The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Prelude to the War in Vietnam, 1954-1959
Abstract
The Historical Division, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the predecessor of the present Joint History Office, produced the manuscript "The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the War in Vietnam, 1954-1959," in 1972 as a Top Secret document. Based largely upon then classified State Department and Defense Department records, the History consists of eight chronological chapters and an Appendix describing the formation and functioning of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). The chronological chapters cover the growing relationship of the United States after the Geneva Treaty of 1954 with the new Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) under President Ngo Dinh Diem; Diem's defeat of the various independent sects and his dominance over the South Vietnamese military; the awkward relationship between the U.S. mission and the remaining French units in Vietnam; the continuing hostility between the two Vietnams; and the beginning of the "Viet Cong" insurrection in the later years of the study. After the manuscript was declassified with only a few deletions, Dr. David A. Armstrong, the Director for Joint History, asked Jack Shulimson to review and revise the declassified version for publication. After a preliminary review, Mr. Shulimson suggested that the text needed little revision except for some updating and occasional smoothing of transitions. Consequently, changes in the body of the text were largely confined to small inserts with most of the new information and updates presented in the footnotes, which have also been revised to indicate where formerly classified materials appear in collections such as the "Pentagon Papers" and the State Department series, "Foreign Relations of the United States."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA482313
Entities
People
- David A. Armstrong
- Graham A. Cosmas
- Jack Shulimson
- Willard J. Webb
Organizations
- Joint Chiefs of Staff