President Ford’s Personal Watergate: The Undermining of the Public Sphere during the Mayaguez Incident

Abstract

In May 1974, Cambodian troops captured the U.S. container ship SS Mayaguez and her crew off the Cambodian coast, igniting a clash between the new Khmer Rouge regime and a U.S. president dealing with aftermath of Watergate. The Mayaguez incident was initially reported as a successful rescue mission, with the administration of President Gerald R. Ford keeping silent about the forty-one U.S. military personnel who died. For five days, the Pentagon insisted that one American had been killed. This incident highlights key communication steps in the life cycle of a politically constructed falsehood meant to mislead and limit information reaching the public sphere.

Notes

1 “A Chronology of the Mayaguez Episode,” New York Times, May 16, 1975.

2 Ibid.

3 Ralph Wetterhahn, The Last Battle: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2001), 141.

4 The names of the forty-one servicemen who died in the Mayaguez incident—eighteen in the attack on Koh Tang island and twenty-three in the crash of a helicopter dispatched from Thailand as part of a rescue mission—are the last ones inscribed on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC. See Jeff Stoffer, “The Last Battle,” American Legion, https://www.legion.org/magazine/211337/last-battle, and “The Wall of Faces,” Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, http://www.vvmf.org/wall-of-faces/.

5 For two excellent accounts of the Mayaguez incident, see Wetterhahn, The Last Battle, and John Guilmartin, A Very Short War: The Mayaguez and the Battle of Koh Tang (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1995).

6 Contemporary news accounts listed thiry-nine men on board the Mayaguez, while later historical works differ on whether there were thirty-nine or forty. A definitive list of forty names and addresses appears in box 25, “Mayaguez Situation – General (2)” folder, Philip Buchen Files, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. It also can be found on pages 84–85 of “Mayaguez Situation – General (2), https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0019/24823950.pdf. For the sake of consistency, references to thirty-nine crew members in some 1975 press accounts have been changed to forty.

7 Wetterhahn, The Last Battle, 257.

8 For a summary of military controls of the press in these wars, see Michael S. Sweeney, The Military and the Press: An Uneasy Truce (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2006); and Phillip Knightley, The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth-Maker from the Crimea to Iraq (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004).

9 A great many books have been written about the press and the Vietnam War, and how the American sense of its noble purpose and the inability to impose censorship gave journalists the opportunity to debunk many claims made by the U.S. and South Vietnamese armed forces. Among the best studies are Clarence R. Wyatt, Paper Soldiers: The American Press and the Vietnam War (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995); Daniel C. Hallin, The Uncensored War: The Media and Vietnam (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989); Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History (New York: Viking Press, 1983); Michael Herr, Dispatches (New York: Knopf, 1977); David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest (New York: Random House, 1972); and Morley Safer, Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam (New York: St. Martin’s, 1991).

10 Jürgen Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1962/1989).

11 Ibid., 12.

12 Jürgen Habermas, “Political Communication in Media Society: Does Democracy Still Enjoy an Epistiemic Dimension? The Impact of Normative Theory on Empirical Research,” Communication Theory 16, no. 4 (2006): 411–26.

13 Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, 12.

14 Vilja Hulden, “Employer Organizations’ Influence on the Progressive-Era Press,” Journalism History 38, no. 1 (2012): 43–54.

15 Dale E. Zacher, The Scripps Newspapers Go to War, 1914–1918 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2008), 63–67.

16 Edgar C. Simpson, “‘Predatory Interests’ and ‘The Common Man’: Scripps, Pinchot, and the Nascent Environmental Movement, 1908 to 1910,” Journalism History 39, no. 3 (Fall 2013): 145–55.

17 David Miller, ed., Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq (London: Pluto Press, 2004).

18 Iris Young, Inclusion and Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002).

19 John Keane, “Structural Transformations of the Public Sphere,” Communication Review 1, no. 1 (1995): 1–22.

20 James Curran, “Rethinking the Media as the Public Sphere,” in Communication and Citizenship: Journalism and the Public Sphere, edited by Peter Dalhgren and Colin Sparks (London: Routledge, 1997), 27–57.

21 Warren E. Bechtolt Jr., Joseph Hilyard, and Carl R. Bybee, “Agenda Control in the 1976 Debates: A Content Analysis,” Journalism Quarterly 54, no. 4 (1977): 674.

22 Thomas W. Benson, “To Lend a Hand: Gerald R. Ford, Watergate, and the White House Speechwriters,” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 1, no. 2 (1998): 224.

