Citizens Committee for Peace with Freedom in Vietnam records, 1967-1975

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Summary

Creators:
Citizens Committee for Peace with Freedom in Vietnam
Abstract:
Correspondence, statements, press releases, pamphlets, lists, financial records, and printed matter relating to the Vietnam War.
Extent:
28 manuscript boxes, 2 card file boxes, 1 oversize box, 2 phonotape reels (15.7 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Citizens Committee for Peace with Freedom in Vietnam records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The records of the Citizens Committee for Peace with Freedom in Vietnam are divided into sixteen series of varying importance. The Founding Documents series contains documentation of the formation of the Committee in a single folder.

Correspondence, arranged alphabetically, is an important series. So too is Issuances. This series contains not only the final texts of pamphlets and other issuances of the Committee, but also of draft versions, correspondence directly related to their preparation, and press coverage of the issuances. Speaking Engagements and Literature Requests consists largely of correspondence documenting Committee outreach to specific audiences.

Vietnam Trips is an important series. It documents the two fact-finding missions undertaken by Committee delegations in 1969 and 1970. The series includes correspondence related to the trips, notes and memoranda made while they were underway, briefings received from officials in the field, and other material collected. There is a lengthy report of her personal observations by Mary Lord, a member of the first delegation. The delegations' formal reports are to be found in the Issuances series.

A Publicity series consists mainly of clippings referring to the Committee in newspapers and other printed sources. Financial Records, Fundraising Records and Housekeeping Records document relatively mundane aspects of the organization's life.

There is a Subject File and an associated Printed Matter series containing material collected by the Committee from outside sources. The Subject File is arranged by topic. Although consisting primarily of printed material, it includes some letters, memoranda and notes closely tied to particular topics.

There are also five small series constituted on the basis of the physical format of their contents: Photographs; Card File; Memorabilia; Oversize; and Phonotapes.

There is a small quantity of material dating after the time the Committee became inactive, particularly in Correspondence and in the Subject File. These are items that Charles Tyroler II, director of the Committee, added to the Committee records, which remained in his possession.

The Hoover Institution Library & Archives acquired the records of the Citizens Committee for Peace with Freedom in Vietnam together with those of the Committee on the Present Danger in 1992. Tyroler was also director of the latter organization, which was formed in 1976. It is of special interest that the Citizens Committee served as a model for the creation and operations of the more ambitious and successful Committee on the Present Danger. This is to be seen even in such details as design of the pamphlet covers issued by the two organizations.

Biographical / historical:

The Citizens Committee for Peace with Freedom in Vietnam was formed in October 1967. By this time the war in Vietnam had become highly controversial within the United States. A vigorous antiwar movement had come into existence. While some called for the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam, others advocated escalation of the war. A small number of figures, mainly former government officials, felt the need for an organization independent of government to make the case for support of what they deemed to be a middle position of "staying the course" in Vietnam in accordance with the policy of the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Former Democratic Senator Paul H. Douglas of Illinois took the role of spokesman for the new Citizens Committee. Endorsements were secured from an impressive array of public figures, including former Presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower and retired General Omar N. Bradley. An office was established for the Committee in Washington, D.C., and Charles Tyroler II, a former Department of Defense official, managed its operations as director of the organization.

The Citizens Committee made its positions known through a series of pamphlets, press statements and press conferences. It also undertook to supply speakers and literature in response to the requests of media, schools and other organizations. Pamphlets addressed the proposal for a bombing pause in North Vietnam in early 1968, and of the prospects for negotiations in Paris. The Committee expressed feelings of skepticism regarding both. It supplied testimony on Vietnam to the platform committees of both the Democratic and the Republican parties in advance of the 1968 presidential election. It maintained close ties with the new administration of President Richard M. Nixon as it had done with the outgoing Johnson administration.

The Committee undertook two fact-finding missions to South Vietnam, the first in August 1969 and the second in April 1970. Committee delegation rosters for the two trips varied, but three individuals were on both. These were Charles Tyroler II, former Ambassador Edmund A. Gullion, and Abbott Washburn, a former deputy director of the United States Information Agency. The delegations visited U.S. military headquarters in Vietnam, the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, and South Vietnamese officials, and also made a stop in Paris, where peace negotiations were underway. The Committee publicized its fact-finding reports, which expressed tempered optimism regarding progress in the war. A third trip was discussed but never made.

Its 1970 trip was the last major project of the Committee. By that time it had become apparent that "Vietnamization" of the war was the watchword for the future. By early 1971 the Committee had become inactive. There was no formal dissolution and Tyroler responded to later requests for some time.

Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1992.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Citizens Committee for Peace with Freedom in Vietnam records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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