Why The Vietnam War?: Nuclear Bombs and Nation Building in Southeast Asia, 1945-1961

As an avid reader of military history, particularly the era covering World II and Vietnam, I have become increasingly critical of such publications. The vast majority of military history books are primarily about the battles and combat. However, this book addresses the geopolitical goings-on of the Vietnam War—exposing how wars are actually managed in back rooms, and how the U.S. used waging war to build the nation into a massive war-machine to exert their power throughout the world.This author easily moves the reader through the post-WWII period up until the eve of America’s entry into the Vietnam War. While the author does not neglect critical details, the reader certainly does not get bogged down in the same or lose interest. You get a behind-the-scenes view of the Washington war machine, and how what is portrayed to the public is often quite different from the truth.Michael Swanson’s unique writing style is quite compelling; I truly was hooked on the first page. And there can be no doubt that he is well-versed on his subject matter. You may be shocked to learn how close the U.S. came to again employing nuclear weapons in this conflict.This is a great read not only for military history enthusiasts, but for those who follow the political scene (past and/or present), conspiracy (or not) theorists, and for the casual non-fiction reader as well. Tremendous bang for your buck.

This is a poorly edited book. It has flaws with punctuation, spelling, etc. The author did not bother with including an index nor did he provide a bibliography. He did, however, provide footnotes. I also thought his prose was abrupt and mechanical and did not flow or transition well.However, I would still recommend this book to potential readers because it really helps explain the steps whereby we fell into the morass of Vietnam. The author goes over the ideas and mindsets of the presidents, advisory staffs, military leaders, state department staffs, and congressional figures from 1945 to 1962 who influenced our march to war.President Truman mistakenly aided the French in the early years by moving French soldiers back to Vietnam on US ships after WWII. President Eisenhower showed great restraint and judgment by not following crazed nuclear warfare ideas from the JCS boys. For President Kennedy's administration, there were some sober, far sighted men advising him that showed good sense: George Ball, John Kenneth, Gailbraith, House Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, General Lionel McGarr, Adlai Stevenson, Bobby Kennedy, etc. They all seemed to realize that the political was being shunted aside in favor of a military solution involving US combat troops. The advisers I've listed all seemed to understand that unless Diem and the South Vietnamese government could obtain full support of the South Vietnamese people, any entry of US troops would just be seen as another occupying power--like the French.The South Vietnamese needed to fight for their own freedom and not rely on US combat troops. Unfortunately since the South Vietnamese had neither freedom or a good government, they were hardly inspired to fight for their own "freedom". Military solutions that are not closely tied to political reality are really bad ideas. The military cart got in front of the political horse in this case.The US might have been spared the Vietnam conflagration if somehow a highly intelligent and competent person like George Ball had been appointed ambassador to South Vietnam--either by Kennedy or Johnson. With his stature and intelligence he might have been able to dissuade Kennedy and Johnson from counterproductive combat troop buildups.We will never know how far JFK might have gone since his murder in Dallas. But I don't think he would have dived in with combat troops to the extent LBJ did. Unfortunately, because of the majority opinion of his advisers--many of whom were former Kennedy men--LBJ really stepped in it. The Texas macho part of it, to be sure, played a part as well. I look forward to Swanson's next book which will cover the war from 1963 on. Hope he finds an editor for it, though, to smooth it out.

Having lived through the Vietnam years I thought I knew a lot about this time period. This book both refreshed my memory, and I learned new issues that translate to today's current world issues. A good read at the camp in the woods, If you are interested in how the people in our government formulates foreign policy this book would interest you.

Good

I agree with all of the positive ratings in terms of content. If you are at all interested in the Vietnam War, you should read this book. Be aware, though, you may find this a frustrating book to read. It needs thorough editing work for grammar, punctuation, and word usage. It also needs an index. Footnotes should illumine the reader as to how the author drew his conclusions, not just give a reference to the source. These are surface problems, though, and should not deter anyone from reading the important insights this author has to offer.

This was a great book to set a foundation for the beginning of the US aim Viet Nam. The references alone make it valuable.

Very well written and informative about early Vietnam war plans and discussions. Damn scary how cavalier the war planners were about using nukes then!

But a bit repetitive and disjointed vis a vis timelines. I know it hard to do a linear one. Overall, Prose is easy to read and involves most parties to the conflict buildup. It’s a useful contribution. Look forward to next one.