| Abstract | Discusses the struggle over the meaning and significance of the Vietnam War in American culture and society, analyzing official rhetoric, public and congressional battles about the memory of the war, and the ways popular culture has shaped public memories of the war. Presidents and conservatives have attempted to either forget or sanitize the war, the most contested event in American history, with the exception of the Civil War. However, the public, the media, and popular culture still view the war as fundamentally and morally wrong and fault a flawed US policy for a war that had extremely negative consequences for American society. Diplomatic historians, familiar with the international aspects of the conflict, must not abandon the study of Vietnam and national memory to cultural historians and political polemicists.
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