Assignment 3: A Vietnam Letter to Bizz Johnson
On July 15, 1972 a man by the name of Ellis Colton sent a letter to his congressman, Harold T. “Bizz” Johnson, regarding his concerns about the escalation of the Vietnam War and his lack of confidence in President Nixon. The main claim in Mr. Colton’s letter is that Congressman Johnson had pledged his confidence that the President would abide by the Mansfield amendment but recently President Nixon publically claimed that “he is not bound by the Mansfield amendment.” Furthermore, Mr. Colton would like to know if with the new-found knowledge of the President not wanting to abide by the amendment, will Congress cut off war-funding.
Will reading this letter a few ambiguities stand out: what is the Mansfield amendment, the Military Procurement Act of 1971, and did President Nixon really announce that he is not bound by an amendment? Without the full context of this letter, it is impossible to wholly understand what Ellis Colton was talking about.
The exact Military Procurement Authorization Act can no longer be located however by analyzing its amendments, like the Mansfield amendment, one can gather more information about its general goal. The main purpose of the Military Procurement Authorization Act was to limit financial expenditures going towards the war effort. Two main aspects of the bill included setting a date and manner of withdrawal of all troops from Indochina. This bill was passed by senators that wanted to attempt to limit, or even eliminate, the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. The Mansfield amendment, which was introduced by Senator Mike Mansfield, was an apparent attempt to reduce the scientific community’s dependence on military funding. This amendment forbid the DOD (Department of Defense) to use its funds “to carry out any research project or study unless such project or study has a direct and apparent relationship to a specific military function.”
On a statement released on November 17, 1971 Richard Nixon announces that he has signed the Military Procurement Authorization Act of 1971. Although by signing the bill with the amendment the President is agreeing to setting a date for withdrawal and decreasing military spending in regards to the war in Indochina, he states in his press release statement that “My signing of the bill that contains this section, therefore, will not change the policies I have pursued and that I shall continue to pursue toward this end.”
By looking at primary sources, secondary source articles, and journal review articles, one can reduce the ambiguity from Mr. Colton’s original letter. Ellis Colton is urging Congress via Congressman Bizz Johnson to vote to cut off funds for the war in Vietnam and to remove United States’ troops. He does this by stating that Congressman Johnson’s original excuse for not voting to cut off funds was due to his confidence that the President will abide by the provisions of the Military Procurement Authorization Act and the Mansfield amendment, but since the President publically stated that he will not, that should be reason enough for Congress to vote to stop funding for the war.
