Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History Volume 10 Issue 2 Article 6 2020 Skepticism and Exposure: Television Coverage of the Vietnam War Ryan Singsank The George Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Singsank, Ryan (2020) "Skepticism and Exposure: Television Coverage of the Vietnam War," Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History: Vol. 10 : Iss. 2 , Article 6. DOI: 10.20429/aujh.2020.100206 Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol10/iss2/6 This article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Singsank: Skepticism and Exposure: Television Coverage of the Vietnam War Skepticism and Exposure: Television Coverage of the Vietnam War Ryan Singsank George Washington University Washington D. C. After the end of World War II, the United States began its complicated and complex involvement in Vietnam. Following the conclusion of an intense independence struggle against the French in 1954, Vietnam was divided into a Northern communist state and a Southern democratic state. With the Cold War in full swing, the Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations justified US support to South Vietnam through a strategy of “containment” to prevent against the spread of communism elsewhere in Asia. 1 Kennedy hoping to avoid entering the US into a direct combat role in Vietnam, ensured that the role of the US military advisors in Vietnam remained limited. However, as Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the Presidency upon Kennedy’s death, the events in Vietnam began to escalate. By 1965, the US found itself in a direct combat role fighting in Vietnam lasting until 1973. Throughout the Vietnam War, television cameras captured the scenes of war and for the American public to see like they never had before. As the 1960’s progressed, more Americans spent more hours watching TV. The public began the shift from having newspapers and print media being the primary source of information to watching a news program on TV, 1 David L. Anderson, “The American War in Vietnam,” in The Colombia Guide to the Vietnam War (n.p.: Colombia University Press, 2002), 50, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/ande11492.12. Published by Digital Commons@Georgia Southern, 2020 78 Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History, Vol. 10 [2020], Iss. 2, Art. 6 which requires less attention to comprehend information.2 As compared to words describing an event in a printed publication, an image, especially in the context of war, is much more powerful as one is able to shape their own opinions without having to create a visualization. Before the Vietnam War, the American public had never been regularly exposed to the powerful scenes of war. News programs provided a more impactful portrayal of the war with the commentary of the reports combined with gruesome scenes unfolding right before the public’s eyes, in the comfort of their living rooms.3 As a result, when the United States began to take a direct military role in Vietnam, the scenes of the Vietnam War were displayed and analyzed for millions of Americans. Over time, the constant flow of television reporting from the frontlines in Vietnam produced an uneasiness among much of the American public, as the never-ending commentary combined with displays of the scenes and sounds of the war generated more considerable opposition to the US presence in Vietnam. The Kennedy Interviews: September 1963 In January 1961, the new President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, faced the burdensome task of managing the Cold War in an increasingly hostile world. Kennedy faced many foreign policy setbacks early in his term, with the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba, heightened Soviet aggression in Berlin, and a weak showing at a summit meeting in Vienna with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.4 Having been labeled as being soft on managing the global spread of communism, Kennedy turned his attention to Southeast Asia, where the situation in Vietnam was worsening. Kennedy massively increased military assistance to South 2 Michael Mandelbaum, “Vietnam: The Television War,” Daedalus 111, no. 4 (1982): 159, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024822. 3 Mandelbaum, “Vietnam: The Television War,” 159. 4 Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History (New York: Penguin Books, 1997), 265. