And the Lies That Led to Vietnam - the Joint Chiefs of Staff

This excellent book provided me with a great understanding on why the Vietnam war turned out the way it did. It was run by politicians who directed the war and they used the generals as mere technicians to carry out their orders. It seems to me Hitler did the same with his generals with disastrous results for Germany. LBJ was happy enough with a stalemate in Vietnam while the generals always want to win. I wonder how many draftees of the time would have willingly gone over there if they had known the purpose of the war was not victory but containment? Maybe it would not have made a difference to everyone but it would have for me. I think this book needs to be read by everyone.

In the unlikely event you haven't already been disillusioned about the Vietnam war, this will do it. If you are concerned with the crass deceit in DC today, you might take some solace that McMaster appears to be beholden to truth more so than to a boss. Let's hope so.

A great complement to The Vietnam War TV series. For a long time I thought that the Vietnam War had been won during the Tet Offensive and lost in Paris. After reading this book I believe it was impossible to win it and that the war was lost when the first boots hit the beach. Such a tragedy!

McMaster documents that the Joint Chiefs disagreed with McNamara and Johnson's policies at the time and always thought they would fail. He blames the Joint Chiefs for going along against their better judgment. These were well documented by the Pentagon Papers. Their are two glaring questions not addressed. First, would the policies advocated by the military: more aggressive bombing and rapid troop build up would have worked. Large unit search and destroy missions by both American and French in Vietnam were destructive, wasteful and glaringly unsuccessful. We eventually dropped massive amounts of bombs on North Vietnam. McMaster gives little consideration of whether the advice offered by Joint Chiefs was sound. Given the type of war, it is highly unlikely that a conventional war would have been successful. Even if one believes, contrary to all evidence, that a rapid military escalation could have been successful, McMaster fails to question whether it was worth the costs in both American and Vietnamese lives, let alone the financial cost. Subsequent events demonstrate that our fears of "dominos falling" was unfounded. The dereliction of duty, was not simply "going along" with a policy they disagreed with. The greater dereliction was in providing deeply flawed advice.

I suffered through the horror that was Vietnam and wondered what it would have been like to be able to do the job we were sent to do. I have two cousins on the Wall and a brother by the Soldiers' Statue who did not have to die if our leaders had been honorable, decent men. After being air-evac'd my second tour, I sought to find out why we were led down such a path when alternatives were available. Unfortunately, this book tells the tragic reasons for the political decisions that were made. I really think their actions rise to the level of treason...

Fascinating and confirms my impressions of Johnson's motives and ethics. (Hint: He didn't care about minorities or right and wrong). The author makes some claims that aren't well supported, but he's an insider and has a lot to offer others don't.

Clear and concise history. I just hope his historical perspective keeps President Trump from making similar mistakes, which is more likely than not without McMaster's guidance and restraint. I do not perceive that McMaster agrees with Curtis LeMay that we should have nuked Vietnam back to the Stone Age. I hope he can keep Trump from nuclear adventurism. Trump is surely a greater challenge to work with than President Johnson ever was.

As as Vietnam era Army Officer Veteran I was appalled by the stupidity of our politicians and military leadership during this protracted and senseless confrontation in what was essentially a civil war. How tragic to allow politicians to wage war and kill such wonderful young people...my generation.

A detailed history of the deception of the US Congress and citizenry by Robert McNamara and Lyndon Johnson. Recommended reading. Details how Johnson and McNamara worked around the Joint Chiefs of Staff, lied and deceived Congress and US Citizens. This book answers the question "What will a politician do to get reelected?" in detail.

A horror story of the calamitous hubirus that led to the Vietnam fiasco. It reminds me of the decision for the second gulf war. Johnson is a short sighted leader obsessed by reelection concerns. McNamara is certain that he has the secret metrics to win the war. He plays Johnson and obfuscates news to get us ever deeper in the war.

Great look at politics, systems management applied to military strategy, and throughout the book I kept thinking how McNamara managed to contain his hubris throughout the brutal years of 1967 to 1971. Why LBJ had faith in him must have something to do with the Kennedy aura, but McNamara led LBJ down a dangerous path that cost unnecessary U.S. lives, endless pain, a Nation turning on itself, and General Giap laughing
at Westy who was a WW2 leader, but certainly unfamiliar with the tactics of the N.V.A. and V.C. which were simply the same tactics applied to Indian fighting by Major Robert Rogers.....when change comes to a battlefield, we draw upon history to guide us, which is wrong. Moreover, the U.S. with unlimited power in the air and land did not heed the French lesson of Dien Bien Phu. A painful and necessary read as we discover that the U.S. contemplated nuclear weapons and the C.I.A. knew the war was lost in 1969.

