Reference no: EM133446072

Questions:

1. Who did McNamara describe to LBJ as the most powerful man in the Politburo of North Vietnam? What was his title, and why was he so significant?
2. Describe the South Vietnamese leader Nguyen Cao Ky. Why do you think LBJ backed him? What did LBJ emphasize at the Honolulu conference? How was his approach received by the South Vietnamese leadership?
3. Describe Senator Fulbright's hearings regarding the war. How did the American public perceive the public hearings? What was Kennan's testimony during the hearings? Why do you think his position is significant?
4. What were General Westmoreland's main goals on the ground in Vietnam? What is the crossover point and war of attrition?
5. Describe some of the American soldiers who enlisted in the war? How were they different? What did they all have in common? How was marine corp training depicted? (Compare Burns'/Novick's depiction to Kubrick's in Full Metal Jacket).
6. What was the significance of Binh Dinh? Describe the battle that occurred there in early 1966. What did this battle reveal of Westmoreland's search and destroy tactic? What was the fallacy of using body count as a measure of success?
7. How did Hanoi move their supplies south? How many explosives were dropped on the Laos portion? Describe the effects of defoliants. Why were these massive American efforts to destroy the trail so unsuccessful?
8. When did the anti-war movement shift from a "moral" to a "self-interested" movement? Who was depicted among those who avoided the draft? Who was depicted as a Guardist/Reservist? (hint: both became prominent leaders, neither named) Why did those in the Reserves or National Guard generally avoid getting sent to Vietnam?
9. How did the disproportionate number of black draftees, and African Americans killed in the war influence the Civil Rights movement?
10. Describe the stance towards the war of the "majority of Americans, young and old." How did the Vietnamese participation and willingness to engage in the war contrast to the American experience?