The Great Silent Majority: Questions

    The Great Silent Majority: Questions

      1. Why didn't Nixon just go the way of the hippie and make a speech about peace and love, man?
      2. Would it have been possible for the United States to have its cake and eat it, too? Could there have been a peaceful way to leave the whole Vietnam situation behind?
      3. Do you think that Nixon is being sincere and honest in this speech? Using what you know about the era, can you see any flaws in the information that he is giving the American public?
      4. How do you think Americans felt when they read the Vietnamese Proclamation of Independence for the first time? Should they have felt honored by the fact that the U.S. Declaration of Independence was being quoted, or do you think they just saw it as trash talk?
      5. Was it fair for the United States to get involved in Vietnam in the first place?
      6. Can you see Nixon's speech applying to modern politics? How would our current president use this speech?
      7. The French decided that the whole Vietnam mess was getting a little too crazy for them, and they left the situation behind in 1954. Should the United States have left with them?