National Security Adviser
NSC VIETNAM INFORMATION GROUP:
Intelligence and Other Reports, 1967-1975
SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
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.
QUANTITY
4.8 linear feet (ca. 12,900
pages)
DONOR
Gerald R. Ford (accession
number 95-25)
ACCESS
The collection is
administered under terms of the donor's deed of gift, a copy of which is
available on request, and under National Archives and Records Administration
general restrictions (36 CFR 1256).
COPYRIGHT
Gerald R. Ford has donated
to the United States of America his copyrights in all of
his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. The copyrights to materials written by other
individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees
as part of their official duties are in the public domain.
Prepared by Geir Gundersen, October 1995;
Revised by William H. McNitt, March 2000 [s:\bin\findaid\nsc\nsc
vietnam information group.doc]
INTRODUCTION
The NSC Vietnam
Information Group: Intelligence and Other Reports is one of many subcollections that comprise the National Security Adviser
Files. The provenance and nature of the
National Security Adviser Files as a whole are described in Appendix A.
The Vietnam Information Group consisted of NSC staff
members responsible for monitoring cable traffic from other agencies reporting
on events in South and North Vietnam. It appears that the staff began receiving these
cables during the latter part of the Johnson administration, but this practice
may have originated as early as the Eisenhower administration. The collection, consisting primarily of State
Department cables and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intelligence
information cables, continued to grow as it was maintained by succeeding NSC
staffs during the Nixon and Ford administrations. After the fall of Saigon,
the collection was placed in NSC storage until its rediscovery and transfer to
the Ford Library in 1995.
The bulk of the collection dates from the Nixon
administration (1969-1974), although almost a third of the folders contain at
least some Johnson administration materials covering August 1967 to January
1969. Many topics contain no materials later
than 1973 (the year of the Paris
agreements), and only six folders contain materials dating from the Ford
administration.
This
collection provides important background information on the Vietnamese war and
its impact on life in South and North Vietnam. The materials on South
Vietnam primarily concern relations with the
United States,
the country's political climate, and the many problems plaguing the
government. There is information on the
role and interests of key political figures, the military, opposition groups,
communist-sponsored organizations operating in the south, religious sects,
ethnic groups, and labor unions, as well as censorship of the press, government
corruption, and the peace negotiations.
Materials
on North Vietnam
primarily concern their military and the diplomatic efforts aimed at gaining
peace and ultimately the unification of North and South
Vietnam.
There is information about the military's operations in the south,
Hanoi's attempts to infiltrate and influence the south politically, its
relations with China and the Soviet Union, the war's impact on the economy,
foreign aid, the Paris peace talks, and subsequent violations of the Paris
agreements.
Series Descriptions
1-12 Subject File, 1967-1975. (4.8 linear feet)
Cables, telegrams, reports, memoranda, and clippings concerning South Vietnam, North
Vietnam, and the
Vietnam War. Materials on South
Vietnam focus on US-South Vietnamese relations; South Vietnam's political
climate; the role and activities of the government, including its problem with
corruption and censorship of the press; peace process; South Vietnam’s
political parties; key political figures; opposition groups;
communist-sponsored organizations; religious sects; ethnic groups; labor
unions; disabled veterans; Montagnards, National
Liberation Front, Provisional Revolutionary Government, and Buddhist and
Catholic political organizations.
Folders on specific individuals concern Dr. Phan
Quong Dan, Vice President Nguyen Cao
Ky, General Duong Van "Big"
Minh, and President Nguyen Van Thieu. Materials on the peace negotiations discuss
the Saigon government's negotiation stances and its
reactions to U.S.-Hanoi talks.
Documents
on North Vietnam
focus primarily on the military, the war's impact on the country, and the peace
process. There is information on the
leading generals, their tactics and strategy, the number of troops, their
deployment and morale, and the types and sources of military equipment funneled
south. The materials also address North
Vietnamese relations with China
and the Soviet Union, the state of their economy,
sources of foreign aid, food production, and the general hardships endured by
the civilian population. The materials
on the peace negotiations document the negotiation stances and tactics of the
North Vietnamese government and violations of the Paris
agreements.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Container List
Box 1 Subject File
Anti-Americanism,
1967-1971 (1)-(2)
Buddhists,
1972-1973 (1)-(2)
Cao Dai, 1968-1973
Cambodian
Communist Terrorism, 1973-1975 (1)-(3)
Catholics,
1967-1973 (1)-(4)
Civilian
People's Self-Defense, 1968
Box 2 Subject File
Communist
Shipping to North Vietnam, 1968-1972 (1)-(2)
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- Chinese Community, 1970-1972
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- Corruption, 1967-1973 (1)-(6)
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- Dr. Phan Quong Dan,
1967-1973 (1)-(2)
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- Ngo Cong Duc, 1970-1973
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- National Salvation Front, 1968-1969 (1)-(2)
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- National Social Democratic Front, 1969-1970
Box 3 Subject File
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- Nhan Xa Party, 1969-1973
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- Nhan Xa Can Lao Party,
1968-1969
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- Au Truong Thanh, 1972-1973
Government
of [South] Vietnam
- Tran Van Tuyen, 1968-1973
Hoa Hao, 1967-1973 (1)-(2)
Khmer in Vietnam,
1968-1973 (1)-(2)
Ky, Vice President Nguyen Cao, 1967-1973 (1)-(7)
Box 4 Subject File
Ky, Vice President Nguyen Cao, 1967-1973 (8)-(9)
Labor,
1967-1973 (1)-(8)
Lien Minh Nationalist Party, 1968-1969 (1)-(4)
Box 5 Subject File
Minh, General Duong Van (Big Minh),
1968-1973 (1)-(7)
Montagnards, 1968-1973 (1)-(3)
National
Council of National Reconciliation and Concord,
1973
National
Liberation Front/Provisional Revolutionary Government, 1968-1975 (1)-(2)
Box 6 Subject File
National
Liberation Front/Provisional Revolutionary Government, 1968-1975 (3)-(13)
Box 7 Subject File
National
Liberation Front/Provisional Revolutionary Government, 1968-1975 (14)-(15)
National
Liberation Front/Provisional Revolutionary Government - Alliance, 1968-1971 (1)-(5)
National
Liberation Front/Provisional Revolutionary Government - Central Office for South
Vietnam, 1970-1973 (1)-(7)
Box 8 Subject File
National
Liberation Front/Provisional Revolutionary Government - Central Office for
South Vietnam, 1970-1973 (8)-(10)
National
Liberation Front/Provisional Revolutionary Government - Miscellaneous,
1970-1973 (1)-(2)
National
Progressive Force, 1969-1970
North
Vietnam, 1973-1975 (1)-(3)
North
Vietnam - Military, 1967-1972 (1)-(3)
Box 9 Subject File
North
Vietnam - Military, 1967-1972 (4)-(13)
North
Vietnam - Negotiations, 1968-1973 (1)-(2)
Box 10 Subject File
North
Vietnam - Negotiations, 1968-1973 (3)-(8)
People's
Republic of China,
1970-1973 (1)-(3)
Press,
1967-1972 (1)-(3)
Box 11 Subject File
Press,
1967-1972 (4)-(7)
Progressive
Nationalist Movement, 1969-1972
South
Vietnam - Negotiations, 1967-1973 (1)-(8)
Box 12 Subject File
Taxation,
1969-1971
Thieu, President Nguyen Van, 1972-1973 (1)-(3)
USSR,
1967-1975 (1)-(7)
Veterans,
1970-1972
Vietnamese
Nationalist Party, 1969-1972
