“…times that try men's souls” – the United States after Vietnam

Extract

For those who believed that the Vietnam war ‘ended’ in January 1973 with the signing of the Paris agreements, the events of the spring of 1975 must have come as a profound shock. Alternatively, for those who believed that the Paris agreements were no more than a pause on the way to the inevitable, these same events would seem to be eminently predictable. The implications of the American defeat in South East Asia are clearly a matter for the long term and one does no more than state the obvious by saying that the long term implications have yet to unfold. However, even from the short term perspective, there is much one can say about the Vietnam conflict, in terms of both its internal consequences and its impact on America and international society. Over the years, Vietnam has been held to be responsible for the end of Lyndon Johnson's career, for the so-called ‘Great Society’, for the growth of student radicalism and civil unrest. Whether and to what extent any or all of these links can be demonstrated are questions for the future. What of the present? In surveying the events of the spring of 1975 one recalls the words of Thomas Paine, written almost two centuries ago: “These are the times that try men's souls”. The point is not without a certain irony in the present context, for the American bicentennial celebrations which began in Concord, Massachusetts, were overshadowed by the scenes of evacuation and collapse in South East Asia.