The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam

by Barbara W. Tuchman

  Pentagon Papers. See U.S. Department of Defense.

  POWERS, THOMAS. The War at Home: Vietnam and the American People, 1964–68. New York, 1973.

  RACE, JEFFREY. “Vietnam Intervention: Systematic Distortion in Policy Making.” Armed Forces and Society. May 1976, 377–96.

  ____. “The Unlearned Lessons of Vietnam.” Yale Review. Winter 1977, 162–77.

  RASKIN, MARCUS, AND FALL, BERNARD. The Vietnam Reader, rev. ed. New York, 1967.

  REISCHAUER, EDWIN O. Wanted: An Asian Policy. New York, 1955.

  ____. Beyond Vietnam: The United States and Asia. New York, 1967.

  RIDGWAY, GENERAL MATTHEW B. “Indochina: Disengaging.” Foreign Affairs. July 1971.

  ____. Soldier. New York, 1956.

  RIEGLE, DONALD. O Congress. New York, 1972.

  ROBERTS, CHALMERS M. “The Day We Didn’t Go to War,” in Raskin and Fall, q.v., originally from The Reporter. 14 Sept 1954.

  RUSSETT, BRUCE M., AND STEPAN, ALFRED. Military Force and American Society. New York, 1973.

  SAFIRE, WILLIAM. Before the Fall: An Inside View of the Pre-Watergate White House. New York, 1975.

  St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Richard Dudman et al. Special Supplement on Vietnam, 30 Apr 1975.

  SALINGER, PIERRE. With Kennedy. New York, 1966.

  SCHANDLER, HERBERT Y. The Unmaking of a President: Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam. Princeton, 1977.

  SCHEER, ROBERT. How the United States Got Involved in Vietnam. Santa Barbara, 1965.

  SCHLESINGER, ARTHUR, JR. A Thousand Days. Boston, 1965.

  SEVAREID, ERIC. “The Final Troubled Hours of Adlai Stevenson.” Look. 30 Nov 1965.

  SHAPLEN, ROBERT. The Lost Revolution. New York, 1966. (All references are to this book unless otherwise noted.)

  ____. The Road from War. New York, 1970.

  SHARP, U. S. GRANT, ADMIRAL. Strategy for Defeat. San Rafael, Calif., 1978.

  SHAWCROSS, WILLIAM. Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia. New York, 1979.

  SMITH, R. HARRIS. OSS: The Secret History of America’s First Central Intelligence Agency. Berkeley, Univ. of California Press, 1972.

  SORENSEN, THEODORE C. Kennedy. New York, 1965.

  STEEL, RONALD. Walter Lippmann and the American Century. Boston, 1980.

  SUMMERS, COLONEL HARRY G. On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War. Presidio, Calif., 1982.

  SZULC, TAD. The Illusion of Peace: Foreign Policy in the Nixon Years. New York, 1978.

  TAYLOR, GENERAL MAXWELL D. Swords and Plowshares. New York, 1972.

  THOMPSON, W. SCOTT, AND FRIZZELL, DONALDSON D., EDS. The Lessons of Vietnam: A Colloquium in 1913–74 at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy on the Military Lessons of the Vietnamese War. New York, 1977.

  THOMSON, JAMES C., JR. “How Could Vietnam Happen?” The Atlantic. April 1968.

  ____. “Resigning from Government,” in Franck and Weisband, q. v.

  THORNE, CHRISTOPHER. Allies of a Kind. London, 1978.

  U.S. CONGRESS, SENATE, Committee on Foreign Relations, Mansfield, Senator Mike, Report of, On a Study Mission to the Associated States of Indo-China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Loas, 83rd Congress, 1st Session, 27 Oct 1953.

  ____. Report of …, to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session, 15 Oct 1954.

  ____. Report of …, to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, 84th Congress, 1st Session, 6 Oct 1955.

  U.S. CONGRESS, SENATE, 89TH CONGRESS, 2ND SESSION. Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations; Supplemental Foreign Assistance Fiscal Year 1966—Vietnam, S. 2793 (Fulbright Hearings), Part I, pp. 1–743. (The Hearings were also published as a trade book by Random House with an introduction by Sen. Fulbright: The Vietnam Hearings, New York, 1966.)

