marine Corps involvement in the Vietnam War with a focus on the 1st Marine Division, the 3rd Marine Division, and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. These histories include reports of significant events from the military units directly involved in conflicts and battles. These reports provide summaries of engagements and served as tools for operational planning and orientation and indoctrination of newly arrived personnel. Document formats vary based on the unit and the subject, but are generally narrative, and contain organizational data, personnel and administration information, intelligence reports, statistical information, logistical details, and training documents. These histories provide extensive primary source material for the research and exploration of U.S. Marine Corps operations in Southeast Asia.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Africa

This collection consists of documents on political, social, and economic developments in Africa, as well as on the Nixon administration's efforts both to respond to these developments and to help shape them.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Asia: Office Files of Henry A. Kissinger

This collection brings together a large number of documents on the conduct of U.S. foreign policy in Asia during the Nixon administration. The majority of these documents was classified either "Top Secret" or "Secret."

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, India-Pakistan War of 1971

On March 25, 1971, the Pakistani army marched into the city of Dacca in East Pakistan in pursuit of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and members of the Awami League, the political party at the center of the independence movement in East Pakistan. By the next day, the army had arrested Mujibur Rahman and killed hundreds of Awami League members and supporters. The army quickly expanded its operations to the remainder of East Pakistan and also began to crack down on the millions of Hindus living in East Pakistan. The army's methods were brutal and fatalities were high. By July, the U.S. State Department estimated the number of people killed at 250,000. The reign of terror unleashed by the Pakistani army led to a major refugee crisis. By May, two million refugees had fled across the border to India. The number of refugees grew to five million in June, seven million by the first of August, and ten million by the end of November. The refugee crisis exacerbated long-standing tensions with India. On November 22, Indian troops crossed into Pakistan in support of the Mukti Bahini, the guerrillas fighting the Pakistani army. On December 3, the Pakistani air force attacked several Indian cities and for the next two weeks, the two nations fought their third full-scale war since 1947. On December 17, the Pakistani army surrendered and the independent nation of Bangladesh came into existence.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Kissinger's Secret Vietnam Negotiations

As much as he had been determined not to allow American military involvement in Vietnam to hamstring his presidency the way it had his predecessor, Richard M. Nixon spent the entire first term of his administration pursuing a solution to the war he had inherited from Lyndon Baines Johnson. Dissatisfied with the progress of the negotiations ongoing since May 1968, Nixon in mid-1969 directed his national security adviser, Henry A. Kissinger, to establish a secret channel of communication with representatives of the North Vietnamese government in order to accelerate movement toward a settlement. On August 4, 1969, Kissinger met privately in Paris with Xuan Thuy, the chief of North Vietnam's delegation at the formal peace talks, commencing a process that would result twenty-nine months later in the signing of the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Meetings with Foreign Leaders

This collection brings together a large number of documents covering in detail the visits of more than fifty foreign leaders to the United States during the 1969-1974 tenure of the Nixon administration, as well as providing the official record of twenty-one visits abroad by President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, Secretary of State William P. Rogers, and other top Nixon administration officials.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Middle East

The National Security Council (NSC) was chartered under the National Security Act of 1947 to advise the president concerning domestic and foreign policy issues. Following an underutilization by President Harry S. Truman, the NSC became the hub of policy planning under Dwight D. Eisenhower and successive presidents. Richard M. Nixon determined that the White House, and by extension the NSC, would dominate the foreign policy of the United States. Nixon had a sincere distrust of the State Department's bureaucracy. The combination of this distrust and the decision to manage foreign policy through the White House led to the selection of William P. Rogers as secretary of state. The appointment of Rogers, a newcomer to foreign affairs, signaled the dominance of the White House over the State Department.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Middle East Negotiations

The Nixon administration's five years in office coincided with a turbulent period for Israel and the Middle East. In a June 1970 memorandum from then National Security Adviser Henry A. Kissinger to President Richard M. Nixon, Kissinger wrote that the Middle East was the most dangerous foreign policy issue facing the administration, more dangerous even than the war in Vietnam. When Nixon entered office in 1969, Israel, Egypt, and Syria were just eighteen months removed from the Six Day War of 1967, and they would fight another war in October 1973, the Yom Kippur War. In between these two wars, a series of diplomatic initiatives attempted to bring peace to the region. This collection of The Richard M. Nixon National Security Files details the twists and turns in the Arab-Israeli conflict between 1969 and 1974.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Nixon's 1972 Trip to China

In February 1972, Richard M. Nixon became the first U.S. president to travel to China. Nixon, a staunch anti-Communist throughout his career, met with the two top leaders of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Chairman Mao Tse-tung and Prime Minister Chou En-lai. At the banquet celebrating the end of the trip, Nixon told his Chinese hosts, "This was the week that changed the world." (quoted in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Richard Nixon, 1972, page 379, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1974)

