LBJ and Vietnam

In this compelling analysis of President Lyndon Johnson's management of the war in Vietnam, Herring ( America's Longest War ) proposes that LBJ's style of leadership adversely affected the war's outcome. Characterizing Johnson as ``a flamboyant and impulsive man in a situation that demanded restraint,'' Herring suggests that the president's obsessive secrecy, his urge to control everything and his craving for approval contributed to the failure of U.S. policy in Southeast Asia. He maintains that Johnson discouraged the open exchange of ideas in discussions with advisers and failed to encourage cooperation or coordination among those directing the war effort. The air war against the North, for instance, operated separately from the ground war in the South, and the air war in Laos was separate from both. LBJ's most grievous failure, according to Herring, was his neglecting to give strategic guidelines to military and civilian representatives running the operations and pacification programs in the field. Impressively argued, this study constitutes a solid addition to our understanding of the Vietnam War and a president. (June)