  U.S. CONGRESS, 92ND, 2ND SESSION: SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS. The United states and Vietnam: 1944–41. A staff study based on “The Pentagon Papers” by Robert M. Blum (cited as PP, Senate). USGPO, Washington, D.C., 1972.

  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. The Pentagon Papers: United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967. Study prepared in twelve books by the Department of Defense and declassified for the House Armed Services Committee (cited as PP). USGPO, Washington, D.C, 1971.

  ____. The Pentagon Papers: History of United States Decision Making on Vietnam, Senator Gravel edition. 4 vols, and Index volume. Boston, 1971–72. (Citations are from this edition unless otherwise noted.)

  ____. The Pentagon Papers: as published by the New York Times. New York, 1971.

  U.S. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY: MARCEL VIGNERAS. Special Studies: Rearming the French. Washington, D.C., 1957.

  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT. Foreign Relations of the United States (annual). USGPO. Washington, D.C.

  VIGNERAS, MARCEL. See U.S. Office of the Chief of Military History.

  WHITE, RALPH K. Nobody Wanted War: Misperception in Vietnam and Other Wars. New York, 1968.

  WHITE, THEODORE. The Making of the President, 1968. New York, 1969.

  WICKER, TOM. JFK and LBJ. New York, 1968.

  WILCOX, FRANCIS O. Congress, the Executive, and Foreign Policy. New York, 1971.

  PERSONS CONSULTED

  GEORGE W. BALL LESLIE GELB HARRISON SALISBURY

  MC GEORGE BUNDY DAVID HALBERSTAM BILL MOYERS

  WILLIAM P. BUNDY MORTON HALPERIN DAVID SCHOENBRUN

  MICHAEL FORRESTAL CARL KAYSEN JAMES thomson

  J. K. GALBRAITH ROBERT S. MC NAMARA

  REFERENCE NOTES

  Abbreviations

  ARVN Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South)

  CCS Combined Chiefs of Staff (Allied in World War II)

  CINCPAC Commander in Chief, Pacific

  DRV Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North)

  FRC (Senate) Foreign Relations Committee

  FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States (annual series)

  JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff

  MAAG Military Assistance Advisory Group

  MACV Military Assistance Command Vietnam

  NSC National Security Council

  PP Pentagon Papers (all references are to the Gravel edition, except where otherwise noted)

  SEA Southeast Asia

  1. In Embryo

  1. ROOSEVELT, “SHOULD NOT GO BACK TO FRANCE”: Hull, II, 1597.

  2. THE PRESIDENT “HAS BEEN MORE OUTSPOKEN”: q. Thome, 468.

  3. AT CAIRO, “NOT TO GO BACK!”: Stilwell Papers, q. B. W. Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experience in China, New York, 1971, 405. trusteeship “for 25 years” and “1 asked chiang kai-shek”: ibid., 410.

  4. GEORGES BIDAULT, “WHOLE-HEARTED COOPERATION”: q. La Feber, 1292.

  5. FAR EAST DESK URGED INDEPENDENCE: J. C. Vincent Mem. 2 Nov 43, FRUS, 1943, China, 866. See also Fifield, 69 n.

  6. “VOLUNTARY” CONSENT OF FORMER COLONIAL POWER: Drachman, 51.

  7. ROOSEVELT DID NOT WANT TO GET “MIXED UP”: Mem. for Secretary of State, 1 Jan 45, FRUS, 1945, VI, 293. REVERSED HIMSELF: FRUS, 1944, British Commonwealth and Europe, FDR to Hull, 16 Oct 44. See also Drachman, 80.

  8. ROOSEVELT ON “INDEPENDENCE”: to Charles Taussig, Halberstam, 81; Thorne, 630.

  9. STETTIN LUS ON FRENCH SOVEREIGNTY: repeated by Grew, FRUS, 1945, VI, 307, 8 May 45. De Gaulle, “IF YOU ARE AGAINST US”: Caffery to Sec. of State, FRUS, 1945, VI, 300.

