History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense: McNamara, Clifford, and the burdens of Vietnam, 1965-1969

History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense: McNamara, Clifford, and the burdens of Vietnam, 1965-1969 PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 742

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McNamara, Clifford, and the Burdens of Vietnam 1965-1969

McNamara, Clifford, and the Burdens of Vietnam 1965-1969 PDF Author: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 712

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McNamara, Clifford and the Burdens of Vietnam, 1965-1969, volume VI in the newly named Secretaries of Defense Historical Series, covers the incumbency of Robert S. McNamara, as well as the brief, but significant, tenure of Clark M. Clifford. McNamara's key role in the ever-deepening U.S. involvement in Vietnam between 1965 and 1968 forms the centerpiece of the narrative. During these years, Vietnam touched every aspect of Lyndon B. Johnson's administration, determining budget priorities, provoking domestic unrest, souring relations with NATO, and complicating negotiations with the Soviet Union.McNamara's early miscalculations about Vietnam became the source of deep disappointments. Relations with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, never good, frayed almost to the breaking point as McNamara repeatedly rejected military advice in favor of his civilian experts. McNamara's carefully crafted plans failed, his frustrations grew, and he became estranged from the President. His private attempts to check the war's momentum contradicted his public statements supporting the military effort and tarred McNamara as a hypocrite. McNamara's successor, Clark Clifford, arrived with a reputation as a hawk, but focused most of his effort on extricating the United States from Vietnam.McNamara and Clifford presided over the Department of Defense during momentous and dangerous times. Vietnam was one of a series of wars, emergencies, and interventions involving U.S. interests. Intervention in the Dominican Republic, declining U.S. prestige and power in Europe and NATO, war in the Middle East, heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, arms control talks with the Soviet Union, and violent protests at home competed for attention. Overseeing the Vietnam War and contending with these complex policy issues taxed even McNamara's enormous energy and brilliant intellect as he struggled to manage DoD programs. His long-cherished cost-cutting programs fell by the wayside; his favored weapons systems were swept aside; his committed efforts to limit strategic arms faltered; and his reputation was permanently tarnished.McNamara, Clifford and the Burdens of Vietnam highlights the interaction of McNamara and Clifford with the White House, Congress, the JCS, the State Department, and other federal agencies involved in policy formulation. The two secretaries attempted to impose order while fighting a war whose cost of winning became as morally prohibitive as the price of losing.

History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense

History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 752

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McNamara, Clifford, and the Burdens of Vietnam, 1965-1969

McNamara, Clifford, and the Burdens of Vietnam, 1965-1969 PDF Author: Edward J. Drea
Publisher: United States Department of Defense
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 752

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Volumes 1-5 have series title: History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense: The test of War, 1950-1953

History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense: The test of War, 1950-1953 PDF Author: Alfred Goldberg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 752

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The War Bells Have Rung

The War Bells Have Rung PDF Author: George C. Herring
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813938511
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 39

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Book Description
In the summer of 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson faced an agonizing decision. On June 7, General William Westmoreland had come to him with a "bombshell" request to more than double the number of existing troops in Vietnam. LBJ, who wished to be remembered as a great reformer, not as a war president, saw the proposed escalation for what it was—the turning point for American involvement in Vietnam. This is one of the most discussed chapters in modern presidential history, but George Herring, the acknowledged dean of Vietnam War historians, has found a fascinating new way to tell this story—through the remarkable legacy of LBJ’s taped telephone conversations. Underused until now in exploring Johnson’s decision making in Vietnam, the phone conversations offer intimate, striking, and sometimes poignant insights into this ordeal. Johnson emerges as a fascinating character, obligated to pursue victory in Vietnam but skeptical that it is even possible, the whole while watching his plans for domestic reform threatened. The president walks a fine line between a military he must placate and a Congress whose support he must maintain as he tries to implement his Great Society legislation. The reader can see the flaws in the Cold War sensibility contributing to Johnson’s tragic attempt to hold ground against an enemy with whom he had no leverage. The cast includes many of the era’s most iconic players, such as Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, General Westmoreland ("I have a lot riding on you," LBJ tells him—"I hope you don’t pull a MacArthur on me!"), House minority leader Gerald Ford, anti-war advocate Robert Kennedy ("I think you’ve got to sit down and talk to Bobby," LBJ tells McNamara), and former president Eisenhower, a valuable contact in the Republican camp. A concise, inside look at seven critical weeks in 1965—presented as a Rotunda ebook linking to transcripts and audio files of the original presidential tapes— The War Bells Have Rung offers both student and scholar a vivid and accessible look at a decision on which LBJ’s presidency would pivot and that would change modern American history. Miller Center Studies on the Presidency is a new series of original works that draw on the Miller Center's scholarly programs to shed light on the American presidency past and present.

