Gregory A. Daddis’ ’89 new book Westmoreland’s War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam has been selected for the Army Chief of Staff's professional reading list.
A half century after the United States committed ground combat troops to Vietnam, Americans still have a lot to learn—or unlearn—about the nation’s first war that it lost. In this stimulating reappraisal of the conflict, Daddis argues that America’s failure owed less to the much maligned “strategy of attrition” than to broader flaws in national policy, to include the belief that America could transform South Vietnam. In taking a fresh look at U.S. strategy during the Vietnam War, this book enhances our understanding both of the war itself and of the challenges that continue to face Soldiers and policy makers when intervening in the internal conflicts of foreign countries.