  10. GREW, “ENTIRELY INNOCENT”: Grew to Caffery, FRUS, 1945, VI, 307. See also Grew to Hurley, 2 June 1945, ibid., 312.

  11. FRENCH SURVEY OF 1910: Buttinger, I, 450, n. 53.

  12. “MORE ILLITERATE THAN THEIR FATHERS”: Jules Harmard, Domination et colonisation, Paris, 1910, 264, q. Buttinger, Smaller Dragon, 425.

  13. “REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CONQUERED RACE”: q. Manning, Stage, 109, from Milton Osborne, French Presence in Cochin China and Cambodia, 1859–1905, Ithaca, 1969, 119.

  14. OSS AND HO CHI MINH: Smith, 332–4. AMERICA “OPPOSED COLONIALISM”: ibid, OSS DISTRICT CHIEF: Col. Paul Halliwell, q. Shaplen, 33.

  15. DECISIONS AT POTSDAM: Leahy, 28
6, 338, 413; also, CCS to St. Didier, 19 July 45, Vigneras, 398.

  16. ACCORDING TO ADMIRAL KING: Thorne, 631.

  17. TRUMAN, “NO OPPOSITION” TO RETURN OF THE FRENCH: De Gaulle, III, 910. DE GAULLE TO PRESS CONFERENCE: q. Drachman, 90.

  18. BRAZZAVILLE DECLARATION: q. Marshall, 107; see also Smith, 324.

  19. “WE WILL KEEP ON FIGHTING”: q. Shaplen, 30.

  20. MESSAGE IN NAME OF BAO DAI: q. Hammer, 102.

  21. “FACILITATE RECOVERY … BY THE FRENCH”: q. Cooper, 39.

  22. FRENCH RETURN ON AMERICAN SHIPS: Dunn; also Hammer, 113; Isaacs, 151–7; “TO EMPLOY AMERICAN FLAG VESSELS”: PP(HR), Bk I, Part I, A, p. A-24, q. Patti, 380.

  23. BRITISH USED JAPANESE UNITS: Isaacs, 151; FOOTNOTE QUOTING MOUNT-BATTEN: q. Dunn from one of the following: Lord Mountbatten’s Report to Combined Chiefs of Staff, 1945–45 (London, HMSO, 1951), Post Surrender Tasks, Section E of the above (London, HMSO, 1969); GREAT BRITAIN: Documents Relating to British Involvement in the Indo-China Conflict, 1945–65, Command 2834 (London, HMSO, 1965).

  24. GENERAL GRACY’S REMARKS: q. Buttinger, I, 327.

  25. WEARING AMERICAN UNIFORMS: Cooper, 41; Isaacs, 161; Smith, 344.

  26. “STABLE, STRONG AND FRIENDLY”: PP (Senate), 13. OSS TO OBSERVE “PUNITIVE MISSIONS”: q. Smith, 347.

  27. EIGHT APPEALS BY HO TO U.S. UNANSWERED: FRUS, 1946, VIII, 27; also PP, I, 17.

  28. ARTHUR HALE REPORT: Gallagher Papers, PP (Senate), Appendix I, 31–6.

  29. Christian Science Monitor; by Gordon Walker, 2 Mar 46. state dept., “SERIOUSLY DETERIORATING”: 28 Nov 45, FRUS, 1945, VI, 1388, n. 37.

  30. CHARLES YOST REPORT: 13 Dec 45, ibid.; see also Fifield, 69–70.

  31. MARSHALL, “DANGEROUSLY OUTMODED”: drafted by the French Desk for Embassy in Paris, PP, I, 31–2. ACHESON TO MOFFAT: ibid., 20.

