Cambodia - What Now, What Next?; 2; The Process: Politics and Polls

we now present cambodia what now what's next a series of six broadcast produced for adobe rv er by students at the columbia university graduate school of journalism this is the second in the series and deals with the process politics in the polls now here's marc ashton executive producer of cambodia what now what next since the united states military intervention in cambodia last april thirtieth there's been much talk about what president nixon did do and did not do before deciding to commit american troops there there've been cries of dissatisfaction from congress alleging that nixon made the decision without consulting anyone from that by nixon has been accused of being totally cut off from american public opinion adding to the confusion opinion polls show that most americans supported the cambodian intervention but favored withdrawal of american forces from vietnam nixon has been accused of sounding just like lyndon johnson and indeed the president's defense of his cambodian intervention had atoned

reminiscent of the july nineteen sixty four speech and johnson's foreign policy biden secretary of state dean rusk where our vital interest in a violent years of our allies are concerned united states is justice and justice dublin as is necessary to protect our vital interest that has been i think demonstrated time after time i think we ought to bear in mind that when the other side instead is that their violent gesture steak or they're gonna be stubborn thing that i think it would be unrealistic to suppose that though they will roll and played dead on the basis of everything we say and do that might affect the violent years in the early days of the cambodian invasion zero contact was made with enemy forces defense department body count figures which continued to claim fifty enemy dead for every american casualty in vietnam were changed in cambodia to supply account figures and those figures which to some same as extraordinary as the vietnamese body cams began to

turn up and defenses of the cambodian intervention by such senators as south carolina's strom thurmond and they've been in a bank you a lively debate on a batman the market would get good he's been in la they would be used again now that major portions of the communist headquarters in cambodia have reportedly been captured the military rationale for the entry into cambodia is it's cheap defense that russia now however had been proffered by the president and scorned by his critics from the very beginning of the cambodian venture since april

thirtieth action and reaction attack and defense assertion and challenge to run rampant through the nation the news itself seemed to share the tents shrill atmosphere of the country american troops cross border in cambodia president announces cambodian mission the nation yanks weak fish hook area for kent state student shot down by national guard hundreds of schools closing first national student strike thousand strong to washington to protest warren campbell senators offer amendments to current president's war power students lobby on capitol hill because sales nixon by suzanne used than more nixon tells aides to lower voices nixon promises exit from cambodia nigeria very us resumes bombing over north vietnam nixon stages predawn talk with students at new scores congressional threats to our knees <unk> stock market tumbles students prepare for some of the project's six and ponders nineteen seventy two election unrest and kansas in cities and st continuous why did he do it why did the president

do it why did nixon send americans into cambodia tonight's program addresses this question and share what will examine the president's decision with me there's no easy explanation for the president's actions but his critics and those who support the drive into cambodia this complex factors that indian comprise the decision making process employed by richard nixon among those factors are the pressures imposed by the election itself and the presidents fear of falling lyndon johnson's route to political disaster the decision making process is colored also by the president's own personality and his political experiences as a whole the man he selects his advisors and the advice he both sikhs and attacks continue to the process as to the opinions that are effected in the nation's public opinion polls beyond these external forces there are the demands of the military that the president must weigh in balance as president his resources are vast his powers some have said in recent weeks maybe more that's part of the furor

over the drive into cambodia has been raised not because the decision wasn't popular but because the way the decision was made was unpopular the debate surrounding the presidential exercise of power as commander in chief of the nation's armed forces reflects a conflict within nixon's own goals there are those like former president kennedy's assistant secretary of state for far eastern affairs writer holzman who believed nixon wanted to escalate the war but was stopped by the intense opposition at home all right there are also those like republican senator peter dominic of colorado who believe the president did exactly what he had to do to protect the lives of americans fighting in vietnam once you have your medical care

