2. What is History? Democratic Vista TAH project December 2009

3. History is what we do to the past in the present. History is the stories we tell about the past. History is the imaginative recreation of the past in the present. History is argument, argument comes from evidence, evidence comes from the “text.”

4. Today... Where history of American foreign relations is moving Some thoughts on teaching the Cold War Vietnam Wars End of the Cold War US and the Middle East History and memory of America’s interactions with the world

5. Diplomatic History v. History of American Foreign Relations “diplomatic” = state to state “International History” is too broad American Foreign Relations: just right –Governments, peoples, NGO’s, economies, cultures, international groups

6. Three strands of the Cold War Ideological Economic Strategic –Cold War Lenses

7. Just as important... The Cold War was fought at home –Leffler’s book And domestic politics influenced how it was fought abroad

8. Our Five Questions 1. Why did the Cold War start? - Could it have been prevented? Can we assign “blame” for the Cold War? 2. Why did it last so long? - Were the times when leaders could have lessened tensions or ended it earlier? 3. Why did it influence so many aspects of America’s culture and politics? - What made the Cold War resonate with Americans? 4. Why did it end when and how it did? - How do we explain the end of the Cold War? 5. What lessons and meanings can and should we take from the Cold War? - Is it possible to learn and apply these lessons to today’s world?

9. McCarthyism Sen. Joseph McCarthy –Republican from Wisconsin Manifestation of public feeling Big Lie Blacklists Army-McCarthy Hearings (1954)

10. Influence of Cold War on Culture

11. Movies

12. Cold War resources Movie Cartoon Duck and Cover Music

13. Shaping the Cold War narrative Civil Rights reform was in part a product of the Cold War Problems created by the lack of rights Perception of problems what motivated policymakers NARRATIVE: democracy made the achievement of justice possible

14. Sputnik October 1957 NASA (1958) Crisis of confidence

15. Key Areas of Early Conflict Berlin NATO & Warsaw Pact China Korea

16. Mobilization for the Postwar World National Security Act of 1947 Atomic Weapons NSC 68 The importance of 1949

17. “Fall” of China China complicating US policy in Asia Consequences of Chinese Civil War –No recognition –Fueled domestic hard-liners –Renewed interest in Asia

18. The Korean War, 1950-1953 MacArthur (far right) visits the front in the Korean War.

19. 2 Questions What were the Soviet and Chinese roles in the decision to invade? Why did the US defend Korea?

20. Cold War Policy and Nationalism Independence in a bi-polar world Iran Guatemala Cuba

21. The Vietnam War

23. 2-minute writing What do you know about the Vietnam War and how did you “learn” it? –(gets to issues of history v. memory)

24. Vietnam Historiography Extraordinary passions and influence of war Several key issues: –Origins: necessary or a terrible mistake? –Outcome: why unable to preserve South Vietnam? Unwinnable? –Meaning and lessons: what are they?

25. Two main camps Critical - Vietnam a bad war - the “Standard Interpretation” Legitimate endeavor that could have been won

26. The “Standard Interpretation” Critics dominated the early literature –Reversal of other war histories Journalists and former officials start –The Bitter Heritage 1967 - Arthur Schlesinger Jr. - “quagmire” “Quagmire” challenged by Pentagon Papers revelations –Presidents knew their actions might fail

27. Revisionist Challenge (Argue vehemently against anyone who says “trying to rewrite history”) Started to appear at end of 1970s Part of growing conservative rise and fueled by postwar conditions in Vietnam

28. Revisionists seek to justify war on either or both of these grounds: –Vietnamese Communists a part of a larger threat of Communism that was a real threat to U.S. –Moral reasons: to save the South from the ravages of Communism

29. Revisionists also seek to argue that war was winnable –U.S. Grant Sharp Strategy for Defeat: Vietnam in Retrospect 1978 But, two opposing views of how it could have been won –More conventional –More counter-insurgency –(each position claims the actual war was fought in the opposite manner)

30. Recent Scholarship Standard interpretation still holds for most historians What is being written now: –Broader in scope: Congress, other nations’ views –Archives from China and former USSR –Vietnamese side

31. LBJ and the War LBJ’s Doubts Gulf of Tonkin Resolution –August 1964 Pleiku –February 1965 U.S. Combat Troops –1965 Phone Conversation with Sen. Russell, May 1964

32. Strategies and Attitudes LBJ’s View U.S. Strategy –Attrition –Pacification –Relocation –Technology

33. Strategies and Attitudes North Vietnam and Vietcong Strategy –Guerilla warfare –Ho Chi Minh Trail –Social Revolution –Nationalism –Survival

34. End of Cold War: Reagan as ultimate hero Argument of John Lewis Gaddis –Strong rhetoric, but practical –R. saw opportunity and seized it –R. pursued policy of strength

35. Flaws in Gaddis argument Fails to see full picture of 1980s U.S., USSR, Eastern Europe, and World Fails to see power of containment over the long haul

36. 1980s US USSR Gorbachev Eastern Europe World

37. U.S. in the Middle East since 1945

38. War and Cold War bring the U.S. to the Middle East Overall Goal: –Stability that allows U.S. access to oil

39. Suggested Gameplan: Stability, Nationalism, Revolution Arab-Israeli Conflict & U.S. The Persian Gulf since 1980

40. History and Memory HISTORY: History is what we do to the past in the present History is argument, arguments come from evidence, evidence comes from the “text” MEMORY: Individual v. Collective memory (“body of beliefs about the past”) Collective memory provides “lessons”