Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam Papers: A Documentary Collection - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0890967415 ISBN 13: 9780890967416

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press, 1997

Synopsis

The recent declassification of "top secret" Vietnam War papers of the Johnson administration provides an unusually intimate portrait of presidential decision making and fills an important gap in the literature on presidents and on the Vietnam War.

For years, the Pentagon Papers served as the most influential published collection of Vietnam-era policy making documents. However, as Vietnam scholar George McT. Kahin has written, the Pentagon Papers are "generally very sketchy and inadequate with respect to the political dimension; and for the critical years, 1964–1968, the gaps are particularly extensive."

Drawing upon the newly declassified documents and many other Vietnam papers, David Barrett's Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam Papers fills the need for a one-volume collection detailing interaction and confrontations concerning the dilemmas of Vietnam policy.

He chronologically presents notes of meetings and phone calls between President Johnson and advisers, as well as meetings with some war critics; memoranda to and from the president; and notes and letters written by friends and associates of Johnson describing his thinking and concerns about the war.

This volume offers a first-hand documentation of how and why the United States fought in Indochina in the 1960s; an introduction to the archival holdings for future researchers; and

documentary evidence of the major players and their roles in making policy.

About this title

About the Author

David M. Barrett received his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and teaches political science at Villanova University. He is the author of Uncertain Warriors: Lyndon Johnson and His Vietnam Advisers, a chapter on the National Security Council, and numerous scholarly articles and book reviews.

Reviews

Barrett (history, Villanova Univ.) has done a sterling job in editing these papers, which provide an excellent insight into what President Johnson's advisers told him about the Viet Nam from November 22, 1963, to January 20, 1969. The documents reflect the advisers' views of the war's progress and their suggestions for what the president should do. Only a few of Johnson's memos are in the collection. One of the fascinating features here is the contrast between what some key advisers (e.g., Robert McNamara) recommended and how they later portrayed themselves. Most of the documents put a positive spin on the war, while only a few, from Senators J. William Fulbright and Richard Russell, urged the commander-in-chief to withdraw U.S. forces. Designed for scholars, specialists in the field, and informed lay readers, these papers would also enhance Vietnam War collections.?Richard P. Hedlund, Ashland Community Coll., Ky.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0890967415
• ISBN 13: 9780890967416
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 896
• Editor: Barrett David M.