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The Australian-American Alliance: Holt, LBJ and the Vietnam War

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The Australian-American Alliance: Holt, LBJ and the Vietnam War The Australian-American Alliance: Holt, LBJ and the Vietnam War Adam Scanlon College of Arts Victoria University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (Research) November 2013 Abstract The Australian-American alliance, since World War II, has served as Australia’s most important bilateral relationship, particularly in the field of security. Two decades later, the Australian government entered the war in Vietnam to secure an American military presence on the Asian mainland. This thesis examines the Australian-American alliance during the prime ministership of Harold Holt in relation to Australia’s role in Vietnam, and growing concerns over Britain’s planned withdrawal from Southeast Asia. This thesis is a diplomatic history undertaken from a predominantly Australian perspective. This thesis is heavily reliant upon cables and reports prepared by the key departments of the governments of Australia, America, and where appropriate, Britain. This thesis differs from other revisionist studies centred on the Australian-American alliance in three clear ways: it highlights the influence of the British defence review on shaping Australia’s engagement with the United States (US); it fills an historiographical gap in the literature by providing a detailed examination of the first US presidential visit in October 1966; and it analyses the US bombing pauses of 1965-66 and 1966-67 as a case study of the degree and scope of consultation between the two nations. The thesis will argue that Britain’s revised defence strategy significantly influenced the Holt government’s dealings with the US in light of the Australian government’s strategic goal of securing a US military presence on the Asian mainland. The Australian government used the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s future in the region as a means of deflecting American calls for greater assistance in Vietnam, whilst referring to its role in Vietnam as justification for not further assisting the British. This thesis will also argue that, despite President Johnson’s visit portraying unity between the two nations, Australia remained on the margins of American policy development, exemplified by its ignorance of US attempts soon after to end the war. ii Master by Research Declaration “I, Adam Scanlon, declare that the Master by Research thesis entitled The Australian- American Alliance: Holt, LBJ and the Vietnam War is no more than 60,000 words in length including quotes and exclusive of tables, figures, appendices, bibliography, references and footnotes. This thesis contains no material that has been submitted previously, in whole or in part, for the award of any other academic degree or diploma. Except where otherwise indicated, this thesis is my own work”. Signature: 01/11/2013 iii Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank my parents, family, friends, and partner, Kim, for all of their support and motivation throughout my degree, and the genuine interest they have taken in my thesis. A great thank-you is also extended to Professor Phillip Deery for his assistance during the past two years. Through his diligent supervision I have learnt many skills that I will take with me in my future endeavours. I am grateful for the assistance of the staff at Victoria University Footscray Park Campus Library, and the archivists at the National Archives of Australia, Canberra, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library who helpfully responded to the numerous requests I made during the course of my research. iv Table of Contents Abstract ii Declaration iii Acknowledgements iv Abbreviations vi Chapter 1: Literature review and introduction 1 Chapter 2: “Fortress Australia” 17 Chapter 3: “Calls come from all directions” 49 Chapter 4: Nobody’s “Poodle”? 74 Chapter 5: “… Come what may” 130 Conclusion 171 Bibliography 177 v Abbreviations ALP Australian Labor Party ANZUS Australia, New Zealand, and United States Security Treaty CSR Commonwealth Strategic Reserve DEA Department of External Affairs (Australia) EEC European Economic Community FADC Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee (Australia) FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation GOA Government of Australia GVN Government of South Vietnam ICC International Control Commission JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff (US) JPC Joint Planning Committee (Australia) L-CP Liberal-Country Party NAA National Archives of Australia NLF National Liberation Front NYT New York Times NZ New Zealand ROK Republic of Korea SEATO Southeast Asian Treaty Organisation SMH Sydney Morning Herald UK United Kingdom UN United Nations US United States of America WSJ Wall Street Journal WWII World War Two vi Chapter 1: Literature Review and Introduction The Australian-American alliance has long been regarded as Australia’s most important bilateral relationship; particularly in the areas of trade, foreign affairs and defence. In 1968, the Australian historian and political scientist, T.B. Millar, encapsulated this alliance in a statement that still resonates today. He wrote: “If Australia has a cardinal point in its