This book was disturbing when it was first published, all the more so now. A nation, and its young soldiers, fighting a distant war when the nation's leaders were lying to each other about its aims and execution. The author is now National Security Advisor, and we can only hope he will be as forthright with his superiors (the President) and counterparts on NSC as he was in this book.

Great book and shows just how ignorant JFK was and having a Harvard Grad that thought he knew it all running things and keeping important dat from the president to make an intelligent decision. Gives the other half of the story why we had 54,000 die in Vietnam. This war was a joke or cluster *@%$ from the start due to incompetent decision makers.

A rewrite of McMaster's Ph.D. dissertation. A very interesting account of how and why the country stumbled into the Vietnam war. If more of today's politicians and policy makers read this, perhaps we might have avoided subsequent entanglements.

A great lesson in hubris. Serious documentation of how (McNamara, Johnson, et al) leader's used war, our soldiers, our wealth, our treasure, not to win, Rather than impose U.S. will on the enemy, the objective was to force negotiations. Dark, dark, dark. Lesson I retained is: be careful for whom you vote into office.

Great book that will make you sick about our government. The people involved with making decisions about the Vietnam war should have been sent to jail. Read the book, you won't be sorry except that you'll never trust Washington politicians again.
Unconscionable.

As a US Army Vietnam-era veteran, I found McMaster's fine book a tough but fascinating read. This book isn't a history; it is a well-cited indictment of treasonous activity by the President of the United States, his Secretary of Defense, senior State Department officials, and general-grade officers in all branches of the US military.
The dead from this war rest in peace, but the living should take caution from the Vietnam debacle least history repeat itself.

While there is no similarity between the causes for entry into Viet Nam and the war on terror the arrogance of the civilian leadership and the failure to create and state cogent military objectives are the same. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Obama never studied history he was too busy studying social justice!

A well written and very informative book. Not a fun read. Having lived through that era and suspecting much of what was written in the book I have a greater feeling of empathy for our military that fought in Vietnam. Vietnam was a political war and over 50,000 members of our military were sacrificed for politics and many more suffered years after the war. The American public also showed little respect for those that sacrificed so much. I am glad that we are finally appreciating those that gave so much.

a must read for any American impacted by Viet Nam and the duplicity of LBJ and his lying cronies (voir:"phonies")
AND
for those naive voters who truly believe the government is there to do the public good
had we only known this in the 60's.........

I had no idea about the manipulation and lies Johnson and some of his cabinet members perpetrated on the US public. They knew from the Joint Chief's analysis, right from the beginning that the war could not be won. Yet to "save face", they let 50,000+ people die! Johnson should be stricken from the annals of US history.

You will learn who was responsible and why for one of the Nation's less notable ventures in foreign affairs that led to verification of "they were expendable". The author writes a factual account without gloss.

While it can feel redundant, since it tracks every memo (or so it seems), this book provides a sobering view of the descent into the Vietnam war, bringing up memories of the time and how politicians can treat people's lives as abstractions in their political games. Somehow I feel reassured (although perhaps that is wishful thinking) that the author is advising the Trump.

Well-written and detailed account of political upset by handpicked prep school cronies that realigned Kennedy administration U.S. military command. Resulted in Kennedy's accelerated prosecution of Vietnam war against better judgment of fixtures in Pentagon and military officer stratum. Well-researched, it shines a light on how Trump administration's exercise of prerogatives is not new--and can justifiably be cited as an echo of an earlier, Democratic Party-dominated era.

As the author states, with no grand strategy to guide, the US effort in Vietnam was doomed before it began. As part of the US global strategy of containing Communism, we didn't look at the real situation in Vietnam. Why we supported Tito and not Ho is a mystery. Perhaps, as Singapore's first Prime Minister pointed out, some good did come out of the effort. Our 10 year involvement in Vietnam gave Singapore and the other Asian economic tigers time to develop.

