Unwilling to quit : the long unwinding of American involvement in Vietnam / David L. Prentice.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Prentice, David L., author.

Series:

Studies in Conflict, Diplomacy, and Peace Series.

Studies in Conflict, Diplomacy, and Peace Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Diplomatic history.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Public opinion.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Political aspects--United States.

Diplomatic history.

Politics and war.

Public opinion.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 pages ): illustrations (black and white).

Other Title:

Long unwinding of American involvement in Vietnam

Path to Open

Place of Publication:

Lexington : University Press of Kentucky, [2023]

Summary:

"Although US involvement in the Vietnam conflict began long before 1965, Lyndon Johnson's substantial large commitment of combat troops that year marked the official beginning of America's longest twentieth-century war. By 1969, after years of intense fighting and thousands of casualties, an increasing number of Americans wanted the United States out of Vietnam. Richard Nixon looked for a way to pull out while preserving the dignity of the United States at home and abroad, and at the same time, to support the anticommunist Republic of Vietnam. Ultimately, he settled on the strategy of Vietnamization-the gradual replacement of US soldiers with South Vietnamese forces. Drawing on newly declassified documents and international archives, Unwilling to Quit dissects the domestic and foreign contexts of America's withdrawal from the Vietnam War. David L. Prentice demonstrates how congressional and presidential politics were a critical factor in Nixon's decision to abandon his hawkish sensibilities in favor of de-escalation. Prentice reframes Nixon's choices, emphasizes Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird's outsized yet subtle role in the decision-making process, and considers how South Vietnam's Nguyen Van Thieu and North Vietnam's Le Duan decisively shaped the American exit. Prentice brings Vietnamese voices into the discussion and underscores the unprecedented influence of American civilians on US foreign policy during the Vietnamization era"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The beginning of an ending

Good times, bad times: what Nixon inherited

Only the strong survive: Nixon and Kissinger's escalation of the war

My way: Laird and Vietnamization

Going up the country: Vietnamization, Duck Hook, and the Nixon Doctrine in global context

Come together: the decision against Duck Hook and for Vietnamization

Give me just a little more time: the new optimists

It's too late: Vietnamization's frailties

Alone again, naturally: the collapse of the Second Republic.

Notes:

Title from online title page (viewed on , 2023).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9780813197784

0813197783

9780813197777

0813197775

OCLC:

1397040925

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.