LBJ and Vietnam

[A] compelling analysis... A solid addition to our understanding of the Vietnam War and a president. Publishers Weekly The Vietnam War remains a divisive memory for Americanspartisans on all sides still debate why it was fought how it could have been better fought and whether it could have been won at all. In this major study a noted expert on the war brings a needed objectivity to these debates by examining dispassionately how and why President Lyndon Johnson and his administration conducted the war as they did. Drawing on a wealth of newly released documents from the LBJ Library including the Tom Johnson notes from the influential Tuesday Lunch Group George Herring discusses the concept of limited war and how it affected President Johnsons decision making Johnsons relations with his military commanders the administrations pacification program of 19651967 the management of public opinion and the fighting while negotiating strategy pursued after the Tet Offensive in 1968. This in-depth analysis from a prize-winning historian and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist exposes numerous flaws in Johnsons approach in a concise well-researched account that critiques Johnson''s management of the Vietnam War in terms of military strategy diplomacy and domestic public opinion (Library Journal).