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Was Nixon's Vietnam claim right before the 1968 election true?
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In Richard Nixon's final appeal to voters on NBC right before the 1968 Presidential Election, he made an explosive claim about the Vietnam war. Here is how the Eugene Register-Guard reported it:
[Nixon] said he had a “very disturbing report,” gleaned from an unnamed Air Force general, that the enemy was moving thousands of tons of supplies into South Vietnam.... [Hubert] Humphrey branded the Nixon charge "totally irresponsible," and accused the Republican of trying to "frighten the American people."
This charge was a big deal at the time, because then-President Lyndon B. Johnson had negotiated a ceasefire in Vietnam, and Nixon was casting doubt on whether it was working.
My question is, was Nixon telling the truth that an Air Force general had told him that the North Vietnamese were moving thousands of tons of supplies into South Vietnam? And was it actually true that the North Vietnamese were doing this at the time?
united-states war election 1960s vietnam-war
asked 21 hours ago
Keshav Srinivasan
9012819
add a comment |
up vote
20
down vote
favorite
In Richard Nixon's final appeal to voters on NBC right before the 1968 Presidential Election, he made an explosive claim about the Vietnam war. Here is how the Eugene Register-Guard reported it:
[Nixon] said he had a “very disturbing report,” gleaned from an unnamed Air Force general, that the enemy was moving thousands of tons of supplies into South Vietnam.... [Hubert] Humphrey branded the Nixon charge "totally irresponsible," and accused the Republican of trying to "frighten the American people."
This charge was a big deal at the time, because then-President Lyndon B. Johnson had negotiated a ceasefire in Vietnam, and Nixon was casting doubt on whether it was working.
My question is, was Nixon telling the truth that an Air Force general had told him that the North Vietnamese were moving thousands of tons of supplies into South Vietnam? And was it actually true that the North Vietnamese were doing this at the time?
united-states war election 1960s vietnam-war
asked 21 hours ago
Keshav Srinivasan
9012819
add a comment |
up vote
20
down vote
favorite
up vote
20
down vote
favorite
In Richard Nixon's final appeal to voters on NBC right before the 1968 Presidential Election, he made an explosive claim about the Vietnam war. Here is how the Eugene Register-Guard reported it:
[Nixon] said he had a “very disturbing report,” gleaned from an unnamed Air Force general, that the enemy was moving thousands of tons of supplies into South Vietnam.... [Hubert] Humphrey branded the Nixon charge "totally irresponsible," and accused the Republican of trying to "frighten the American people."
This charge was a big deal at the time, because then-President Lyndon B. Johnson had negotiated a ceasefire in Vietnam, and Nixon was casting doubt on whether it was working.
My question is, was Nixon telling the truth that an Air Force general had told him that the North Vietnamese were moving thousands of tons of supplies into South Vietnam? And was it actually true that the North Vietnamese were doing this at the time?
united-states war election 1960s vietnam-war
asked 21 hours ago
Keshav Srinivasan
9012819
In Richard Nixon's final appeal to voters on NBC right before the 1968 Presidential Election, he made an explosive claim about the Vietnam war. Here is how the Eugene Register-Guard reported it:
[Nixon] said he had a “very disturbing report,” gleaned from an unnamed Air Force general, that the enemy was moving thousands of tons of supplies into South Vietnam.... [Hubert] Humphrey branded the Nixon charge "totally irresponsible," and accused the Republican of trying to "frighten the American people."
This charge was a big deal at the time, because then-President Lyndon B. Johnson had negotiated a ceasefire in Vietnam, and Nixon was casting doubt on whether it was working.
My question is, was Nixon telling the truth that an Air Force general had told him that the North Vietnamese were moving thousands of tons of supplies into South Vietnam? And was it actually true that the North Vietnamese were doing this at the time?
united-states war election 1960s vietnam-war
united-states war election 1960s vietnam-war
asked 21 hours ago
Keshav Srinivasan
9012819
asked 21 hours ago
Keshav Srinivasan
9012819
asked 21 hours ago
Keshav Srinivasan
9012819
asked 21 hours ago
Keshav Srinivasan
9012819
asked 21 hours ago
Keshav Srinivasan
9012819
9012819
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
26
down vote
Unless a particular Air Force General 'fesses up in an autobiography, the first question is unanswerable.
