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Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned
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Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned Hardcover - 2008

by Rufus C. Phillips; Foreword by Richard Holbrook


From the publisher

Rufus Phillips offers an extraordinary inside history of the most critical years of American involvement in Vietnam, from 1954 to 1968, and explains why it still matters. Describing what went right and then wrong, he contends that our failure to understand the Communists, our South Vietnamese allies, or even ourselves took us down the wrong road of a conventional war until it was too late-we missed the war's essential political character. Documenting the story from his own personal files, now available at the Texas Tech Vietnam Archive, as well as from the historical record, the former government official paints striking portraits of such key figures as John F. Kennedy, Maxwell Taylor, Robert McNamara, Henry Cabot Lodge, Hubert Humphrey, and Ngo Dinh Diem, among others with whom he dealt.

Details

  • Title Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned
  • Author Rufus C. Phillips; Foreword by Richard Holbrook
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 384
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis
  • Date 2008-10
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9781591146742 / 1591146747
  • Weight 2.08 lbs (0.94 kg)
  • Dimensions 10 x 7 x 1.24 in (25.40 x 17.78 x 3.15 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - United States, Vietnam - History - 1945-1975
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2008023335
  • Dewey Decimal Code 959.704

About the author

Rufus Phillips became a member of the Saigon Military Mission in 1954 and the following year served as the sole adviser to two Vietnamese army pacification operations, earning the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit for his work. He later worked as a CIA civilian case officer in Vietnam and Laos, then joined the U.S. Agency for International Development's Saigon Mission to lead its counterinsurgency efforts. In 1964 he became a consultant for USAID and the State Department and served as an adviser to Vice President Hubert Humphrey. He lives in Arlington, VA.
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Why Vietnam Matters : An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned
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Why Vietnam Matters : An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

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Why Vietnam Matters : An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

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Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

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Why Vietnam Matters : An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

Why Vietnam Matters : An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

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Why Vietnam Matters : An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

Why Vietnam Matters : An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

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Why Vietnam Matters : An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

Why Vietnam Matters : An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

by Rufus Phillips

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Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

by Phillips, Rufus C.

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Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

by Phillips III, Rufus C

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Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2008. Book. As New. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 10 1/4h x 7 1/2w. A real nice clean unmarked 428 page first printing (stated) hardcover Has two black & white photo sections. Phillips gives an extraordinary inside history of the most critical years of American involvement in Vietnam, from 1954 to 1968, and explains why it still matters. Describing what went right and then wrong, he argues that the United States missed an opportunity to help the South Vietnamese develop a political cause as compelling as that of the Communists by following a "big war" strategy based on World War II perceptions. This led the Americans to mistaken assumptions that they could win the war themselves and give the country back to the Vietnamese..
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Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned
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Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned

by Phillips, Rufus; Holbrooke, Richard [Foreword]

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Naval Institute Press, 2008-10-01. Hardcover. Like New. 10x7x3. Hardcover and dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Minor shelf wear. Clean, unmarked pages.
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