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emeritus donald richie. the vietnam hearings were some of the most extraordinary hearings ever held by congress. they were an investigation in to a war that was still being fought. congress and the senate wanted to know why we were in vietnam, what the administration s policies were, and they wanted to hear from opponents of the war. they give equal status to critics as they did supporters. iswas a real debate and that something that does not happen in wartime. in wartime, everyone rallies around the flag and there is general agreement. the reason was, we never had a declaration of war or a congressional debate. 1954, president lyndon johnson could use that to get congress to pass the gulf of tonkin, resolution, authorizing him to retaliate. them rallying around the flag in support of the president during a period of crisis. it was done very quickly. senator fulbright brought it to the floor just after an hour s hearing. it was passed with only two dissenting votes ....
hearings. these were the first hearings on the vietnam war. the 1966 the at phnom hearings. coverage of the hearings and begin with donald richie, who explains the significance of the hearings. the vietnam hearings were probably some of the most extraordinary hearings ever held by congress. hearing an investigation into a war that was still being fought. wanteds and the senate to know why we were in vietnam and what the administration s policies were and wanted to hear from opponents of the war. they gave equal status to critics of the war as they did to supporters. it s a real debate and that is something which does not happen in wartime. was we never had a declaration of war or congressional debate as to why the united states should fight a war in vietnam. in 1964, there had been a minor incident in the gulf of tonkin between some pt boats and a destroyer. president johnson use that to get congress to pass the gulf of tonkin resolution, authorizing him to retaliat ....
second world war and who believed that this was the mission of the united states. it divided parents and children very much so. even robert mcnamara s children rebelled against the war. a lot of senators had great argument when is they went home and had dinner with their families. we re privileged this morning to have as our witness general maxwell b. taxpayer lower, one of the ablest military leaders we ve had in this country in many years. his record of distinguished service to the nation goes back nearly 45 years. he was an outstanding combat leader in world war ii and in korea and went on through progressively more responsible positions to become chief of staff of the army and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. few men have played such a significant role in the developments leading to our current involvement in vietnam. for the last five years general taylor has been associated intimately with the making of vietnamese policy decisions. as personal representati ....
mr. ritchie: the vietnam hearings were some of the most extraordinary hearings ever held by congress. they were an investigation in to a war that was still being fought. congress and the senate wanted to know why we were in vietnam, what the administration s policies were, and they wanted to hear from opponents of the war. they give equal status to critics as they did supporters. it was a real debate and that is something that does not happen in wartime. in wartime, everyone rallies around the flag and there is general agreement. the reason was, we never had a declaration of war or a congressional debate. in august, 1954, there had been an incident. president lyndon johnson could use that to get congress to pass the gulf of tonkin, resolution, authorizing him to retaliate. they will see them rallying around the flag in support of the president during a period of crisis. it was done very quickly. senator fulbright brought it to the floor just after an hour s hearing. deb ....
throughnd went on progressively more responsible positions to become chief of staff of the army and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. few men have played such a significant role and the developments leading to our current involvement in vietnam. for the last five years, general taylor has been associated intimately with the making of vietnamese policy decisions. as personal military representative of president kennedy and 1961 and 1962, as chairman of the joint chief of staff, and as our ambassador to south vietnam in 1964 and 1965. he is now special consultant to the president, and accompanied him to the recent conference in honolulu. general taylor, we are very pleased to have you. we have had you often before and are very familiar with you. we welcome you to make whatever statement you choose. mr. chairman and gentlemen, i want to thank you mr. chairman and the members of the committee for your willingness to hear my views on the situation in south vietnam. i am ....