  32. MOFFAT, “FIFTY YEARS FROM NOW”: PP (Senate), 13.

  33. AMERICAN CONSUL IN SAIGON, “NO SETTLEMENT”: Charles S. Reed to Sec. of State, 22 Dec 46, FRUS, 1946, VIII, 78–9. LECLERC, “IT WOULD TAKE 500,000”: q. Halberstam, 84, from Paul Mus orally.

  34. TRUMAN AND ACHESON ASSURED THE PUBLIC: FRUS, 1945, VI, 313; Thome, 632.

  35. FRENCH DESK DIRECTIVE ON INDOCHINA: Feb 1947, PP, I, 31.

  2. Self-Hypnosis

  1. NSC SEA IS “TARGET”: June, 49, PP, I, 82. “KEY AREA”: ibid., 83.

  2. BAO DAI TO PHAN QUANG DAN: PP, I, 71–2. Dan, “WITHOUT IDEOLOGY”: ibid.

  3. ROBERT BLUM, “GIVES LITTLE PROMISE”: Shaplen, 87; PP, I, 73.

  4. “VITAL TO THE … FREE WORLD”: 24 May 51, q. Gelb, 44.

  5. TRUMAN, “MONSTROUS CONSPIRACY”: radio report to the American people, 11 Apr 51, PP, I, 588.

  6. NSC “ANTICIPATED” SEIZURE: 27 Feb 50, PP, I, 83. STATE DEPT., NO TRACES OF KREMLIN: ibid., 34.

  7. TRUMAN, SPECIAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS: 24 May 51, PP, I, 589. ACHESON, “REMOVE ANY ILLUSIONS”: q. Gelb, 42.

  8. RUSK, “NEW COLONIALISM”: q. Cohen, 75. “TOOL OF THE POLITBURO”: testimony to Senate FRC, 8 June 1950, q. Cohen, 50.

  9. NYT EDITORIAL, “IT SHOULD NOW BE CLEAR”: 11 June 52. NSC SEES JAPAN SUCCUMBING: PP, I, 84.

  10. OHLY MEMORANDUM: Acheson, 674.

  11. U.S. NAVAL AND AIR ACTION IN EVENT OF CHINESE ENTRY: NSC 124, PP, I, 88.

  12. WALTER ROBERTSON, “NO REGIME AS MALEVOLENT”: q. Hoopes, 147.

  13. KNOWLAND, “SOVIET CONQUEST”: ibid., 203.

  14. JOHNSON, “GREAT BEAST”: q. Ball, 404. DULLES, “PASSION TO CONTROL EVENTS”: Hoopes, 140.

  15. DULLES, “PACIFIC FRONT … WIDE OPEN”: in Senate, 21 Sept 49, q. Hoopes, 78.

  16. “PART OF A SINGLE PATTERN”: ibid., 115.

  17. DULLES, “THESE TWO GENTLEMEN”: ibid., 78.

  18. AUTHOR OF REPUBLICAN PARTY PLATFORM: Halle, 270. Text in National Party Platforms, compiled D. B. Johnson, I, 496–505, Univ. of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1978.

  19. DULLES TRIES TO GET KREMLIN PROMISE: Hoopes, 172.

  20. GENERAL STAFF, “RE-EVALUATION” IN RELATION TO COST: PP, I, 89.

  21. BARRINGTON: q. Barrington, 142–3.

  22. ADMIRAL DAVIS, “SHOULD BE AVOIDED”: PP, I, 89.

  23. PENTAGON CHIEFS’ ADVICE, CHINA THE ENEMY: q. Cohen, 174.

  24. EISENHOWER’S THREE CONDITIONS: PP, I, 94; Mandate, 345.

  25. “WILL PROBABLY DETERIORATE”: 4 June 53, PP, I, 391–2.

  26. “THE FRENCH BLACKMAILED US”: Acheson interview with Professor Gaddis Smith, NYT Book Review, 12 Oct 69.

  27. “THE FREEDOM WE CHERISH”: q. Halle, 286–7.

  28. TRAPNELL REPORT: PP, I, 487–9.

  29. “A LACK OF ENTHUSIASM”: 3 Feb 54, q. Gelb, 52.

