388 final

and the envelope, please...

History 388
Spring ‘07
Final exam

Part I(70%): Directions: Prepare the following essays, drawing upon readings, videos, lectures and/or any personal reflection or outside reading you have done. You will do ONE of them. You MAY have a choice on test day but you will not know until you arrive, so make sure you can do any of them. It’s fine, even encouraged, to study with friends, provided that each person writes his own essays, does his own work in the end.

1. The Vietnam conflict damaged the reputation of John F. Kennedy, drove Lyndon Johnson from office in despair and fatally distorted Richard Nixon’s judgment, destroying his Presidency in the Watergate scandal. Why couldn’t Presidents Nixon or Johnson bring the war to an end, in spite of unparalleled tonnage of bombs, ground troops, billions of dollars and the latest in high-tech weaponry?

2. Unlike previous wars of the 20th century, the Vietnam war became the target of increasingly emphatic opposition after the introduction of ground troops in l966. Discuss some of the reasons which brought forth protest, then explain how protests played out at the University of Wisconsin in l967. Use specific incidents from the David Maraniss books in your answer where possible. . Conclude by evaluating the influence that dissent has had—or not had-- on the current conflict in Iraq

3. Everyone who fought in Vietnam, or lived through the era in which that drama played out, has his or her own “Vietnam war.” Michael Herr and Philip Caputo, authors of Dispatches and A Rumor of War, certainly had theirs. Write an essay in which you compare some of their impressions of and experiences in the Vietnam conflict.

4. Harry Truman—or was it Winston Churchill?—once said, “There is no end to lessons.” Assume that it is 2008 and you are now an advisor to the new President. Identify THREE lessons you have learned from the Vietnam war and make clear to him how they could inform the foreign policy of the United States.

Part II: Ids. Identify, discuss briefly and give the significance of the following. You’ll do three of five or six on test day.

Gulf of Tonkin resolution, Tet offensive, Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall and Women’s Memorial, Laos and Cambodia, “Clean Gene” McCarthy, “hawks and doves,” Vietnamization, Kent State, Robert F. Kennedy


I realize this will be an ordeal, but it's still a lot easier than the Georgetown Russian history finals back in the day, which were routinely scheduled for " 1 pm-sundown."