SCHOLARLY BATTLES OVER THE VIETNAM WAR

Primarily a political asset, the high regard in which Thompson was held in the Kennedy White House and his privileged relationship with Diem made BRIAM a success in the eyes of Harold Macmillan's government. [...]BRIAM sent out a clear message to Britain's regional allies, especially Australia and New Zealand, that Britain cared about Southeast Asia and was prepared to take action. According to Robert Johnson, Gruening came to see Vietnam as embodying all that was wrong with American foreign policy - the blind application of containment, support of puppet governments and dictatorships, an emphasis on military power, and the shrinking of the Senate's constitutional role in the shaping of foreign policy. According to Schmitz, Church helped to legitimize the anti-war movement and led a decade-long struggle with the executive over the balance of power regarding foreign affairs. According to Robert D. Schulzinger, this represented a 'sea change in the deference lawmakers had accorded presidents during the Cold War years' (p. 283).