On the second question, absolutely that was happening. It had been happening for years, escalating in quantity and variety of supplies transported, since at least 1959. The supply trail was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ran through the mountains of neighbouring neutral Laos and during the final weeks of the 1968 campaign the Air Force was making final preparations for Operation Command Hunt against it. This bombing campaign began November 11, just 6 days after the Nov. 5th election.
As noted in Wikipedia, the North Vietnamese had spent most of 1968 expanding the Trail following the Tet Offensive in January that year.
answered 20 hours ago
Pieter Geerkens
37.2k6106180
I wonder if there's a list of Air Force Generals in 1968.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
The other way to answer it is to find out from Nixon's campaign aides and the like which generals if any he was talking to at the time.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
Wikipedia suggest the yearly trail capacity in 1968 was between 10000 (1964) tons, 81000 (1968 reserved offensive supplies) tons and 40000 (end 1970) tons. It usefully doesn’t specify which ton. The first and last estimate appear to be for the overland route controlled by the 559th.
Nixon’s statement regarding the logistic capacity of the PLAF/PAVN appears substantially correct, even if it discounts indigenous supply by NFL/PRG manufacture and capture of ARVN materiel.
Whether Nixon was informed of this by an airforce general cannot be verified to the standards of Sceptics, but it is reasonable to assume that Nixon had been briefed by someone who knew the logistic situation and I’m inclined to extend the benefit of the doubt here. The claims are substantiable and the claimed source is reasonable. Nixon didn’t have any motivation to lie here; shocking people with the truth had the desired political effect.
answered 18 hours ago
Samuel Russell
9,70233074
1
This works into your answer better than mine: "Recall that Nixon was VP for the first two years of American involvement in Vietnam, 1959-60."
– Pieter Geerkens
17 hours ago
10 000 tons per month, year or what?
– d-b
9 hours ago
1
I would assume it's the standard American short ton for a government document in the late 60s. The confusion around international units seems to be a more recent phenomenon.
– jpmc26
5 hours ago
1
@d-b: Note on first line: "the yearly trail capacity"
– Pieter Geerkens
5 hours ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
26
down vote
Unless a particular Air Force General 'fesses up in an autobiography, the first question is unanswerable.
On the second question, absolutely that was happening. It had been happening for years, escalating in quantity and variety of supplies transported, since at least 1959. The supply trail was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ran through the mountains of neighbouring neutral Laos and during the final weeks of the 1968 campaign the Air Force was making final preparations for Operation Command Hunt against it. This bombing campaign began November 11, just 6 days after the Nov. 5th election.
As noted in Wikipedia, the North Vietnamese had spent most of 1968 expanding the Trail following the Tet Offensive in January that year.
answered 20 hours ago
Pieter Geerkens
37.2k6106180
I wonder if there's a list of Air Force Generals in 1968.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
The other way to answer it is to find out from Nixon's campaign aides and the like which generals if any he was talking to at the time.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
26
down vote
Unless a particular Air Force General 'fesses up in an autobiography, the first question is unanswerable.
On the second question, absolutely that was happening. It had been happening for years, escalating in quantity and variety of supplies transported, since at least 1959. The supply trail was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ran through the mountains of neighbouring neutral Laos and during the final weeks of the 1968 campaign the Air Force was making final preparations for Operation Command Hunt against it. This bombing campaign began November 11, just 6 days after the Nov. 5th election.
As noted in Wikipedia, the North Vietnamese had spent most of 1968 expanding the Trail following the Tet Offensive in January that year.
answered 20 hours ago
Pieter Geerkens
37.2k6106180
I wonder if there's a list of Air Force Generals in 1968.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
The other way to answer it is to find out from Nixon's campaign aides and the like which generals if any he was talking to at the time.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
26
down vote
up vote
26
down vote
Unless a particular Air Force General 'fesses up in an autobiography, the first question is unanswerable.
On the second question, absolutely that was happening. It had been happening for years, escalating in quantity and variety of supplies transported, since at least 1959. The supply trail was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ran through the mountains of neighbouring neutral Laos and during the final weeks of the 1968 campaign the Air Force was making final preparations for Operation Command Hunt against it. This bombing campaign began November 11, just 6 days after the Nov. 5th election.
