On July 10, 2019, Zhao Xuegong, deputy director of the World History Base and Changjiang Scholar, was invited by the History School of Capital Normal University to participate in the Summer Camp for Outstanding College Students organized by Capital Normal University and held an academic lecture entitled The US Congress and the Vietnam War.
Professor Zhao Xuegong analyzed the role of the U.S. Congress in the Vietnam War using a large number of rich original files and documents such as American diplomatic archives, U.S. declassified archives, and U.S. Congressional debate documents.
He focused on the past scholars who studied and inspected the power of the president and Congress during the Vietnam War. He emphasized the role of the U.S. Congress in the decision-making process of the Vietnam War. He not only revealed the power of the president and Congress in U.S. diplomacy and war.
Game, and revealed the role of Congress itself in the John War.
In addition, Professor Zhao Xuegong also revealed the changes in the U.S. Congress's understanding of the Vietnam War and the resulting changes in decision-making.
At the beginning of the Vietnam War, the Congress believed that the Asian region was facing a serious threat of communism, and this threat was becoming a reality in Vietnam. Therefore, the Congress supported the expansion of the Vietnam War and gradually increased funding for the Vietnam War.
However, with the development of the war situation, the United States has fallen into the quagmire of Vietnam, and the voice of the American people against the war has become increasingly louder.
This forced the U.S. Congress to re-examine the Vietnam War and the United States' own power, and pushed Congress to change its position and began to support Nixon's strategy of withdrawing from Vietnam.
Professor Zhao Xuegong’s lectures were simple and easy to understand, and were well received by the teachers and students attending the meeting. They also expanded the academic influence of the Nankai American Studies Center.