Contains surprising detail of political shenanigans and self interest at expense of US military lives. It also underscores how the Joint Chiefs of Staff failed their country in many instances. One can only hope this abject failure of integrity and failed conduct of war shall never to be repeated in the future.

This book has been referenced or recommended via some of USAs most notable Generals and Admirals. This is a real eye opener in how wars are fought and campaigns are managed based on politics rather than what our military leaders who are out in amongst those who know what is happening and what is needed. Every American should read this and every high school senior or college freshman should have this book as required reading. I went back and read certain sections as I couldn't believe what I was reading. Talk about crooked man in politics, read this.

combination of personal experience and academic scholarly skills--I related to this as I had two Vietnam tours as a surgeon. About a third of the book is references, documentation, a little overkill for me.

Superb throughout and should be required reading for every American History class to the extent history will be taught under common core and prevailing politics. Thoroughly research and documented chronicle of the obfuscation of every facet of truth about Vietnam and the corruption of multiple administrations and moral bankruptcy of military leaders they retained and supported.

Every one who thinks about how the Government mismanages the military needs to read McMaster's book, McNamara and Johnson should have been tried for murder for what they did to the young men who fought and DIED in Vietnam. A tragic, timely, and excellent inside to the failure of Government to inject itself into the military

General McMaster exposes the duplicity of Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara as they snuck the country into war in Viet Nam without a clear political objective and any clear thinking about the military means needed to achieve an objective. McNamara thought he could stage manage the war from the Pentagon, ignore the professional military and somehow persuade the enemy to drop their most important objective with the use of minimal force. Didn't work.

General McMaster exposes the duplicity of Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara as they snuck the country into war in Viet Nam without a clear political objective and any clear thinking about the military means needed to achieve an objective. McNamara thought he could stage manage the war from the Pentagon, ignore the professional military and somehow persuade the enemy to drop their most important objective with the use of minimal force. Didn't work.

A good account of the poor stewardship of our ally's and national treasure, but a difficult read. Could have condensed & summarized a lot to make it easier to follow. I guess the mountains of bad deeds & poor decisions would be hard to write down for anybody, much more so a military man

McMaster boldly states the various facts and events that unfolded during the key period of November 1963 to July 1965, and provides a critical analysis about how the Chiefs of Staff suppressed their own views about the scale of the involvement required to win the war, and how Johnson, McNamara, Rusk and McBundy maneuvered to get into a war to at best reach a stalemate while preserving American prestige and keeping the escalation low-key to preserve Johnson's political capital to advance his Great Society project.

A must read for any civilian or military leader having to deal with foreign policy, and highly recommended to anyone interested in the complex civilian-military relationship.

Meticulously researched and clearly written, this book explains why the policies and strategies followed during the early years of the Vietnam War were a failure. A valuable historical record for future military and political leaders who want to understand how to avoid such mistakes.

My only gripe is that I believe McMaster could have done justice to the material with a third fewer words.

McMasters book is a very important addition to the canon of Vietnam War histories, focusing almost entirely on the run up to the decisions that lead to the unnecessary deaths of so many Americans (and Vietnamese) to little point at all.

Excellent book. Should be used as a reference in all US History courses. Anyone who served in the military during those days, especially those who served "in country" from 1961 through 1965/66, will now understand why our rules of engagement were what they were.

Required reading if you want to know what rotter SOB'"s LBJ and Robert McNamara werre. Also shows how our government lied to the American people and our allies. Every Vietnam Vet should read. OutstandING scholorship!

I recommend this book for my buddies, All Vietnam Veterans. Shameful behavior of the leaders in Washington in this
war. The military performed with honor, not the Secretary of Defense or President Johnson,et al.

Cudos to General McMaster on this tome. Well written in style, conforming to most collegiate standards. Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you’ve told them.

Unbelievable how easy it is to seemingly circumvent the constitution.

I’ve never rated a book so highly that aggravated me so completely. For those of us in our 7th decade we lived these events while they occurred. This book exposes to us what was happening behind the lying faces we watched on TV. I can accept mistakes made from inadequate information. But plenty of smart people were ignored as they predicted the eventual Vietnam outcome prior to July 1965 and prior to 50,000 additional loss of life.

Excellent facts, good conclusions. Taking nothing from the author. But a bit long and dry for my style. Certainly for those interested in this period a good book to read. I was young at the time, but remember all the times well. Ms McMasters hits the facts correctly and a reader can see the process of failure occurring at the highest levels of the government.