foreign policy, acceptable to all major political parties, it is to retain the friendship and military partnership of the United States.”1 Australian prime ministers from both sides of politics have duly declared the importance of Australia’s relationship with the United States (US). The US is Australia’s “older brother”, said Billy Hughes; its “shield” proclaimed Harold Holt; and “an ally for all the years to come” said Julia Gillard recently in Washington.2 The quest for a military alliance with the US can be traced as far back as Alfred Deakin following the Great White Fleet’s four-month tour of Australian ports in 1908, with sporadic attempts by subsequent prime ministers that followed. Symbolised by Prime Minister Curtin’s famous “Call to America”, the Australian-American alliance as it stands today was forged in the Pacific theatre of World War Two (WWII). After sustained efforts by Australian policy-makers in the post-war years, a Pacific defence pact was formalised in 1951. The Australia, New Zealand, and United States Security Treaty (ANZUS), established in return for the Australian government agreeing to a “soft peace” with Japan, is a tripartite military alliance that binds the three nations together on defence matters if the territories of these three nations were directly attacked. ANZUS, 1 T.B. Millar, Australia’s Foreign Policy (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1968), p. 117. 2 For Hughes, see Harry G. Gelber, “Pacific Signposts: 1) the Australian-American alliance”, Meanjin Quarterly, Vol. 27 (1), 1968, p. 5; for Holt, see “Holt: No Security if Reds win in Viet…”, Sun, 11 October 1966, p. 4; For Gillard, see “Julia Gillard’s speech to Congress”, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 March 2011, or Julia Gillard, “I Always Remember Thinking: Americans can do anything”, Vital Speeches of the Day, Vol. 77 (5), 2011, pp. 162-66. 1 however, did not guarantee the placement of a substantial US military presence in the region that would act as both a deterrent and a barrier between Australia and the perceived hostile nations to its north. But just over a decade later, the Vietnam War, provided Australian policy-makers, then concerned by the possible threat posed by Indonesia and China, with a unique opportunity to secure a large-scale US military presence in Southeast Asia. Approached from a predominantly Australian perspective, this thesis is a diplomatic history that examines the Australian-American alliance during the years 1966-67. Its contribution to knowledge lies in it being the first detailed analysis of the Australian-American alliance under the Holt government, thus filling a neglected, but significant, historiographical gap. Often, scholars have chosen to provide a broader analysis of the alliance between the two nations by examining the alliance from WWII through to the conclusion of Holt’s prime ministership, and in many cases, through to conclusion of Australia’s involvement in Vietnam in 1975.3 The central research question asked in this thesis is how did the Holt government manage its alliance with the US at this time in light of Australia’s emerging role in Vietnam, and the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s future presence in Southeast Asia? This question is addressed in the reports, files and cables of the key sectors of Australian foreign policy formation, particularly in the Departments of External Affairs (DEA), and Prime Minister, as well as Australia’s Washington Embassy. Through an examination of these documents, a detailed picture of policy development has emerged. It will be argued that Australia’s 3 See Glen St. J. Barclay, Friends in High Places: Australian-American Diplomatic Relations since 1945 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1985); Denis Phillips, Ambivalent Allies: Myth and Reality in the Australian-American Relationship (Ringwood: Penguin Books, 1988); Coral Bell, Dependent Ally: A Study in Australian Foreign Policy (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1988); Trevor R. Reese, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States: A Survey of International Relations 1941-1968 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1969); Joseph Camilleri, Australian-American Relations: The Web of Dependence (Melbourne: Macmillan, 1980); Norman Harper, A Great and Powerful Friend: A Study of Australian-American Relations Between 1900 and 1975 (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1987). 2 alliance with the US was significantly affected by three factors: Britain’s revised defence strategy, Australia’s involvement in the war in Vietnam, and the need to consolidate the Australian government’s policy of “forward defence”. The “forward defence” policy was a defence posture wholly dependent on the positioning of American and British forces in advance of Australia’s mainland borders. It will further be argued that because the US was the linchpin of this approach, Australia’s alliance with the US was inseparable from any potential threat to “forward defence”, including Britain’s likely exit from the region. This thesis will expand upon, and supplement, the various revisionist histories of Australia’s involvement in Vietnam and studies dedicated to the Australian-American alliance in the Cold War period.
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