  30. “POPULATION SUPPORTED THE ENEMY”: Eisenhower, Mandate, 372–3.

  31. U.S. PAYING 80 PERCENT: Hammer, 313, n. 20a.

  32. JUSTICE DOUGLAS: North from Malaya, 10, 208.

  33. MANSFIELD REPORT: U.S. Congress, Senate FRC, 83rd Congress, 1st Session: see under U.S. Congress, Senate.

  34. DULLES’ FEAR OF MC CARTHY: Hoopes, 160.

  35. NEW LOOK STRATEGY OF CABINET: Eisenhower, Mandate, 451; Hoopes, chap. 13. HUMPHREY COMMENT: q. ibid., 196.

  36. DULLES, “PHONY PEACE CAMPAIGN”: Hoopes, 173.

  37. RADFORD POLICY PAPER FOR GENEVA: PP, I, 448–51.

  38. DULLES LEFT THE IMPRESSION: Hoopes, 212. Nixon, “if to avoid”: 16 Apr 54, q. Eisenhower, Mandate, 353, n. 4.

  39. EISENHOWER, “OUR MAIN TASK”: Mandate, 168.

  40. CHINESE SUPPLY 4000 TONS A MONTH: Cooper, 59.

  41. ELY MISSION AND OPERATION VULTURE: Roberts, in Raskin and Fall, 57–66; PP, I, 97–106. PROPOSED USE OF ATOMIC BOMBS: FRUS, 1952–54, XIII, 1271. FOOTNOTE, PROVOKING CHINESE RESPONSE: Chalmers Roberts in Washington Post, 24 Oct 71, q. Gelb, 57. MACARTHUR COMMENT: FRUS, op. cit., to Sec. of State 7 Apr 54, 1270–2.

  42. DULLES MEETING WITH CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS: Roberts, op. cit.; Hoopes, 210–11.

  43. FRENCH CABINET ASKS INTERVENTION: PP, I, 100–04; Roberts; Hoopes, 207–08. EISENHOWER, “NO INVOLVEMENT”: 10 Mar 54, q. Gurtov, 78.

  44. GAVIN REPORT: Ridgway, Soldier, 276; also Gavin in Senate FRC Hearings in 1966.

  45. EISENHOWER REJECTS UNILATERAL INTERVENTION: Mandate, 373; PP, I, 129.

  46. SPECIAL COMMITTEE’S REPORT: 5 Apr 54, PP, I, 472–6.

  47. DULLES ON FALL OF DIEN BIEN PHU: 11 May 54, PP, I, 106; also NYT, 24 June 54.

  48. MENDES-FRANCE, “DOES MUCH LESS”: q. Hoopes from Le Monde, 12 Feb 54. CEASE-FIRE IN THIRTY DAYS: Ambassador Dillon to Sec. of State, 6 July 54, PP (HR), Bk IX, 612. CONSCRIPTION: ibid.

  49. DULLES, “DELIBERATE THREAT”: 11 June 54, q. Hoopes, 230.

  50. CHOU EN-LAI’S ADVICE: as told by Chou to Harrison Salisbury, Salisbury to author, 17 Feb 83.

  3. Creating the Client

  1. FRENCH CASUALTIES: Eisenhower, Mandate, 337.

  2. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “A WAR TO STAY OUT OF”: 5 May 54, and other editorials, May 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 19, 22, 1954. FITZPATRICK CARTOON: ibid., wanted, 8 June 54.

  3. REISCHAUER, “AN EXTREMELY INEFFECTIVE”: 178–9; 251–7.

  4. DULLES, “SO UNITED, SO STRONG”: q. Hoopes, 242.

  5. ADMIRAL DAVIS, “NO BETTER PREPARED”: PP, I, 212.

  6. DIEM’S CAREER: Mansfield report to Senate FRC, 15 Oct 54, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session; see also Scheer.

