JFK Library to host talks on Vietnam
Two-day event attracts era's decision makers
In the first such collaboration of its kind, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library is announcing today that it will host a conference jointly sponsored by the National Archives and all 12 presidential libraries.
Among those set to participate in ''Vietnam and the Presidency" March 10-11 are two former secretaries of state, Henry A. Kissinger and Alexander M. Haig Jr., Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, TV journalist Dan Rather, and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Frances FitzGerald and David Halberstam. Halberstam will deliver the conference's keynote address on March 10.
President Jimmy Carter will make a video presentation, and NBC anchorman Brian Williams will serve as moderator for the March 11 sections.
''I think what's so special about this conference is the bipartisan nature, the level of participation, the incredible list of people we've been able to get," Deborah Leff, the library's director, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
The idea for the event, Leff said, came after a decision by the Richard Nixon Library last March to cancel a scheduled conference on Nixon and Vietnam that would have marked the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The library said the cancellation was the result of limited public interest. Several prominent scholars attributed the decision to the library's fear of criticism that might be directed at Nixon.
In libraries, as in politics, a Nixon loss once again meant a Kennedy gain.
After the idea for a new conference was broached, it made sense to expand the event, said Sharon Fawcett, assistant archivist for presidential libraries, in a telephone interview yesterday. The magnitude and duration of US involvement in Indochina made the idea of all the libraries sponsoring a larger conference seem an obvious choice.
''Issues aren't stratified within specific administrations," Fawcett said. ''Something like Vietnam or the Middle East or civil rights extended over many administrations."
Other conference participants include Theodore Sorensen, special assistant to President Kennedy; Jack Valenti, special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson; New York Times columnist Bob Herbert; Pete Peterson, first US ambassador to Vietnam; and historian Michael Beschloss. The conference sought to cast an even wider net, Leff said. A number of high-profile participants, such as former secretary of defense Melvin Laird and former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, wanted to attend but were prevented from doing so by scheduling conflicts.
''This has been pretty complicated to put together," Leff said with a laugh. ''In my prior life I was senior producer at 'Nightline,' so I'm used to putting together some pretty impressive lineups -- but nothing like this."
All events will be free and open to the public, though reservations are required. Schedule and ticket information is available at the library's website, jfklibrary.org.
Mark Feeney can be reached at mfeeney@globe.com. 