a similar military rationale appeals to many nixon supporters vice president spiro agnew in a nationally televised interview and a parallel between the military action in cambodia and a policeman over at home i likened the situation where you are in your neighborhood there's a lone arsonist who is accumulating firebombs across the street from you and the mere fact that he hasn't grown wanting your house yet doesn't diminish his capability were trying to diminish that capability the vice president implies that clearing foreign territory of anime sanctuaries is as easy as raiding a neighbor's house but the track record of the united states military forces in similar search and destroy operations inside south vietnam has been notoriously and distinguished and leading south vietnamese troops into cambodia is somewhat akin to leave enough fox into the chicken coups the vietnamese and the cambodians had been at each other's throats for centuries and they're strong ethnic

animosity and territorial jealousy could flare into open warfare in the south im in the state too long and the cambodian soil vice president made his defense of the cambodian intervention followed some very vocal attacks made and the president's policy there were during the first week of may so many in washington who said they had had nothing to do with the decision that it was important to determine who had played a role in the process my guest dan has a report on the man nixon consulted during that last week in april henry kissinger serving as the president's adviser on national security has stamped his trademark on most of the president's foreign policy in this case he was in constant touch with president nixon and he was in addition responsible for channeling all outside recommendations to the president nixon also conferred with his national security council that appears only to have followed the advice of a small committee within that council members of this committee included cia director richard helms and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general earle

wheeler attorney general john mitchell also played a role in the decision making process well mitchell's directed by some terribly focused on the political risks that would accompany the move his influence as nixon's personal friend is incalculable in addition to mitchell secretaries rogers and layered were consulted by the president but other cabinet officials were not nor was anyone on capitol hill they advised directed to the president came from within a narrow spectrum of the is the inclusion of recommendations from general creighton abrams an ambassador ellsworth bunker in saigon did not extend the scope of alternatives presented to next however most critics do not score nixon for his absence of options but instead and says that he should've consulted congress and his entire cabinet before making his decision the decision to invade cambodia however did not depend only upon the advice the president received or

fail to receive another input into the decision making process is the public opinion poll and reports on an interview with pollster oliver well over quail frequent presidential public opinion counselor says that president nixon consultant polls before taking action in cambodia but he does have the information figured significantly in that decision i'm sure he did with his his actions have seen muslims in action and i've never seen so i went into the same criteria for decision of that magnitude it would've been very difficult to say before nixon announced us troops from going into cambodia polling showing know what the

president announced that we were going to we have some questions in advance we have some questions but it's hard to pin the person down and generally gauge the mood of the country i don't think we yet know what american public reaction to the cambodian decision was there were two what i call an instant home for maya papadopoulos infinitely professional actors like leon here's the one question you who would disapprove and as we've learned over the years in a time of crisis they either destroyed nations we had to project what they

know the only true they thought that all of the various it's the monthly excellent from the public that you know we left it all on a single question is vacated former president johnson publicly sworn by the polls until the statistics turned against him president nixon is not saying how he treats the polls possibly because he wants to avoid johnson's big fall it could also be that the president is trying to establish an image as a leader who makes his decisions on the merits of the issues rather than on their so called popularity the president's images for many rooted not so much in the polls as in his political life that began in the fifties mike discusses this background tony moore a columbia university law student and a former member of president nixon's campaign staff suggests that the president has failed to consider the needs of those outside the boundaries of his political constituency the american voters and where i'm black and i'm young and i

think that that's the way nixon carried his campaign now since then of course a lot of people and myself included have been have been upset that he really hasn't tried to stretch beyond his coalition to bring in or even listen to the ideas of young people when minority groups that is the blacks year political offense most directly political stance he owes them nothing inherent in the president's political considerations is a sensitivity to the mandated his election roger bolton believes richard nixon is in part a leader trapped by his election promises as it happens it's not about you know something about i got away without further escalation they had to do

something to the us right now i would say that nixon's update all right feldman also believes that the move into cambodia is a logical step in the process of vietnamization in effect it buys time for the vietnamization program nixon's dilemma and his desire to conduct a war ii essentially on his own have been shared by many presidents before him and discusses some of those historical precedence historians have traced the actions of presidents jefferson has sent forces to tripoli mckinley who send troops to china and kennedy who imposed a navel blockade of cuba all on their own authority as commanders in chief of the armed forces vice president agnew has himself

