Westmoreland's War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam, by Gregory Daddis
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Westmoreland's War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam, by Gregory Daddis
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General William C. Westmoreland has long been derided for his failed strategy of "attrition" in the Vietnam War. Historians have argued that Westmoreland's strategy placed a premium on high "body counts" through a "big unit war" that relied almost solely on search and destroy missions. Many believe the U.S. Army failed in Vietnam because of Westmoreland's misguided and narrow strategyIn a groundbreaking reassessment of American military strategy in Vietnam, Gregory Daddis overturns conventional wisdom and shows how Westmoreland did indeed develop a comprehensive campaign which included counterinsurgency, civic action, and the importance of gaining political support from the South Vietnamese population. Exploring the realities of a large, yet not wholly unconventional environment, Daddis reinterprets the complex political and military battlefields of Vietnam. Without searching for blame, he analyzes how American civil and military leaders developed strategy and how Westmoreland attempted to implement a sweeping strategic vision.Westmoreland's War is a landmark reinterpretation of one of America's most divisive wars, outlining the multiple, interconnected aspects of American military strategy in Vietnam-combat operations, pacification, nation building, and the training of the South Vietnamese armed forces. Daddis offers a critical reassessment of one of the defining moments in American history.
Westmoreland's War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam, by Gregory Daddis- Amazon Sales Rank: #855563 in Books
- Published on: 2015-09-01
- Released on: 2015-09-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 6.10" h x .50" w x 8.90" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 280 pages
Review "Westmoreland's War...both rehabilitates Westmoreland's image and plants a stake in the heart of the distorted specter of him that has long haunted Vietnam War historiography. ... Backed by copious endnotes, Daddis demonstrates that contrary to legend Westmoreland developed an intelligent and comprehensive military strategy that was consistent with U.S. national policy and President Lyndon B. Johnson's larger political agenda. ... By demonstrating that the Army did try (not always successfully) to apply counterinsurgency doctrine and that this doctrine was insufficient to produce victory, Westmoreland's War directly challenges the unrealistic faith that some people have placed in counterinsurgency and nation building." --Army History Magazine
"[A] seminal work." --Army Magazine"Westmoreland's War is an important book, and Gregory Daddis has provided a new and sophisticated look at the man many have blamed for America's defeat." --The VVA Veteran "Westmoreland's War is truly a remarkable achievement. Daddis has vividly captured the complexities of Westmoreland's Vietnam strategy and the difficulties the U.S. faced in trying to implement it. Exhaustive in its research and breathtaking in its analysis, Daddis' book is now the standard for understanding the U.S. military escalation in Vietnam." --Robert K. Brigham, Vassar College"In Westmoreland's War, one of the best historians of the Vietnam conflict deftly challenges a deeply encrusted cliché-that the U.S. forces failed in Vietnam because of the narrow-mindedness and ineptitude of the man who commanded them in the war's most important years. This boldly argued and convincing work of revisionism deserves the attention of any serious student of America's most controversial war." --Mark Atwood Lawrence, author of The Vietnam War: A Concise International History"Westmoreland's War asks a question that should not startle but does: is it possible to have a sound military strategy and still lose a war? This is the question Gregory Daddis poses in his splendid history of the Vietnam War as it was fought by General William Westmoreland. The standard story of Westmoreland's failure turns out to be wrong in almost every particular, and Daddis' analysis of why and how it is wrong has major implications not only for our understanding of Vietnam, but also for how we can understand current U.S. military engagements. This is a book that must be read by anyone interested in the past, present, and future of America's wars." --Marilyn B. Young, New York UniversityAbout the Author Gregory Daddis is Associate Professor History at Chapman University.
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Most helpful customer reviews
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful. A Long Overdue Correction By Gaius Calpernius Piso Defeat unleash waves of recrmination in which the loser seeks a scapegoat for the unsatisfactory result. After America's defeat in Vietnam, General William C. Westmoreland, the commander of U.S. military forces in Vietnam between 1964 and 1968, became for many the scapegoat of choice. This book does not absolve Westmoreland, but it goes far toward rehabilitating his image. In the process it challenges many deeply held convictions about the general, the U.S. Army, and the war itself. In this well written and heavily documented book, the author demonstrates that the U.S. lost in Vietnam not because Westmoreland failed to follow counterinsurgency "best practices," but because those practices did not work under the circumstances. This conclusion affects not only our understanding of the past, but highlights history's importance to the present and future. Some U.S. doctrine writers and senior military and political leaders approached the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan convinced they would achieve the success that had eluded Westmoreland by applying the counterinsurgency precepts he allegedly had ignored. Had they realized that those precepts had been tried but had not worked, they might have been a little less cocky in their expectation that American-style counterinsurgency and nation building techniques would succeed.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Sets the record straight By Scott Bailey Finished this book the other night and must say this book leaves no question that the blame for the war is not just with one person. Easy to read and follow along with. Miltary evolved with the combat tactics of the enemy but as in many cases you can have the right strategy and tactics but the military cannot sove all the problem. After reading I came to understand the complex warfare that vietnam presented as a challenge to the military. Many good choices and many wrong choices were made in this conflict.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A new look By Thomas M. Magee As Monty Python would say, " Now for something completely different!". That is what this book is; a different tale of the Vietnam War. The author Gregory Daddis wrote a history like no other. It looks at an angle of the war no other book has looked at. He in the process of telling his story dispels several old explanations of the war. You will view the war differently after reading this book.The book is a book really for the military professional. It isn't a tale of company after company slugging their way across rice patties. The author analysis how Westmoreland's policy came about. This is an excellent angle. You see the system created the policy as much as Westmoreland. One example of this is in the late 50s as much as 20% of Army officers were serving as advisors. Then as the book develops you see how Westmoreland tried to do things right. However getting his ideas implemented was something else. The theory of the MACV conference room somehow did not make it out to the rice patty. That is what Westmoreland had to wrestle with. Issues like how you measure success, how do you make operational and tactical sense of the big picture strategic picture. Things like body counts slip into the lexicon as almost by accident. Other issues like Asian culture, South Vietnam corruption further complicates things.This book will really only appeal to the die hard or the military professional. That is why I did not give it five stars. I think anyone who reads this will find the issues they wrestle with then are the same issues people wrestle with in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. His last chapter really makes that clear. You see the difficulty of using military means to solve in a counterinsurgency what is a political problem.
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