What would you have done in Vietnam?

[Dazey]

It is early 1964. Kennedy is dead as is Diem. You are a Democratic President. You don't have the gift of hindsight.

Because of Diem's death, the South Vietnamese government, which was frail under Diem, has totally crumbled and lost all credibility in a series of coups. The government over there as Buddhists revolt and generals vie for power. North Vietnam has just decided to aid the Viet Cong and has won decisive victories over the South.

Over 200 American servicemen have lost their lives in Vietnam as of 1964, and America has not yet retaliated.

There are currently over 15,000 military personnel on the ground in Vietnam. The right wing wants to take the war home to Vietnam and talks of how the Democrats 'lost China' and will lose Vietnam. Many of the military experts are telling you that if you leave Vietnam, a good chunk of South East Asia could fall to Communism, and who knows what then. The left wants to leave.

Theodore Sorensen, one of former President Kennedy's most trusted aides, writes you with advice to oppose the neutralization of South Vietnam as proposed by French President Charles de Gaulle and others. Sorensoen states to you that neutralization would result in a communist takeover of South Vietnam, weaken the U.S. position, in Asia, and cause political problems for the Democratic Party. Your other Kennedy holdover advisers, including Dean Rusk, Robert McNamara, McGeorge Bundy, and Walter Rostow -- echo Sorensen's view

Max Taylor, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, urges you to bomb select targets in Vietnam.

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara writes a memo stating that up to 40 percent of South Vietnam is now controlled by the Viet Cong and the Khanh government is ineffective, the South Vietnamese apathetic, and the Americans in South Vietnam frustrated. He recommends that the U.S. finance a 50,000 man increase in the size of the South Vietnamese army (ARVN). He also recommends that the U.S. air force be prepared to initiate bombing of North Vietnam.

Robert Kennedy in an interview states that his brother had "strong, overwhelming reason for being in Vietnam and that we should win the war in Vietnam" and denies his brother would've withdrawn.

Senator Richard Russell tells you you might face impeachment if you pull out, and that: "I don't know how in the hell you're gonna get out unless they [the Senate Republicans] tell you to get out."

Richard Nixon, former Vice President, accuses you of weakness, compromise and inconsistency in Vietnam; He advocates that the US should use it's military power to end and win the war decisively and suggests that the U.S. should "take a tougher line toward Communism in Asia" and expand the war to North Vietnam and Laos.

Former Presidents Truman and Eisenhower in consultation tell you in essence there is no war to win the war, but that to pull out is to lose and make American look weak to the world.

What do you do?