An American Amnesia: How the US Congress Forced the Surrenders of South Vietnam and Cambodia

by Bruce Herschensohn

January 27th, 1973: the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong sign the Paris Peace Accords, guaranteeing the right of self-determination to the South Vietnamese people.April 30th, 1975: President Duong Van Minh of South Vietnam announces the nation's unconditional surrender to the North, ending the decade-long conflict and enabling the merger of both countries into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.What happened in two short years to cause such a dramatic reversal?In An American Amnesia, respected political commentator Bruce Herschensohn re-examines the incredible actions taken by the 94th Congress and by many American citizens which forced South Vietnam's surrender, an event that brought about immense tragedy for Southeast Asians and haunts our political landscape to this day. Drawing on notes, speeches, and writings from his own experiences in Southeast Asia, as well as in the United States Information Agency and in the White House, Herschensohn fills in important facts in that period of history and warns against the danger of succumbing to a similar voluntary amnesia in the future.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Stanley Bruce Herschensohn is a fixture in American politics. He has received the Distinguished Service Medal, served as Deputy Special Assistant to President Nixon, was appointed a member of the Reagan Transition Team, and was the 1992 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in California. He has been a political commentator on KABC-TV and KABC Radio.

Herschensohn has taught at the University of Maryland, occupied the Nixon Chair at Whittier College, was a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics at Harvard University, and Distinguished Fellow of the Claremont Institute. He has worked with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and since 1998 has taught at the School of Public Policy of Pepperdine University where he has been Chairman of the Board and is currently a Senior Fellow. Herschensohn is also a Non-Resident Associate Fellow of the Nixon Center and serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Individual Freedom.

Reviews

[Alex Shrugged]

I bought "An American Amnesia" to document what I already knew, that after the Vietnam War the Democrats in Congress engineered the surrender and death of millions of Asians. My memory recollects it that way. It was that horrific action that forced me to abandon the Democrat Party. It upsets me even today. (As of this writing well over 40 years have passed.) The Republican Party might not be the best. Certainly it is not, but I refuse to call myself a Democrat ever again.

Never again.

I voted for Bruce Herschensohn for Senator against Barbara Boxer for the US Senate. He was catching up to her and might have caught her, but it was not to be. He was a good speaker and a good thinker but not a good politician. He had trouble lying.... always a disability in a politician.

The book was well done and well documented as I expected.

[Aron]

If everything you know about the Vietnam War you learned in school, then you need to read this book. The U.S. Congress refused to give support to the South Vietnamese which led to the slaughter and imprisonment of millions in Vietnam and Cambodia. The truth is a shameful tragedy; disgusting and embarrassing. Please read this book and help to avoid repeating the past.

[Dubya]

The media and demorats are traitors!!!!

[Jeremy Hatfield]

History about this conflict has been rewritten with ideological considerations in mind. Herschensohn recounts his personal experiences as someone who had worked in DC at the time.

[Kevin Goldsmith]

My only complaint is that it is not longer! This was a very satisfying read and a great addition to my library.

[Dorothy Timm]

Interesting facts near the beginning, but the latter part was boring

[Matt]

Fast quick and highly charged read.

[Ira Langstein]

Excellent enlightening work on the events surrounding the 1973 Paris Accords. Terribly written though with digressions and some bad dialogue.