23 Mark J. Rozelle, The Press and the Ford Presidency (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1992), 2–3.

24 Ibid., 4.

25 See James Robbins, This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive (New York: Doubleday, 1971).

26 Clayton Chun, The Last Boarding Party: The USMC and the SS Mayaguez 1975 (Long Island: Osprey, 2011), 71–74.

27 William P. Head, “Mayaguez: The Final Tragedy of the U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War,” Journal of Third World Studies 29, no. 1 (2012): 71.

28 Ibid., 74.

29 Ralph Wetterhahn, The Last Battle: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2001); John Guilmartin, A Very Short War: The Mayaguez and the Battle of Koh Tang (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1995).

30 Robert J. Mahoney, The Mayaguez Incident: Testing America’s Resolve in the Post-Vietnam Era (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2011).

31 Roy Rowan, The Four Days of Mayaguez (New York: W.W. Norton, 1975).

32 James E. Wise Jr. and Scott Baron, The 14-Hour War: Valor on Koh Tang and the Recapture of the SS Mayaguez (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2001).

33 Christopher Jon Lamb, Belief Systems and Decision Making in the Mayaguez Crisis (Tallahassee: University Press of Florida, 1989).

34 Michael J. Hamm, “The Pueblo and Mayaguez Incidents: A Study of Flexible Response and Decision-Making,” Asian Survey 17, no. 6 (1977): 545–55; Jordan J. Paust, “The Seizure and Recovery of the Mayaguez,” Yale Law Journal 85, no. 6 (1976): 774–806; and Harvey J. McGeorge II, “Plan Carefully, Rehearse Thoroughly, Execute Violently: The Tactical Response to Hostage Situations,” World Affairs 146, no. 1 (1983): 59–68.

35 Dan F. Hahn, “Corrupt Rhetoric: President Ford and the Mayaguez Affair,” Communication Quarterly 28, no. 2 (1980): 38.

36 Mark J. Rozelle, The Press and the Ford Presidency (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1992), 99.

37 Gerald Ford, “Gerald Ford Quotes,” Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum, February 12, 2007, https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/grf/quotes.asp.

38 Peter Ehrenhaus, “Commemorating the Unwon War: On Not Remembering Vietnam,” Journal of Communication 39, no. 1 (1989): 96.

39 Lewis Sorley, A Better War (Orlando: Harcourt, 1999), 361. Sorley’s book dealt with the final years of the Vietnam War, arguing that narrative of United States military bungling mission after mission and being eventually pushed out of the country failed to address the energy, vision, and work of military leaders who sought to leave South Vietnam capable of standing on its own.

40 Cambodian journalist Dith Pran coined the phrase “Killing Fields” to describe multiple sites of mass executions carried out by the communist government from 1975 to 1979. The Khmer Rouge targeted anyone considered to be connected with the previous government, as well as intellectuals and other elites. See Bruce Sharp, “Counting Hell,” http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/deaths.htm.

41 Wetterhahn, The Last Battle, 34.

42 Press briefings, #210, May 12, 1975, pg. 2, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, Gerald R. Ford Library, Grand Rapids, Michigan (henceforth GRFL).

43 Press briefings, #210, May 12, 1975, p. 3, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

44 Press briefings, #211, May 12, 1975, p. 2, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

45 Press briefings, #211, May 12, 1975, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

46 Press briefings, #211, p. 2, May 12, 1975, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

47 Press briefings, #211, p. 6, May 12, 1975, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

48 Philip Shabecoff, “White House Says Cambodia Seized A U.S. Cargo Ship: Ford Charges Act,” New York Times, May 13, 1975.

49 While the Mayaguez dominated the press briefings, much of the nation’s attention and later historical inquiries would focus on a simultaneous event: Ford’s response to New York City’s request for a federal bailout. Nessen gave periodic updates at the briefings held during the period covered by this study.

50 Press briefings, #213, May 13, 1975, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

51 Press briefings, #214, pg. 8–9, May 13, 1975, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

52 John Marsh Files, May 13, 1975, Box 20, folder “Mayaguez Crisis,” Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.

53 Wetterhahn, The Last Battle, 37.

54 Henry Kissinger, Years of Renewal (New York: Touchstone, 1999), 551.

55 Press briefings, #216, p. 2, May 13, 1975, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

56 Philip Shabecoff, “Silence in Washington,” New York Times, May 14, 1975.

57 John W. Finney, “U.S. Frees Cambodian-Held Ship and Crew,” New York Times, May 15, 1975.

58 Press briefings, #217, May 14, 1975, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

59 Press briefings, #217, May 14, 1975, pp. 10–12, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL. The journalists were, in fact, interested in the pool, asking several questions and reporting extensively on its construction.

