Quote · Empire: World History
374. Ken Burns on the American Revolution and Empire
Where this was said
Vietnam and the Visibility of American Empire
At 26:57 · chapter starts 25:10
Anita's question is precise: was Vietnam when America's imperial project became visible to itself? [1] — Ken Burns "A Marine and a North Vietnamese soldier describe the experience of war in almost exactly the same words. The opening of Burns's Vietnam ser…" 26:11 Burns agrees it was important, but corrects the premise. America's imperial project began not in Southeast Asia but with the subjugation of 300 Native American nations across the continental United States. Vietnam made that project undeniable. His own approach to the 10-episode, 18-hour documentary was to treat the universality of war seriously: pairing Marines with North Vietnamese soldiers describing the same moments in almost identical language. The series opens not with an American voice but with North Vietnamese soldier Bao Dinh's statement — 'the only people who want to know who won and who lost are the people who don't fight' — a line Burns cites as perhaps the truest thing ever said about war.
Was Vietnam the moment America's imperial project became visible to itself? Ken Burns says no. The project began with the subjugation of 300 Native American nations across the continental United States. Vietnam just made it impossible to ignore.
Burns argues America's imperial project began with the subjugation of 300 Native American nations across the continental United States, not with later overseas adventures.
Ken Burns's Vietnam War documentary series ran for 10 episodes totalling 18 hours, opening with a North Vietnamese soldier's perspective.
A Marine and a North Vietnamese soldier describe the experience of war in almost exactly the same words. The opening of Burns's Vietnam series comes from Bao Dinh, a North Vietnamese soldier: 'The only people who want to know who won and who lost are the people who don't fight.'
LBJ alone passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act — things his predecessor, for all his charisma, likely lacked the political muscle to achieve. Then he inherited a foreign policy apparatus from Kennedy and the buck stopped with him on Vietnam. That's the tragedy.
