Discussion Questions
January 25, 2011

1. Overall, based on the range of readings, what is the American assessment of the importance of Vietnam following WWII?  How/why does that assessment alter through time?  Cite specifics from the readings.
2. Overall, based on the range of readings, what is the American perception of itself, and of America's role, in Asia? Cite specifics from the readings.
3. What are the differences, and what are the continuities , between Eisenhower's foreign policy and that of Kennedy with respect to Asia and to Communism?
4. Assess Kennedy's Inaugural Address for its intent and purpose.  What type of president did the U.S. elect in 1960?
5. In what sense could it be claimed that JFK was "an heir to the past"?  Is the Kennedy era indeed a new era?
6. What does the material by Rusk tell us about American foreign policy in that period?
7. Why was the United States in Vietnam?
8. How and why do you think the significance of Vietnam to the United States change after 1950?
9. On the question of why the United States lost, American historian Herring asserts that "to put it charitably, the United States may have placed itself in a classic no-win situation".  What does Herring mean by this?