raised these presidents of independent executive action to justify nixon's cambodian move over lunch at the columbia university faculty club history professor william upton byrd noted that while president nixon can be said to be in good company this factor alone will not lessen the criticism of his actions these mini kind of isolation on this issue and he made a statement not really we're doing

that within the cabinet nixon staff has functioned in recent weeks as a source of some deep political embarrassment to the president on the other hand some of his closest advisors and staunchest supporters are found within that staff historians suggest that the personality of the president determines to a large extent the use he makes of his staff presidents tend to surround themselves with people who are compatible as well as confident within the nixon administration john mitchell was the man nixon likes to have around tony moore with his perspective from the nineteen sixty eight campaign explains why mitchell appeals to nixon in six nixon ran his own campaign he hardly spoke to anybody i like some of his highest our closest advisors including bob bench couldn't get in to see him and one reason nixon did make some money and space and nineteen sixty was that he just would not talk to people on the outside well

nineteen sixty eight nixon realize that he had to be free to take care of the broader detail how the broader aspect of the campaign to think about what he was going to say or think about how we would react in public and what he needed more than anything else and sixty eight was a person he could trust and i emphasize that where he wanted somebody in who he could delegate responsibilities however grander however monday night the campaign john mitchell has that type of personality that nixon was looking for art he has a type of mine they can take your details and could organize perfectly and beyond that john mcdonnell john mitchell was loyal to nixon and even now nixon feels that that loyalty must not go unpaid and that's one reason that you're supposed to answer to the exclusion almost of other advisors but the president must also deal with congress congressional reaction following the decision to enter cambodia has been forceful several congressmen have been quick to point out that the president did not inform the legislature until troops had already cost the cambodian border as are is out there have

been several attempts to limit the president's powers to conduct an undeclared war critics of the presidents policy of welcome the congressional action likewise legislators have been boyd by the constituent response but history suggests that the congressional pressure on the president will not necessarily succeed most presidents who have exercise executive prerogative some foreign and battles had done so with little weight from congress according to professor like timber in fact he said that probably more times than life is not in congress but rather that the president has acted on his own initiative as president truman an economist with after the fact while congress may have traditionally rested emerge in the face of presidential power plays today's congress is making noticeable attempts to reassert its powers over the conduct of war most critics of the war applied this legislative effort many believe that the response of congress will affect the president

and that it offers the only promise to disappointed protesters that the system can change from within the potential of congress has not always been held in such high esteem town fair an associate professor of law at columbia university served in the justice department under president kennedy there are suggest that until recently there were many who believe congress should maintain a passive stance there's no doubt that over the last hundred years and particularly since the new deal there's been a major shift in bounds of authority power influence prestige from the egg from the legislative to the executive branch it used to be the liberal flying through supporting card applaud this movement i think that was true right through me the kennedy era in the usa reached it reached its highest point during the kennedy or i was in government myself at that time when we

regarded commerce is merely an impediment to making the world safe for democracy and other goodies of that kind of well i've changed our mind eye ear lie low income at least when it comes to the use of force this is the kind of decision which cannot be left in the hands of one one must still question what will impact any new legislation designed to limit presidential powers would have the budget at least for this year has been approved a turk and gough resolution has not at least so far been rescinded the powers of the president to command the armed services of the nation is granted by the constitution have not so far been seriously questioned and the president's sensitivity to congressional outrage has not so far been impressive but nixon as a political being cannot ignore the generally irate congress if they were to face a truly hostile legislature his productivity is an illustrator would be seriously lessened and his