60 Ron Nessen to Donald Rumsfeld, memorandum, May 17, 1975, Ron Nessen Chronological Files, Box No. 146, GRFL.

61 Ron Nessen to Dick Cheney, memorandum, May 17, 1975, Ron Nessen Chronological Files, Box No. 146, GRFL.

62 Press briefings, #217, May 14, 1975, p. 16, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

63 Press briefings, #218, May 19, 1975, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, Gerald R. Ford Library.

64 White House Press Release, May 15, 1975, “Chronology of Events,” Box 11, White House Press Releases, GRFL.

65 Press briefings, #223, May 14, 1975, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

66 John W. Finney, “U.S. Frees Cambodian-Held Ship and Crew,” New York Times, May 15, 1975.

67 Philip Shabecoff, “Ford Is Backed: Senate Unit Endorses His Right to Order Military Action,” New York Times, May 15, 1975.

68 President Gerald Ford televised statement on the Mayaguez, May 15, 1975, www.history.com, http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/gerald-r-ford/videos/gerald-ford-Mayaguez-incident.

69 Notice to the Press, Chronology of Events, Wednesday, May 14, and Thursday, May 15, 1975, Regarding the SS Mayaguez incident, May 15, 1975, Box 11, White House Press Releases, GRFL.

70 In his report the next day, NBC’s Tom Brokaw noted “public response to the White House has been overwhelmingly favorable.”

71 Press briefings, #221, May 15, 1975, p. 9, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

72 R.W. Apple Jr., “Timing of Attack Raises Questions,” New York Times, May 16, 1975.

73 Kissinger, Years of Renewal, 574.

74 Ibid., 575.

75 The American Presidency Project, “Gerald Ford,” University of California, Santa Barbara, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=4934.

76 Jeffrey M. Jones, “Gerald Ford Retrospective,” Gallup, December 20, 2006, http://www.gallup.com/poll/23995/gerald

77 Press briefings, #223, May 19, 1975, p. 12, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

78 Press briefings, #223, May 19, 1975, p. 14, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

79 “Ford Sends a Signal,” New York Times, May 18, 1975.

80 Press briefings, #224, May 21, 1975, pp. 21–22, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

81 Press briefings, #224, May 21, 1975, p. 24, Ron Nessen Files, Box 9, GRFL.

82 Ron Nessen to Gerald Ford, May 16, 1975, Ron Nessen Papers, Box 50, GRFL. A transcript of the interview revealed a leading dialogue in which Sidey walked Ford through what would become the central themes of the administration, that a decisive president ordered swift action by a strong military. For instance, Sidey’s first question: “Was your initial response, your first feeling that something had to be done?”

83 Hugh Sidey, “An Old-Fashioned Kind of Crisis,” Time, May 26, 1975, http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,917464,00.html.

84 Interview of President Ford by Hugh Sidey, May 16, 1975, Ron Nessen Papers, Box 50, Gerald R. Ford Library.

85 Interview of President Ford by European television journalists, May 23, 1975, p. 3, Ron Nessen Papers, Box 50, GRFL.

86 Press briefing, #590, October 5, 1975, p. 8, Ron Nessen Files, Box 22, GRFL.

87 “Mayaguez Operation Criticized in Report,” New York Times, October 6, 1976; and “Kissinger Denounces Report on Mayaguez,” New York Times, October 7, 1976.

88 “Reviewing the Mayaguez,” New York Times, October 8, 1976.

89 Chun, The Last Boarding Party, 75

90 Gerald R. Ford, A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), 224

91 Hahn, “Corrupt Rhetoric and the Mayaguez Affair.”

92 Roger Morris, “What to Make of Mayaguez,” New Republic, June 14, 1975, 9–11.

93 Carl von Clausewitz, On War, ed. and trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989), 101.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Sweeney

Michael Sweeney is a professor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, [email protected].

Michael DiBari

Michael DiBari, Jr. is the Scripps Howard Endowed Professor in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University, [email protected].

Edgar Simpson

Edgar Simpson is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, [email protected].

William Schulte

William Schulte is an associate professor in the Department of Mass Communication at Winthrop University, [email protected].