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol10/iss2/6 DOI: 10.20429/aujh.2020.100206 79 Singsank: Skepticism and Exposure: Television Coverage of the Vietnam War Vietnam to help prevent its collapse to communism to its Northern neighbors, but the government of Ngo Dinh Diem was becoming increasingly unpopular. Diem and his powerful brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, began to crack down on Buddhists, indicating to the Kennedy Administration that the US was supporting “a narrow-minded tyrant with little legitimacy among his own people.”5 As a result, Kennedy needed to reassure the American people that the limited US support to South Vietnam remained necessary. However, Diem would have to be held accountable for his actions. Television provided Kennedy with the opportunity to address the pressing issues facing the US, including its increasing assistance to South Vietnam to halt the spread of communism. One of the first mentions of a potential US involved conflict in Vietnam came on a televised interview by CBS between Walter Cronkite and President Kennedy on September 2, 1963. Since in 1963, the only US combat troops in Vietnam were military advisors to the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN), the main focus on the interview was not on Vietnam. Cronkite instead decides to focus most of the interview on domestic subjects, including the economy, civil rights, and the looming 1964 Presidential Election, with the discussion on Vietnam only lasting a little under two minutes. Many Americans would have been watching interviews like these as by 1963, national news programs became more profitable and were expanded in length from 15 to 30-minute broadcasts. 6 Cronkite transitions into the discussion on Vietnam by describing the situation in Vietnam as the only “hot war we’ve got running at the moment” while text pops on the screen citing that on September 2, 1963, there was “16,200 US troops in Vietnam” and “82 US Killed.”7 Kennedy responds by firmly asserting his belief that the 5 Mark Atwood Lawrence, The Vietnam War: A Concise International History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 76. 6 Mandelbaum, “Vietnam: The Television War,” 158. 7 “Cronkite Interview of JFK,” YouTube video posted by “Wakeupyousheeple,” Nov. 8, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM3uaXp8DAk. Published by Digital Commons@Georgia Southern, 2020 80 Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History, Vol. 10 [2020], Iss. 2, Art. 6 South Vietnamese struggle against the North is their own. However, the US will be fully prepared to help the South by continually providing equipment and advisors.8 Kennedy is using the opportunity of the interview with Cronkite to express to a national audience his administration's stance on the conflict on Vietnam, primarily through his rather calm and relaxed demeanor. Kennedy is reasserting that the US will not directly intervene in the Vietnam conflict and will continue with the Cold War trend of aiding nations directly threatened by communist aggressors. Figure 1. CBS News Anchor Walter Cronkite Interviews President John F. Kennedy. Photograph by Cecil Stoughton, September 2, 1963. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. ST-C276-7-63. Cronkite then shifts the conversation to the current state of the South Vietnamese Government, specifically regarding internal conflicts between Catholics and Buddhists. Kennedy describes the South Vietnamese Government actions under President Ngo Dinh Diem in regards to repressing Buddhists as being “very unwise” and states that with “changes in policy and even personnel” the government in South Vietnam would be able to entirely focus 8 “Cronkite Interview of JFK.” https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol10/iss2/6 DOI: 10.20429/aujh.2020.100206 81 Singsank: Skepticism and Exposure: Television Coverage of the Vietnam War on managing the struggle against the communists in the North.9 Moreover, when Cronkite asserts that Diem has “no intention of changing his pattern,” Kennedy reasserts his belief that it is up to Diem to change the course of action of South Vietnam with his statement coming across as almost like a warning to Diem. At the same time, the camera cuts away from Kennedy to a shot of Diem walking, which can be seen as a tactic by the network to allow the public to visualize Diem and see who Kennedy’s South Vietnamese counterpart is. Kennedy concludes the segment of the interview on Vietnam by comparing the widening Vietnam conflict to the broader Cold War struggles in Europe. Kennedy is keen to assert his belief to his national audience of American television viewers that the US has secured much of Europe from the threat of communism, and his administration intends to do the same in Asia. After Cronkite presses him about heightened US involvement in Vietnam, Kennedy responds by reaffirming his belief that withdrawing assistance from South Vietnam would be a “grave mistake” and that the US “must participate -- we may not like it -- in the defense of Asia.” 10 Stopping the spread of communism remains a vital foreign policy interest for Kennedy, specifically in Asia. By speaking in detail on Vietnam in a TV interview, Kennedy is reminding Americans that the US is involved in a global conflict against communism and that the US will need to expand its interests in Asia to prevent countries like South Vietnam from becoming communist.