Vietnam War: primary sources

The U.S. Civilian Advisory Effort in Vietnam: U.S. Operations Mission, 1950-1954    "The United States decision to provide military assistance to France and the Associated States of Indochina was reached informally in February/March 1950, funded by the President on May 1, 1950, and was announced on May 8, 1950. The decision was taken in spite of the U.S. desire to avoid direct involvement in a colonial war, and in spite of a sensing that France’s political-military situation in Indochina was deteriorating. This collection consists of unique records of U.S. agencies established to intervene in Vietnam-the country U.S. foreign policy deemed a lynchpin in the free world’s fight against communism. The Subject Files from the Office of the Director, U.S. Operations Missions, document the myriad concerns and rationales that went into the control and direction of U.S. economic and technical assistance programs, as well as the coordination of mutual security activities, with respect to Vietnam."

Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975
Reproduces many archival collections on the Vietnam War and the U.S. government, including records of the Associated Press and other media, the CIA, the State Department, the EPA, the military, the Kissinger telephone conversation transcripts on world affairs, and national security files from the, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford administrations. 

• CIA Research Reports, Vietnam and Southeast Asia, 1946-1976

Confidential U.S. State Department central files. Vietnam
Originals held by National Archives as part of Record Group 59, General Records of the Dept. of State. 

Vietnam and Southeast Asia: special studies, 1960-1980
This collection comprises studies prepared by a variety of government and non-governmental organizations to inform U.S. policy making.

The Johnson Administration and Pacification in Vietnam: Robert Komer-William Leonhart Files, 1966-1968 
Consists of material from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library that documents the American pacification effort in Vietnam. "Topics addressed include agriculture and land reform, the South Vietnamese army, Buddhists and Catholics in Vietnam, defense spending, the Doan Ket National Reconciliation Program, South Vietnamese economic indicators, conditions in the hamlets, Viet Cong infrastructure, intelligence coordination and exploitation, peace negotiations, postwar planning, and psychological warfare."

Ambassador Graham Martin and the Saigon Embassy’s Back Channel Communication Files, 1963-1975    "Consists of State Department telegrams and White House backchannel messages between U.S. ambassadors in Saigon and White House national security advisers, talking points for meetings with South Vietnamese officials, intelligence reports, drafts of peace agreements, and military status reports. Subjects include the Diem coup, the Paris peace negotiations, the fall of South Vietnam, and other U.S./South Vietnam relations topics, 1963 to 1975. Source Library: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library."

Transcripts and files of the Paris peace talks on Vietnam, 1968-1973
Consists of verbatim transcripts of the peace talks.

Vietnam, National Security Council histories
Consists of classified documents from the White House and the military, organized to present a history of U.S. decision-making about the war in Vietnam.

Intelligence Reports from the National Security Council's Vietnam Information Group, 1967-1975 
"Primarily Department of State cables and CIA intelligence information cables concerning South and North Vietnam. Topics include the Vietnam War, U.S.-South Vietnam relations, South Vietnam’s political climate, opposition groups, religious sects, ethnic groups, labor unions, corruption, press censorship, the North Vietnam’s military and economy, peace negotiations, and events in Cambodia and Laos."

John F. Kennedy national security files, 1961-1963: Vietnam 

Lyndon B. Johnson national security files. Vietnam, 1963-1969 
This collection comprises documents on U.S. foreign policy and international relations from the Lyndon B. Johnson Library, including correspondence and reports.

Richard M. Nixon national security files, 1969-1974: Vietnam

Documents on the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam [microform]
"The following set of documents was gathered by Mr. Douglas Pike while he was serving as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Information Agency in Vietnam. They are internal documents of the National Liberation Front and the People’s Revolutionary Party captured by units of the Vietnamese Army"--P. [1] of Inventory. Includes "Inventory of Communist documents, Saigon, Vietnam, December 1966" on 66 leaves at beginning of the first reel. Vietnamese and English. Microfilm of originals in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for International Studies.

Vietnam Documents and Research Notes Series: Translation and Analysis of Significant Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Documents