chances for reelection would most observers agreed be considerably reduced thus while congress will have great difficulty limiting the president to the extent many of its members desire the fact that the issues have been debated on the floor of the senate should be enough to impress nixon his quick and forced their lobbying tactics in the wake of the proposals of church and cooper mcgovern and hatfield tell of some immediate reaction has promised that american troops would not penetrate beyond an arbitrary border established inside cambodia tells of more concern is about to remove american men from cambodia according to a specific timetable may also demonstrate the way congress has already carried at the same time however buys president they do is quick to remind the congress and the public that the president is in charge and the questionable role of americans throughout southeast asia in an out of cambodia and laos indian man stands is evidence of his unquestionable powers mark the conclusions of those who criticize president nixon for his decision to expand the vietnam war

into cambodia have in common they're almost desperate search for an issue that would make the president more vulnerable to their criticism there has been considerable protest in washington that makes an isolated himself and his decision but examination of the process used shows that he did call for the aid of his most trusted advisors but their larger concerns raised by the decision making process for the cambodian intervention concerts which are being expressed throughout the country many are worried that the president's foray into cambodia represents another chapter in americas widening entanglement in southeast asia those who questioned the military wisdom of the move point to earlier escalation is designed to end the war are temporary moves would somehow became facts of life and others will accept the administration contention that the cambodian action is militarily feasible point out that it is still not a real solution to the war in vietnam since

american commitments in southeast asia date back some twenty years nixon is not the first president to face that lack of a real solution to conflict in the area nixon seems to have concluded that his own instincts coupled with the advice of people who share those instincts will lead him out of the war but many critics point out that this reliance on men of similar thoughts in attitudes backs the president into a corner they insist that he should keep open channels of communication to people with whom he often disagrees at times nixon does seem to want to listen to those who oppose his policies but he seems unsure about how to deal with such people and his speeches and actions may end up at cross purposes plus the president told a nationally televised press conference that he understood student demonstrators and have the same basic ends in mind that they did but this press conference came only three days after the murder of four or kent state university students a murder to which nixon reacted by releasing a statement through an intermediary that such events will

occur when demonstrators turned to violence this despite the fact that none of the former students was a known radical and at least one was shot down while on the way to class and nixon suppose sympathy with students also stood in sharp contrast to his reaction to professors letter explaining the twenty years of his research have been destroyed during a campus riot it's his reaction was the pentagon speech at which he labeled student demonstrators bombs despite these contrary reactions from the president nixon did hear among protesters in the predawn hours of may ninth attempting to talk to them in their own language including some which most newspapers wouldn't grant some congressmen tried to talk with political dissenters on a more regular basis than that and their reaction is often appreciative as it was at a recent meeting between students and illinois senator charles person i learned a tremendous amount from your questions and why can't really find the answer to a question i'll go back and try to figure out why wasn't i fail to

fully understand every aspect of the problem and raised and i think it's a very i wish more of my colleagues to be out here to join our cause but for members of congress less liberal than senator personally the communication is often more difficult there was a defensiveness in the discussion and coldness and the reactions at a recent meeting in which a student asked colorado senator peter dominic why he opposes repeal of the tonkin gulf resolution so the channels of communication between the president and the dissenters may not be easy to open up to make matters worse some of the president's staunchest supporters would regard even an attempt to talk with the protesters as a sellout south carolina senator strom thurmond is an example

but then and then at the end of a goalie then the pentagon papers a republican debating that moment two saturday thurman's comments must be added the fact that recent rallies have often protested the protesters themselves and that american flags and america love it or leave it bumper stickers sprouted on many cars and buildings so perhaps president nixon can safely ignore the opinions of those whose instincts differ from his own after all a recent gallup poll showed that fifty eight percent of the

people surveyed blamed the students for provoking the kent state killings while only eleven percent thought that the national guardsmen who pulled the triggers yet public opinion polls are better able to show the feelings of the silent majority that indicate the fervor of a minority that will not be still until its voices heard the third show in this areas cambodia what now what next will deal with the president's mandate image versus pragmatism examining reaction to nixon's indochina policy in the light of the nineteen sixty eight presidential campaign and the much discussed but little understood southern strategy tonight show was prepared by mary grunwald george peterson and anne shirley executive producer mark gessner this program was produced at the graduate school of journalism at columbia university for the public affairs unit of w r b r new york