"I Made Mistakes": Robert McNamara’s Vietnam War Policy, 1960–1968

Description

Speaking to an advisor in 1966 about America's escalation of forces in Vietnam, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara confessed: 'We've made mistakes in Vietnam ... I've made mistakes. But the mistakes I made are not the ones they say I made'. In 'I Made Mistakes', Aurélie Basha i Novosejt provides a fresh and controversial examination of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara's decisions during the Vietnam War. Although McNamara is remembered as the architect of the Vietnam War, Novosejt draws on new sources - including the diaries of his advisor and confidant John T. McNaughton - to reveal a man who resisted the war more than most. As Secretary of Defense, he did not want the costs of the war associated with a new international commitment in Vietnam, but he sacrificed these misgivings to instead become the public face of the war out of a sense of loyalty to the President. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series information......Page 5 Title page......Page 7 Copyright information......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Figures......Page 13 Acknowledgments......Page 15 Abbreviations......Page 17 Introduction......Page 21 1 The History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1947-1961......Page 35 2 Civilian Control......Page 57 3 Continuity and Change......Page 77 4 Taking Charge of Vietnam Policy......Page 94 5 When Military Problems Become Economic Problems......Page 113 6 The Fall of 1963......Page 140 7 McNamara's Transition into the Johnson Administration......Page 155 8 Decisions, Indecisions, Visions and Revisions......Page 184 9 McNamara in Crisis, 1966-1968......Page 206 Conclusion......Page 227 What Would JFK Have Done?......Page 230 What If Mcnamara Had Inherited Another Model for Civil-Military Relations?......Page 231 What If the State Department Had Been Stronger?......Page 232 Could the Counterinsurgency Strategy under the Kennedy Administration Have Worked?......Page 234 Could Different Funding Arrangements in Washington Have Produced Different Outcomes?......Page 236 What If Johnson Had Been Less of a New Dealer?......Page 238 What If McNamara Had Defined ''Loyalty'' Differently?......Page 240 Appendix: Cast of Characters......Page 245 Introduction......Page 255 Chapter 1......Page 259 Chapter 2......Page 264 Chapter 3......Page 267 Chapter 4......Page 272 Chapter 5......Page 279 Chapter 6......Page 288 Chapter 7......Page 293 Chapter 8......Page 301 Chapter 9......Page 305 Conclusion......Page 310 Archives Consulted......Page 313 Digital Resources......Page 315 Oral History Collections......Page 317 News Sources......Page 318 Published Primary Material......Page 319 Other Primary Sources......Page 321 Secondary Sources......Page 322 Unpublished Secondary Sources......Page 335 Index......Page 337