As noted in Wikipedia, the North Vietnamese had spent most of 1968 expanding the Trail following the Tet Offensive in January that year.
answered 20 hours ago
Pieter Geerkens
37.2k6106180
Unless a particular Air Force General 'fesses up in an autobiography, the first question is unanswerable.
On the second question, absolutely that was happening. It had been happening for years, escalating in quantity and variety of supplies transported, since at least 1959. The supply trail was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ran through the mountains of neighbouring neutral Laos and during the final weeks of the 1968 campaign the Air Force was making final preparations for Operation Command Hunt against it. This bombing campaign began November 11, just 6 days after the Nov. 5th election.
As noted in Wikipedia, the North Vietnamese had spent most of 1968 expanding the Trail following the Tet Offensive in January that year.
answered 20 hours ago
Pieter Geerkens
37.2k6106180
answered 20 hours ago
Pieter Geerkens
37.2k6106180
answered 20 hours ago
Pieter Geerkens
37.2k6106180
answered 20 hours ago
Pieter Geerkens
37.2k6106180
37.2k6106180
I wonder if there's a list of Air Force Generals in 1968.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
The other way to answer it is to find out from Nixon's campaign aides and the like which generals if any he was talking to at the time.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
add a comment |
I wonder if there's a list of Air Force Generals in 1968.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
The other way to answer it is to find out from Nixon's campaign aides and the like which generals if any he was talking to at the time.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
I wonder if there's a list of Air Force Generals in 1968.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
I wonder if there's a list of Air Force Generals in 1968.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
The other way to answer it is to find out from Nixon's campaign aides and the like which generals if any he was talking to at the time.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
The other way to answer it is to find out from Nixon's campaign aides and the like which generals if any he was talking to at the time.
– Keshav Srinivasan
20 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
Wikipedia suggest the yearly trail capacity in 1968 was between 10000 (1964) tons, 81000 (1968 reserved offensive supplies) tons and 40000 (end 1970) tons. It usefully doesn’t specify which ton. The first and last estimate appear to be for the overland route controlled by the 559th.
Nixon’s statement regarding the logistic capacity of the PLAF/PAVN appears substantially correct, even if it discounts indigenous supply by NFL/PRG manufacture and capture of ARVN materiel.
Whether Nixon was informed of this by an airforce general cannot be verified to the standards of Sceptics, but it is reasonable to assume that Nixon had been briefed by someone who knew the logistic situation and I’m inclined to extend the benefit of the doubt here. The claims are substantiable and the claimed source is reasonable. Nixon didn’t have any motivation to lie here; shocking people with the truth had the desired political effect.
answered 18 hours ago
Samuel Russell
9,70233074
1
This works into your answer better than mine: "Recall that Nixon was VP for the first two years of American involvement in Vietnam, 1959-60."
– Pieter Geerkens
17 hours ago
10 000 tons per month, year or what?
– d-b
9 hours ago
1
I would assume it's the standard American short ton for a government document in the late 60s. The confusion around international units seems to be a more recent phenomenon.
– jpmc26
5 hours ago
1
@d-b: Note on first line: "the yearly trail capacity"
– Pieter Geerkens
5 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
Wikipedia suggest the yearly trail capacity in 1968 was between 10000 (1964) tons, 81000 (1968 reserved offensive supplies) tons and 40000 (end 1970) tons. It usefully doesn’t specify which ton. The first and last estimate appear to be for the overland route controlled by the 559th.
Nixon’s statement regarding the logistic capacity of the PLAF/PAVN appears substantially correct, even if it discounts indigenous supply by NFL/PRG manufacture and capture of ARVN materiel.
Whether Nixon was informed of this by an airforce general cannot be verified to the standards of Sceptics, but it is reasonable to assume that Nixon had been briefed by someone who knew the logistic situation and I’m inclined to extend the benefit of the doubt here. The claims are substantiable and the claimed source is reasonable. Nixon didn’t have any motivation to lie here; shocking people with the truth had the desired political effect.
answered 18 hours ago
Samuel Russell
9,70233074
1
This works into your answer better than mine: "Recall that Nixon was VP for the first two years of American involvement in Vietnam, 1959-60."
– Pieter Geerkens
17 hours ago
10 000 tons per month, year or what?
