How Presidents Test Reality: Decisions on Vietnam, 1954 and 1965 - Hardcover

Burke, John P.; Greenstein, Fred I.; Berman, Larry; Immerman, Richard

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9780871541758: How Presidents Test Reality: Decisions on Vietnam, 1954 and 1965

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0871541750 ISBN 13: 9780871541758

Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation, 1989

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The authors are concerned with establishing whether policy alternatives were systematically and rigorously addressed when Eisenhower made his decision not to intervene in vietnam in 1954 and Johnson made the opposite decision in 1965 (the intrinsic quality of the decisions themselves is not their focus). Sources include recently declassified records and interviews with participants. Paper edition (unseen), $14.95. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

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Synopsis:

Just as famines and plagues can provide opportunities for medical research, the unhappy course of United States relations with Vietnam is a prime source of evidence for students of American political institutions. "How Presidents Test Reality" draws on the record of American decision making about Vietnam to explore the capacity of top government executives and their advisers to engage in effective reality testing. Authors Burke and Greenstein compare the Vietnam decisions of two presidents whose leadership styles and advisory systems diverged as sharply as any in the modern presidency. Faced with a common challenge - an incipient Communist take-over of Vietnam - Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson engaged in intense debates with their aides and associates, some of whom favoured intervention and some of whom opposed it. In the Dien Bien Phu Crisis of 1954, Eisenhower decided not to enter the conflict; in 1965, when it became evident that the regime in South Vietnam could not hold out much longer, Johnson intervened.

By July 1965, American involvement had escalated from an advisory force to an open ended military commitment that would eventually divide the nation and undermine the president's capacity to lead. "How Presidents Test Reality" uses declassified records and interviews with participants to assess in depth the adequacy of each president's use of advice and information. This important book advances historical understanding of the American involvement in Vietnam and illuminates the preconditions of effective presidential leadership in the contemporary world.

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