, ▁and ▁force fully ▁manage ▁the ▁atmosphere ▁of ▁disc ourse . ▁ ▁Regarding ▁the ▁per enn ial ▁issues ▁of ▁Vietnam , ▁a ▁country ▁in ▁civil ▁war , ▁Hel ms ▁led ▁as ▁an ▁important ▁institution al ▁player ▁in ▁the ▁political ▁mix ▁of ▁Washington . ▁Yet ▁C IA ▁people ▁were ▁themselves ▁divided ▁on ▁the ▁conflict . ▁As ▁the ▁D CI , ▁Hel ms ' ▁daily ▁duties ▁involved ▁the ▁difficult ▁task ▁of ▁updating ▁C IA ▁intelligence ▁and ▁reporting ▁on ▁C IA ▁operations ▁to ▁the ▁American ▁executive ▁leadership . ▁Vietnam ▁then ▁domin ated ▁the ▁news . ▁Not or iously , ▁the ▁American ▁political ▁cons ensus ▁eventually ▁broke . ▁The ▁public ▁became ▁sharp ly ▁divided , ▁with ▁the ▁issues ▁being ▁voc ifer ously ▁cont ested . ▁About ▁the ▁so - called ▁Vietnam ese ▁' qu ag m ire ' ▁it ▁seemed ▁confusion ▁re igned ▁within ▁and ▁without . ▁Hel ms ▁saw ▁himself ▁as ▁struggling ▁to ▁best ▁serve ▁his ▁view ▁of ▁America ▁and ▁his ▁force ful ▁superior , ▁the ▁President . ▁ ▁V iet ▁Cong ▁numbers ▁D iffer ences ▁and ▁divisions ▁might ▁emer ge ▁within ▁the ▁ranks ▁of ▁anal yst s , ▁across ▁the ▁spectrum ▁of ▁the ▁US G ▁Int elligence ▁Community . ▁Hel ms ▁as ▁D CI ▁had ▁a ▁stat ut ory ▁mand ate ▁giving ▁him ▁responsibility ▁for ▁recon cil ing ▁the ▁dis cre pan cies ▁in ▁information , ▁or ▁the ▁conflic ting ▁views , ▁promoted ▁by ▁the ▁various ▁American ▁intelligence ▁services , ▁e . g ., ▁by ▁the ▁large ▁Def ense ▁Int elligence ▁Agency ▁or ▁by ▁the