Well written, researched and annotated. Reads well, but the story is so disgusting and disturbing I've actually had to set it aside. I was in the Navy during those times and remain a strong patriot, but now I find I was duped. This book factually exposes the point of the Vietnam war. These players deserve a special place in history and this book is a step in the right direction to insure that.
This is an important, agenda free book that should be read by thoughtful, open minded Americans.

I sincerely hope Lt. Gen. McMaster has recently reread what Major McMaster learned as a result of his penetrating analysis of the Viet Nam
mistakes. I admire the guts it took for him to write it. It could have ended his career. The truth he spoke, however was too powerful. The President is CINC, but an officers duty is to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic. It is not an oath of fealty to any individual president.

The author is now Trump's National Security Advisor. Trump is completely incompetent and is surrounded by a gaggle if dimwits. Let's hope .McMaster will apply the lessons he wrote a
Bout, however, I doubt it. He, too, will be seduced by the proximity to power.

Too bad that President Trump fired the author of this important book on how we got into Vietnam. The writing starts off a bit dry, but stay with it; it gets better. Should be required reading for any president coming into office.

This is an encyclopedically detailed description of the events that led to Viet Nam and the personalities involved. It opens one's eyes to the machinations in the government. The Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't always agree among themselves, or with recommendations given to the president. McNamara's role in protecting the President from any dissenting opinions is well detailed. It will demolish what little confidence you have in our government. When you think of how many died as a result of this war, the details of how we got there will be very upsetting.

This book provides a detailed analysis of how we got into Vietnam and how the abdication of leadership from all sides and the implementation of crass political goals crippled our military and caused the needless deaths of tens of thousands.

Excellent book. Well researched and sourced. I lived and worked in the Washington area during this period and served in Vietnam in 1969. This book documents that the U.S. had no intention of winning the war five full years before I ever arrived in-country. Political agendas dominated. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn how Washington really works all too often.

Maj. McMaster's work is very thorough and heavily documented with extensive footnotes. It is very informative but very sad when considering the amount of human capital that was wasted in pursuit of objectives that had been amply predicted to fail.

My US Army (of 41+ years) husband rarely reads when he gets home after a long day at the Pentagon. He picks this up as soon as he finishes dinner and has been reading it with a highlighter. Just bought a second copy for my history teacher son.

Major General H.R. McMaster's book provides great insight into the political leadership and civil-military dysfunction that led to America's full engagement in Vietnam, with disastrous consequences. Although MacNamara's Whiz Kids had a different outlook and motivations than the subsequent Neocons, the same hubris and shallow understanding allowed history to be somewhat repeated decades later in Iraq. For those readers dismayed by today's political cynicism and focus on expedience at the expense of statesmanship, this is not new either. McMaster's book is replete with examples of the same situation in the 1960s. I highly recommend this book to someone who appreciates organizational politics, national security strategy, or the history of the Vietnam War.

Interestingly, I have heard that McMaster was passed over for promotion to brigadier general twice in 2006-07, and it has been rumored he was finally promoted only at the behest of General (Ret.) David Petraeus. McMaster has since been promoted to major general (two stars), the culmination of a long and distinguished career speaking the truth to benefit our nation and Army.

Every Academy graduate, ROTC officer and OCS graduate should read this before pinning on gold bars. It can happen again if they are willing to compromise integrity. I was told that the civilians were responsible for our loss in Vietnam. The officer corps were equally at fault. Meticulously researched.

Having served 30 years on active duty with the AF including a tour in the Pentagon, I am always fascinated by the relationships between our civilian National Command Authorities and the highest levels of the uniformed services. McMaster did a great job of foot-noting and sharing his sources of information. Coupling his book with what is being reported on the new administration leads me to believe that, although some more than others look very clam on the surface, they ALL are paddling like hell underneath to keep up.

That’s the outfit that “sends messages”. This book comes as no surprise to those who were sent as armed mail carriers. But it is interesting to have the disastrous decision process set forth from the Team LBJ official records. Damn.

HR McMaster did a great job providing insight to a tragic time in our lives. He is respectful of the soldier who did as he was told, yet unveiled an extremely troubling situation in the Johnson White House. As a former Marine, I am disgusted at the action of our political leaders and hopefully books like this will hold future administrations accountable BEFORE they act in such a fashion. Highly recommended reading.