Reporting by Adrian Cook, University of Montana School of Journalism
More than 50 years ago during the term of President John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War began and then escalated. Politicians tried to sell the American public on the Domino Theory, which stated that if one country in Indochina fell to Communism, they’d all go that way. After Kennedy’s death, it was up to Lyndon B. Johnson and then Richard Nixon to navigate the war. All three presidents did that, to some degree, with advice from Mike Mansfield, an influential senator from Montana. Mansfield died in 2001, but with the end of the war reaching its 50th anniversary, those who knew him and studied his legacy reflected on his influence in the Vietnam War.
Marc C. Johnson, historian and author of “Mansfield and Dirksen, Bipartisan Giants of the Senate,” has studied Mansfield for many years. He said that Mansfield was very different from most politicians in his era, deriving partially from having taught at the University of Montana. "He was a genuine scholar-politician," said Johnson. "From the very beginning his arrival in Congress, he was considered the foremost expert in foreign policy as it related to Asia," he said.
In 1962, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield visited South Vietnam on a fact-finding mission. After returning, he told President Kennedy that the United States should avoid further involvement in Vietnam, he and became the first top U.S. elected official to call for a pullout.
In his report, which would be known as the Mansfield Report, Mansfield described Vietnam as insecure outside cities and that the government in Saigon was still seeking acceptance from the countryside.
Johnson explains the significance of the Mansfield Report and how it was received by the public and the president in 1962. "There's a big file in the library in Missoula of people requesting these reports because they wanted to read for themselves what Mansfield was saying about the war," Johnson said. "Kennedy went out on the presidential yacht and he's reading this report and it's pretty obvious that he's not liking what he's reading. He (Kennedy) later remarked, "I got mad as I was reading Mike's report and then I realized why I was mad because he was so right," said Johnson of Kennedy's remarks.
Senator Mansfield opposed the Vietnam War through various methods. He openly discussed his honest interpretations of events in Vietnam. He also provided candid advice to presidents, including counseling against military escalation in advocating for diplomatic solutions. Recorded phone calls released to the public by the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in 2021 provide a glimpse into one late night phone call in 1965.
In the archival phone tapes, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked Mansfield, "Shouldn't we say to the Congress, what do you want to do about it?" Mansfield responded by asking, "Well, I would hate to be the one to say it, because as you said earlier, it's 75,000 (personnel) then it's 150,000, then it's 300,000, where do you stop?" President Johnson quipped back by saying, "You don't. It’s shaping up like this Mike. You either, you either get out or you get in. I don't think there's much more 'neutral'. I think we've tried all the neutral things."
The Vietnam War exacted a staggering toll of human lives with estimates ranging from 1.3 to 3.8 million Vietnamese and over 58,000 American servicemen. Despite Senator Mansfield's efforts to advocate for diplomatic solutions and oppose military escalation, the war under both Johnson and Nixon escalated.
Author and historian Johnson, who's a fellow with the Mansfield Center housed at the University of Montana, describes why he thinks Mansfield was unable to influence Vietnam War policy. "I think he was constantly at war with himself, but he was hampered in the sense that he believed the president basically constructs American foreign policy," he said. "Some people who were really more outspoken in their opposition to Vietnam, people in Mansfield's own party, were critical of him at times for not taking a harder stand, for not being more forceful in his leadership. But that just wasn't his style," Johnson said.
Paul Lauren is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Montana. He also taught at Stanford and is the founding director of the Mansfield Center. He offers a different perspective on Mansfield's attempts to de-escalate the war. Lauren, who met Mansfield on several occasions, including during Mansfield's final tour of Montana, believes there's still some value in the Senator's attempts to change the trajectory of the conflict in Southeast Asia.
On Mansfield and patriotism, Lauren posed a question by asking, "Is one patriotic by just going along and saying, "The President is right," or "Congress is right," or "The Supreme Court is right," or is a real patriot one who says: "Look, I love the country. But when it veers off course, my patriotism is going to show by saying, "we're going off course, we're making a mistake here," so, I think the Mansfield legacy has to do with asking this question of what does a real patriot do when times are tough," he said.
"I think that we all have to confront that. I think that history would indicate that American involvement in Vietnam was a mistake, and I think that Mansfield's legacy is that he knew it was a mistake. He called it a mistake, and he wasn't afraid to say it. He was right," said Lauren.
Both Johnson and Lauren believe that in the halls of power, where caution often outweighs candor, Mansfield's resolve in opposition sets him apart. Today, his legacy endures not only for his political acumen, but also for his willingness to challenge the status quo and speak truth to power.
Fifty years ago, the Vietnam War wound down and soldiers who survived it returned home. More than 36,000 Montanans served in the war. For the 50th anniversary of its end, students at the University of Montana School of Journalism spoke with Vietnam vets across the state. YPR will be sharing their stories throughout the month. This series on the Vietnam War is supported, in part, by the Greater Montana Foundation.