Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardThe Vietnam War and Foreign Policy

“This madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home, and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it must be ours.”
— Martin Luther King Jr., “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” 1967

Which of the following historical developments during the mid-to-late 1960s best supports the argument made by King in the excerpt that domestic social reforms were undermined by United States foreign policy?

  1. A
    The complete abandonment of the containment doctrine in foreign policy to prioritize urban renewal and welfare programs.
  2. The diversion of federal resources from Great Society initiatives to fund the military escalation of the Vietnam War.Answer
  3. C
    The legislative repeal of New Deal programs following executive actions authorized by the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
  4. D
    The creation of military draft exemptions specifically intended to shield low-income and minority populations from combat service.

Answer

The diversion of federal resources from Great Society initiatives to fund the military escalation of the Vietnam War.
The correct answer is correct because President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society programs, which aimed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice, were heavily underfunded as the federal budget was increasingly consumed by the rising costs of escalating the Vietnam War. This conflict between domestic goals ('guns versus butter') directly supports the assertion that the poor were paying a 'double price' through the loss of social welfare opportunities at home.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the provided historical source to identify the author's primary argument.
In the 1967 speech, Martin Luther King Jr. argues that American military involvement in Vietnam imposes a 'double price' on the American poor by destroying domestic programs ('smashed hopes at home') and causing deaths in Southeast Asia.
This establishes the historical perspective being evaluated: the trade-off between domestic welfare policies and foreign military commitments.
2
Recall the key domestic and foreign policy programs of the Lyndon B. Johnson administration in the mid-to-late 1960s.
Domestic programs centered on the Great Society and the War on Poverty, while foreign policy was dominated by escalation in the Vietnam War.
This identifies the specific historical policies that align with the context of the speech.
3
Evaluate the choices to determine which option directly illustrates how foreign military expenditures affected domestic reforms.
The massive cost of escalating military involvement in Vietnam forced the federal government to redirect funds away from the newly established Great Society programs, directly causing the stagnation or underfunding of domestic anti-poverty efforts.
This confirms the correct option by matching historical evidence to the argument in the stimulus.

Key Concept

The domestic debate over the containment doctrine and the budgetary trade-offs of the Vietnam War.
Rate this question

Topics

The Vietnam War and Foreign Policy

More questions from this topic