Choosing war : the lost chance for peace and the escalation of war in Vietnam

In one of the most detailed and powerfully argued books published on American intervention in Vietnam, Fredrik Logevall examines the last great unanswered question on the war: Could the tragedy have been averted? His answer: a resounding yes. Challenging the prevailing myth that the outbreak of large-scale fighting in 1965 was essentially unavoidable, Choosing War argues that the Vietnam War was unnecessary, not merely in hindsight but in the context of its time. Why, then, did major war break out? Logevall shows it was partly because of the timidity of the key opponents of U.S. involvement, and partly because of the staunch opposition of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations to early negotiations. His superlative account shows that U.S. officials chose war over disengagement despite deep doubts about the war's prospects and about Vietnam's importance to U.S. security and over the opposition of important voices in the Congress, in the press, and in the world community. They did so because of concerns about credibility—not so much America's or the Democratic party's credibility, but their own personal credibility. Based on six years of painstaking research, this book is the first to place American policymaking on Vietnam in 1963-65 in its wider international context using multiarchival sources, many of them recently declassified. Here we see for the first time how the war played in the key world capitals—not merely in Washington, Saigon, and Hanoi, but also in Paris and London, in Tokyo and Ottawa, in Moscow and Beijing. Choosing War is a powerful and devastating account of fear, favor, and hypocrisy at the highest echelons of American government, a book that will change forever our understanding of the tragedy that was the Vietnam War. In one of the most detailed and powerfully argued books publishedon American intervention in Vietnam, Fredrik Logevall examines thelast great unanswered question on the war: Could the tragedy havebeen averted? His answer: a resounding yes. Challenging theprevailing myth that the outbreak of large-scale fighting in 1965was essentially unavoidable, Choosing War argues that theVietnam War was unnecessary, not merely in hindsight but in thecontext of its time. Why, then, did major war break out? Logevallshows it was partly because of the timidity of the key opponents ofU.S. involvement, and partly because of the staunch opposition ofthe Kennedy and Johnson administrations to early negotiations. Hissuperlative account shows that U.S. officials chose warover disengagement despite deep doubts about the war's prospectsand about Vietnam's importance to U.S. security and over theopposition of important voices in the Congress, in the press, andin the world community. They did so because of concerns aboutcredibility-not so much America's or the Democratic party'scredibility, but their own personal credibility. Based on six yearsof painstaking research, this book is the first to place Americanpolicymaking on Vietnam in 1963-65 in its wider internationalcontext using multiarchival sources, many of them recentlydeclassified. Here we see for the first time how the war played inthe key world capitals-not merely in Washington, Saigon, and Hanoi,but also in Paris and London, in Tokyo and Ottawa, in Moscow andBeijing. Choosing War is a powerful and devastatingaccount of fear, favor, and hypocrisy at the highest echelons ofAmerican government, a book that will change forever ourunderstanding of the tragedy that was the Vietnam War In Choosing War Fredrik Logevall presents the first truly comprehensive examination of the making of a major war in Vietnam in 1963-65. Placing U.S. decision making in its wider international and domestic political contexts, he shows that the Vietnam War was unnecessary, not merely in hindsight but from the perspective of key players at the time, American-officials chose war over disengagement despite deep pessimism about U.S. prospects in the war and over the objections of important voices in the United States and abroad