– d-b
9 hours ago
1
I would assume it's the standard American short ton for a government document in the late 60s. The confusion around international units seems to be a more recent phenomenon.
– jpmc26
5 hours ago
1
@d-b: Note on first line: "the yearly trail capacity"
– Pieter Geerkens
5 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
up vote
8
down vote
Wikipedia suggest the yearly trail capacity in 1968 was between 10000 (1964) tons, 81000 (1968 reserved offensive supplies) tons and 40000 (end 1970) tons. It usefully doesn’t specify which ton. The first and last estimate appear to be for the overland route controlled by the 559th.
Nixon’s statement regarding the logistic capacity of the PLAF/PAVN appears substantially correct, even if it discounts indigenous supply by NFL/PRG manufacture and capture of ARVN materiel.
Whether Nixon was informed of this by an airforce general cannot be verified to the standards of Sceptics, but it is reasonable to assume that Nixon had been briefed by someone who knew the logistic situation and I’m inclined to extend the benefit of the doubt here. The claims are substantiable and the claimed source is reasonable. Nixon didn’t have any motivation to lie here; shocking people with the truth had the desired political effect.
answered 18 hours ago
Samuel Russell
9,70233074
Wikipedia suggest the yearly trail capacity in 1968 was between 10000 (1964) tons, 81000 (1968 reserved offensive supplies) tons and 40000 (end 1970) tons. It usefully doesn’t specify which ton. The first and last estimate appear to be for the overland route controlled by the 559th.
Nixon’s statement regarding the logistic capacity of the PLAF/PAVN appears substantially correct, even if it discounts indigenous supply by NFL/PRG manufacture and capture of ARVN materiel.
Whether Nixon was informed of this by an airforce general cannot be verified to the standards of Sceptics, but it is reasonable to assume that Nixon had been briefed by someone who knew the logistic situation and I’m inclined to extend the benefit of the doubt here. The claims are substantiable and the claimed source is reasonable. Nixon didn’t have any motivation to lie here; shocking people with the truth had the desired political effect.
answered 18 hours ago
Samuel Russell
9,70233074
answered 18 hours ago
Samuel Russell
9,70233074
answered 18 hours ago
Samuel Russell
9,70233074
answered 18 hours ago
Samuel Russell
9,70233074
9,70233074
1
This works into your answer better than mine: "Recall that Nixon was VP for the first two years of American involvement in Vietnam, 1959-60."
– Pieter Geerkens
17 hours ago
10 000 tons per month, year or what?
– d-b
9 hours ago
1
I would assume it's the standard American short ton for a government document in the late 60s. The confusion around international units seems to be a more recent phenomenon.
– jpmc26
5 hours ago
1
@d-b: Note on first line: "the yearly trail capacity"
– Pieter Geerkens
5 hours ago
add a comment |
1
This works into your answer better than mine: "Recall that Nixon was VP for the first two years of American involvement in Vietnam, 1959-60."
– Pieter Geerkens
17 hours ago
10 000 tons per month, year or what?
– d-b
9 hours ago
1
I would assume it's the standard American short ton for a government document in the late 60s. The confusion around international units seems to be a more recent phenomenon.
– jpmc26
5 hours ago
1
@d-b: Note on first line: "the yearly trail capacity"
– Pieter Geerkens
5 hours ago
1
1
This works into your answer better than mine: "Recall that Nixon was VP for the first two years of American involvement in Vietnam, 1959-60."
– Pieter Geerkens
17 hours ago
This works into your answer better than mine: "Recall that Nixon was VP for the first two years of American involvement in Vietnam, 1959-60."
– Pieter Geerkens
17 hours ago
10 000 tons per month, year or what?
– d-b
9 hours ago
10 000 tons per month, year or what?
– d-b
9 hours ago
1
1
I would assume it's the standard American short ton for a government document in the late 60s. The confusion around international units seems to be a more recent phenomenon.
– jpmc26
5 hours ago
I would assume it's the standard American short ton for a government document in the late 60s. The confusion around international units seems to be a more recent phenomenon.
– jpmc26
5 hours ago
1
1
@d-b: Note on first line: "the yearly trail capacity"
– Pieter Geerkens
5 hours ago
@d-b: Note on first line: "the yearly trail capacity"
– Pieter Geerkens
5 hours ago
add a comment |
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