  7. JUSTICE DOUGLAS INTRODUCES DIEM: Scheer and Hinckle, “The Viet-Nam Lobby,” in Raskin and Fall, 69.

  8. AMERICANS “DIFFERENT” FROM THE FRENCH: William Bundy to author, 18 Feb 81.

  9. JOINT CHIEFS, “ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL”: PP, I, 215.

  10. JOINT CHIEFS, “NO ASSURANCE”: PP, I, 218.

  11. “CHRIST HAS MOVED SOUTH”: q. Cooper, 130.

  12. “VIETNAM PROBABLY WOULD HAVE TO BE WRITTEN OFF”: report of the Lansdale Mission, PP, I, 577.

  13. FAURE, “NOT ONLY INCAPABLE BUT MAD”: PP, I, 241.

  14. MANSFIELD REPO
RT: U.S. Congress, Senate FRC, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session.

  15. EISENHOWER LETTER TO DIEM: PP, I, 253.

  16. COLLINS’ REPORT: PP, I, 226. RE-AFFIRMED: Collins, 408.

  17. LANSDALE MISSION: PP, I, 573–83.

  18. FRENCH “DISPOSED TO EXPLORE”: PP, I, 221. SAINTENY, “ONLY POSSIBLE MEANS”: ibid., 222.

  19. NYT, “PROVEN INEPT”: C. L. Sulzberger, 18 Apr 55.

  20. DULLES, CHANCES “ONE IN TEN”: Collins, 379.

  21. EISENHOWER, “LOTS OF DIFFICULTIES”: q. Cooper, 142.

  22. 278 HEATH, “OVER $300 MILLION”: PP, I, 227.

  23. SPELLMAN, “ALAS!”: NYT, 31 Aug 54.

  24. DIEM DENIAL OF ELECTIONS: PP, I, 245.

  25. “OUTRAGEOUS” METHODS: Buttinger, II, 890.

  26. “OVERWHELMING MAJORITY”: Leo Cherne in Look, 25 Jan 56; see also Cooper, 132.

  27. KENNEDY ON HO’S “POPULARITY”: in Senate, 6 Apr 54, q. Scheer, 15.

  28. EISENHOWER “REFUSED TO AGREE”: Ridgway, Foreign Affairs, 585; see also Eisenhower, Mandate, 372. state dept., “we support”: PP, I, 246.

  29. PHAM VAN DONG, “WE SHALL ACHIEVE UNITY”: PP, I, 250.

  30. A STUDY BY AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENTISTS: one of a series conducted in Vietnam from 1955 to 1962 by Michigan State University under the direction of Professor Wesley Fishel, q. Scheer, 53.

  31. GIAP, “WE EXECUTED”: PP, I, 246.

  32. AMERICAN EMBASSY, “SITUATION MAY BE SUMMED UP”: PP, I, 258.

  33. MANIFESTO OF THE EIGHTEEN AND ARRESTS: Cooper, 159; text of Manifesto in Raskin and Fall, 116–21. “INCAPABLE OF SAVING THE COUNTRY”: ibid., 483; WASHINGTON’S CONGRATULATIONS: ibid.

  34. NLF TEN-POINT PROGRAM: text in Raskin and Fall, 216–21.

  4. “Married to Failure”

  1. “IT WAS SIMPLY A GIVEN”: James Thomson, NYT Books, 4 Oct 70.

  2. KENNEDY, “CORNERSTONE … KEYSTONE”: speech on “America’s Stake in Vietnam” to American Friends of Vietnam, June 1956, q. Lewy, 12.

  3. MC NAMARA, “WE HAVE THE POWER TO KNOCK”: reportedly said at a Pentagon briefing, Robert D. Heinl, Dictionary of Military and Naval Quotations, Annapolis, 1966, 215.

  4. BUNDY, READY TO BE DEAN AT AGE TWELVE: q. Halberstam, 52.

  5. THURMOND ON MC CONE: Halberstam, 153.

  6. GALBRAITH, “THE DISASTROUS AND THE UNPALATABLE”: Galbraith, 477.

  7. “THIS IS THE WORST WE HAVE HAD YET”: Schlesinger, 320; PP, II, 6, 27.