James Claude Thomson served as an East Asia Specialist in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He comments on a lack of expertise on Asia in the US government in the 1950s and 1960s. Thomson helped draft the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, and he recalls the process to get it passed through Congress. He discusses the effects of the Democratic Partys fear of looking soft on Communism on Vietnam, and recalls his dismay at the escalation of the war in 1965.
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![Interview with W. Averell (William Averell) Harriman, 1979 [Part 1 of 4]](https://bpldcassets.blob.core.windows.net/derivatives/metadata/commonwealth-oai:hq37xk35h/image_thumbnail_300.jpg)
![Interview with W. Averell (William Averell) Harriman, 1979 [Part 2 of 4]](https://bpldcassets.blob.core.windows.net/derivatives/metadata/commonwealth-oai:p2678r51t/image_thumbnail_300.jpg)
![Interview with W. Averell (William Averell) Harriman, 1979 [Part 3 of 4]](https://bpldcassets.blob.core.windows.net/derivatives/metadata/commonwealth-oai:hq37xm114/image_thumbnail_300.jpg)