| Vietnam: The Early Decisions Contributor(s): Gardner, Lloyd C. (Editor), Gittinger, Ted (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0292729170 ISBN-13: 9780292729179 Publisher: University of Texas Press OUR PRICE: $24.75 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 1997 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Military - Vietnam War - Political Science | International Relations - General - History | United States - 20th Century |
| Dewey: 327.730 |
| Physical Information: 0.55" H x 6" W x 9" (0.79 lbs) 238 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Southeast Asian - Ethnic Orientation - Asian - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Haunting questions remain about our involvement in Vietnam. Perhaps the most persistent of these is whether President Kennedy would have ended American involvement in Vietnam if he had lived. For many Americans, Oliver Stone's film JFK left no doubt that before his assassination Kennedy had determined to quit Vietnam. Yet the historical record offers a more complex answer. In this fresh look at the archival evidence, noted scholars take up the challenge to provide us with their conclusions about the early decisions that put the United States on the path to the greatest American tragedy since the Civil War. The tensions and turmoil that accompanied those decisions reveal the American presidency at the center of a storm of conflicting advice. The book is divided into four sections. Parts one and two delve into the political and military contexts of the early decisions. Part three raises the intriguing questions of Kennedy's and Johnson's roles in the conflict, particularly the thorny issue of whether Kennedy did, in fact, intend to withdraw from Vietnam and whether Johnson reversed that policy. Part four reveals an uncanny parallel between early Soviet policy toward Hanoi and U.S. policy toward Saigon. |
Contributor Bio(s): Gardner, Lloyd C.: - Lloyd C. Gardner is Professor Emeritus of History at Rutgers University.Gittinger, Ted: - Ted Gittinger is the former Director of Special Projects at the LBJ Presidential Library. |