Richard M. Nixon National Security files, 1969-1974, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

The Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks presents a comprehensive record of the discussions between the United States and the Soviet Union directed toward limiting the development, deployment, and overall threat of strategic nuclear weapons. The collection, organized in chronological order, spans the entire Nixon administration, from the preparations for the SALT talks in early 1969, through the various rounds of negotiations, to the agreements signed at the Moscow summit in May 1972: the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and the Interim Agreement on Certain Measures With Respect to the Limit of Strategic Offensive Arms. The collection also includes documents on the SALT II talks that began in November 1972, as well as on the Threshold Test Ban Treaty that President Nixon and USSR General Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev signed at a Moscow summit in July 1974.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Vietnam Country Files

Upon taking office on January 20, 1969, President Richard M. Nixon assumed responsibility for the conduct of a war in Vietnam that had frustrated the previous administration and polarized U.S. society. Nixon understood that his re-election chances depended upon finding "peace with honor," a term he often used to summarize his goal of ending the fighting in South Vietnam while maintaining the United States' commitment to the viability of the non-Communist government of President Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon. This collection provides a day-by-day chronicle of the issues, concerns, information, analyses, discussions, and debates surrounding policy making on the Vietnam War within Nixon's inner circle of national security staff, especially national security advisor Henry A. Kissinger.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Vietnam: Subject Files, Section A

Upon winning the 1968 presidential election, Richard Nixon began searching for an approach that would extricate the United States from its deep, controversial, and long-term involvement in the political and military struggle between communist and noncommunist forces in South Vietnam. At stake was not only the viability of the government of President Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon, but also, Nixon and his chief national security advisor Henry A. Kissinger believed, the credibility of U.S. foreign commitments in the Cold War. This edition of Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Vietnam: Subject Files, Section A brings to life the dynamics within the Nixon administration and between the governments of the United States, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam, over the course of over four years of armed conflict and diplomatic negotiations.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Vietnam: Subject Files, Section B

This collection consists of the Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Vietnam: Subject Files, Section B. Where Section A focused on the years 1969-1971, this part of the series contains more material on the events of 1972, the last full year of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and 1973, including daily "post cease-fire reports" for the months following the signing of the Paris Agreement in January 1973. Organized by topic, and chronologically within each folder, these files include documents on U.S. military operations, efforts to gain the release of American prisoners of war (POWs), internal White House drafts and discussions of major policy pronouncements by President Nixon, the events surrounding the New York Times publication of the Pentagon Papers, and the trial and sentencing of U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley for war crimes occurring in the South Vietnamese village of My Lai in 1968.

Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, Western Europe

This collection consists of the working files of President Nixon's special assistant for national security affairs, Henry A. Kissinger. The collection includes letters, treaty drafts, reports, and memos from the State Department, Defense Department, FBI, CIA, U.S. Information Agency, and various U.S. embassies. Countries covered are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the Vatican.

Richard M. Nixon Security Files, 1969-1974, USSR and Eastern Europe

The Richard M. Nixon National Security Files, 1969-1974, USSR and Eastern Europeconsists of documents on political, diplomatic, economic, and social developments concerning mainly the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its relationship with the United States, China, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. These files also deal with Eastern Europe, but to a lesser extent. The collection is organized by country. The collection contains cables and letters from diplomatic personnel; reports of meetings with foreign government officials and leaders; transcripts of speeches; and political, economic, and diplomatic assessments analyzing relations with foreign governments.

Transcripts and Files of the Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam, 1968-1973

The Transcripts and Files of the Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam covers the peace negotiations between the U.S.-South Vietnamese and the North Vietnamese from 1968 to 1973. The materials in this collection include transcripts of meetings, North Vietnamese leaflets, official communiques, and statements from both political and military leaders. The documents are arranged in folders according to plenary sessions in chronological order. Geographically, this collection covers Southeast Asia, including North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Major figures include Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon, and both North and South Vietnamese leaders, including representatives from the NLF (National Liberation Front) and South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky. The collection covers a range of topics related to both U.S. and Vietnamese military and political activity, including war casualties, military unit movements, campaigns and battles, elections, ceasefires, and the process of Vietnamization.

U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam, 1954-1975, Part 1: Indochina Studies

U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam, Part 2. Vietnam: Lessons Learned

U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam, Part 3. Vietnam: Reports of U.S. Army Operations

U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam, Part 4: Vietnam: U.S. Army Senior Officer Debriefing Reports

U.S. Army Build-up and Activities in South Vietnam, 1965-1972

U.S. Army Build-up and Activities in South Vietnam, 1965-1972 presents a chronological grouping of the U.S. Army's buildup and activities reports during 1965-1972. The buildup reports began August 11, 1965, switched to activities reports beginning March 26, 1969, and then terminated after the December 20, 1972 report. The reports provide statistical data and narrative text on major aspects of the U.S. Army buildup and activities in Southeast Asia, mainly Vietnam, but also including Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Both types of reports are described in detail below (see images for sample tables of contents).