The McNamara Ascendancy, 1961-1965

The McNamara Ascendancy, 1961-1965 PDF Author: Lawrence S. Kaplan
Publisher: Office of the Secretary, Historical Office
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 726

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Book Description
A narrative history and assessment of the early years of Robert McNamara's tenure as Secretary of Defense, including McNamara's relationship with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, the transformation of the Department of Defense as a part of Kennedy's New Frontier, and the Pentagon's handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs episode, and onset of the Vietnam War along with other major national security events and developments during a turbulent and momentous period of the Cold War. (Fuller description is on the dust jacket flaps.)

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History PDF Author: Timothy J. Lynch
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199759251
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1489

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Book Description
•Entries written by renowned diplomatic and military historians as well as key scholars in international relations •Provides assessments and analyses of key episodes, issues and actors in the military and diplomatic history of the United States •Based on the award-winning Oxford Companion to United States History •Comprehensive collection of entries that span the founding of the U.S. to its present state •Offers a wide range of perspectives to provide an encompassing context of the United States' military and diplomatic legacies •Expansive bibliographies and suggested readings for each article to aid in research The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History, a two-volume set, will offer both assessment and analysis of the key episodes, issues and actors in the military and diplomatic history of the United States. At a time of war, in which ongoing efforts to recalibrate American diplomacy are as imperative as they are perilous, the Oxford Encyclopedia will present itself as the first recourse for scholars wishing to deepen their understanding of the crucial features of the historical and contemporary foreign policy landscape and its perennially martial components. Entries will be written by the top diplomatic and military historians and key scholars of international relations from within the American academy, supplemented, as is appropriate for an encyclopedia of diplomacy, with entries from foreign-based academics, in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The crucial importance of the subject is reflected in the popularity of university courses dedicated to diplomatic and military history and the enduring appeal of international relations (IR) as a political science discipline drawing on both. The Oxford Encyclopedia will be a basic reference tool across both disciplines - a potentially very significant market. Readership: University-level undergraduate and graduate students in History

USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

USS Enterprise (CVN-65) PDF Author: Mark L. Evans
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476686866
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
This is the thrilling story of USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Her story spans 51 years (1961-2012) of active service from the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis to the first global cruise by nuclear-powered ships, to the first strikes during the Vietnam War, battles against the Iranians and Iraqis in the 1980s and 1990s, a pivotal role during 9/11 and the Global War on Terrorism, and hunting pirates off the Horn of Africa. More than just an operational history of Enterprise, this book recounts the experiences of the men and women who served on board--the pilots who flew from the flight deck, the men who fought to save the ship during a fire in 1969, the sailors who brought retribution against Al-Qaeda terrorists--with detailed descriptions of sorties through flak-filled skies and harrowing escapes from capture behind enemy lines. This book is dedicated to the men and women who have served on board Big E, and to those who paid the ultimate price for freedom.

Managing the Military

Managing the Military PDF Author: Sharon K. Weiner
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231556934
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)—a senior group of officers who lead the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps—is perhaps the most influential military figure in the United States. The chairman is the primary military advisor to the president and is often the public face of the armed forces. As advocates for the military’s priorities, some chairmen have used this role to help shape policy, but others have embraced the position as an opportunity to chart new policy directions or challenge presidential preferences. Managing the Military is a pioneering analysis of the power of the chairman of the JCS that sheds new light on civil-military relations in the United States. Using detailed case studies of debates over defense budgets since the end of the Cold War, Sharon K. Weiner examines when and how the JCS chairman opposes civilian defense policy preferences. She shows that, under the right conditions, the chairman can be a policy entrepreneur, challenging the goals of the White House and lobbying for the military’s interests. However, the extent of the chairman’s political clout is constrained by the preferences of the service chiefs who head the branches of the military. Weiner also explores the evolution of the institution of the JCS and illuminates the chairman’s interaction with the president and secretary of defense. Blending empirical detail and theoretical contributions, Managing the Military offers a compelling account of the circumstances under which the power of the JCS chairman is maximized.