Supplemental Materials

The Limits of Power The United States in Vietnam

The Limits of Power The United States in Vietnam draws students into the key decision points marking U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Historical background and original documents recreate the assumptions and mind-sets shaping American foreign policy during the Vietnam War years.

Online Resources from the Choices Program

Journals on Vietnam: Other Voices, Other Perspectives
The 2005 Teaching American History Summer Institute at Brown University focused on the experience and legacy of the Vietnam War. During the institute, teachers spent time, both individually and in groups, writing reflectively. The five pieces that follow represent each teacher group's efforts to combine their individual writing under a common theme. These resources are available for others to use with students.

Vietnamese Re-Education Camps: Examining History Through Art
This online lesson uses original paintings by the daughter of a re-education camp survivor.

The Fog of War Teacher's Guide
Additional resources on the Vietnam War are available in The Fog of War Teacher's Guide. Accompanying online resources are available.

Critical Oral History: The American War in Vietnam provides an overview of the research on the Vietnam War conducted by the Watson Institute for International Studies.

Web Links

The Cold War International History Project
Newly released documents and analysis of events relating to the Vietnam War, much from the Chinese perspective.

The Miller Center of Public Affairs White House Tapes
Transcripts and audio from Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon recordings, plus online exhibits to help students and teachers navigate the volume of material available.

Vietnam Online
PBS website with primary sources, maps, teacher guides, and more that complements the series Vietnam: A Television History.

Books

Appy, Christian. Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From all Sides (New York: Viking Press, 2003) 604 pages.

Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam: A History (New York: Viking Press, 1991). 768 pages.

McNamara, Robert S. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (New York: Times Books, 1995). 414 pages.

McNamara, Robert S., James G. Blight, and Robert K. Brigham with Thomas J. Biersteker and Herbert Y. Schandler. Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy (New York: Public Affairs, 1999). 479 pages.

Sheehan, Neil. The Pentagon Papers (New York: Bantam Books, 1971). 677 pages.

NOTE: This is a selected list of resources focused on the topic of the curriculum unit, The Limits of Power The United States in Vietnam. Additional resources will be added to this site as they become available