U.S. State Department Office of the Executive Secretariat, Crisis Files, Part 1: The Berlin Crisis, 1957-1963

The U.S. State Department Office of the Executive Secretariat, Crisis Files, Part 1: The Berlin Crisis, 1957-1963 offers an in-depth look into the negotiations of top U.S. officials with leaders of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Western Allies during one of the tensest periods of the cold war.

U.S. State Department Office of the Executive Secretariat, Crisis Files, Part 2: The Middle East Crisis, 1967

This collection consists of State Department records covering political events relating to the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War of 1967 and U.S. policy regarding Israel and its security. The duration of the military conflict itself was brief, but the origins of the war were complex and its impact on the Middle East region was substantial and far-reaching.

U.S. State Department Office of the Executive Secretariat, Official Exchanges of the President and Secretary of State with Foreign Leaders, 1961-1966

This collection consists mainly of correspondence by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson and Secretary of State Dean Rusk with their foreign counterparts. The Executive Secretariat was responsible for coordination of the work of the State Department internally, serving as liaison between the department's bureaus and the offices of the secretary, deputy secretary, and under secretaries. It also handled the department's relations with the White House, the National Security Council, and other cabinet agencies. One of its major functions was the maintenance of a comprehensive record of policy decisions based upon committee meetings, conferences, and directives of the officers of the State Department. It also acted as a channel through which policy matters originating in the offices, divisions, and committees concerned with foreign policy problems were brought to the attention of the secretary and his principal deputies or appropriate office. In addition, the secretariat oversaw the implementation of policy decisions.

Vietnam Documents and Research Notes Series, Translation and Analysis of Significant Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Documents

The Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) was an interagency organization created in May 1965 by the U.S. Embassy, the U.S. Operations Mission, and U.S. Information Agency (USIA), as part of the U.S. Mission in South Vietnam. JUSPAO coordinated all U.S. psychological and information activities, was directed by a senior USIA official in the Embassy, and carried out the traditional USIA programs. These programs explained and interpreted U.S. policies, actions, and culture to Vietnamese audiences. JUSPAO was also responsible for providing overall policy guidance to and coordination of U.S. psychological operational efforts. They developed, advised, and supported countrywide psychological operation (PSYOP) programs that involved the Vietnamese national media and the Vietnamese Ministry of Information. In the field, the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) executed psychological programs with JUSPAO providing support, especially for pacification and national development programs ("nation-building"). Ultimately, JUSPAO was responsible for evaluating PSYOP activities in the field and on the national level in order to determine their validity and effectiveness.

Vietnam War: A Documentary Collection, Records of the Westmoreland vs. CBS Case

This collection presents a vast, rich resource of materials on William Westmoreland's libel case against CBS. Although the material was brought together because of the case, lasting from 1982 until 1985, the documents also provide in-depth coverage of Samuel Adams' decades-long fight to publicize what he believed to be a falsification of enemy strength estimates during the Vietnam War; military intelligence operations in Vietnam, by the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), during mainly 1967-1968; and CBS production of The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception. The immediately succeeding paragraphs describe the major issues covered by this collection, and remaining paragraphs describe the case itself, organization of the collection, and the research possibilities of these materials. Westmoreland v. CBS was a complicated and lengthy case and researchers are encouraged to consult these introductory materials in order to develop a fuller understanding of the scope and coverage of the case and this corresponding collection of approximately 80,000 pages.

Vietnam, The Media, and Public Support For The War

This collection documents relations between the White House and the media during the Vietnam War era, revealing how the White House attempted to create and control a favorable perception of the war by the media and the public.

War in Vietnam: Classified Histories by the National Security Council

To cover the major developments in Vietnam from 1964 through 1968, the National Security Council compiled a series of histories based upon top-secret documents. Unlike the Pentagon Papers (which contained only 100 documents from this period, compared to about 2,000 in this collection), the NSC histories offer large amounts of material from the upper levels of the executive branch. The wide range of source material includes:

War in Vietnam: Papers of William C. Westmoreland

The William C. Westmoreland Papers describe the activities of the commander of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, between the years 1964 and 1968. The papers consist of correspondence, memoranda, cables, and reports submitted and/or generated by Westmoreland, his staff, components of MACV, and subordinate service organizations. In addition, there is documentation generated by and/or submitted to the U.S. ambassador, embassy staff, Mission Council, and the South Vietnamese government. There are also materials that document Westmoreland's tenure as Army Chief of Staff, July 1968-July 1972. These materials consist primarily of clippings, correspondence, memoranda, and reports. They provide background information for an objective and authoritative account of his continued role in the Vietnam War and international affairs.