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    Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
    Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
    Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
    Audiobook15 hours

    Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam

    Written by H. R. McMaster

    Narrated by H. R. McMaster

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    ""The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C."" —H. R. McMaster (from the Conclusion)

    Dereliction Of Duty is a stunning analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-creates what happened and why. McMaster pinpoints the policies and decisions that got the United States into the morass and reveals who made these decisions and the motives behind them, disproving the published theories of other historians and excuses of the participants.

    A page-turning narrative, Dereliction Of Duty focuses on a fascinating cast of characters: President Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, General Maxwell Taylor, McGeorge Bundy and other top aides who deliberately deceived the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Congress and the American public.

    McMaster’s only book, Dereliction of Duty is an explosive and authoritative new look at the controversy concerning the United States involvement in Vietnam.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateSep 25, 2018
    ISBN9780062884527
    Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
    Author

    H. R. McMaster

    H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Stanford University. He is also the Susan and Bernard Liautaud Fellow at The Freeman Spogli Institute and Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He serves as chairman of the advisory board of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Japan Chair at the Hudson Institute. A native of Philadelphia, H.R. graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1984. He served as a U.S. Army officer for thirty-four years and retired as a lieutenant general in 2018. He remained on active duty while serving as the twenty-sixth assistant to the president for national security affairs. He taught history at West Point and holds a PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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    Reviews for Dereliction of Duty

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    • 5/5
      Interesting and disturbing account of the politics of the Vietnam war.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Really important look at how the choices JFK and LBJ made in choosing who to listen to in terms of Vietnam caused the unauthorized escalation of troop numbers on the ground and the change to an offensive role for those troops led to a colossal clusterf**k where civilians were brutally killed by both the US military and South Vietnamese military. McMasters has all the receipts.
    • 5/5
      Superb case study on civil – military relations and operational planning.

      It would have been interesting to know more about what US military defence intelligence, not CIA, were saying and producing back then…where were their intelligence estimates based on an assessment of the advisory, applying intelligence preparation of the battle space doctrine?

      It seemed to play no role but I would like to know more.
    • 4/5
      Great history of the complete failure and arrogance of McNamara and the weakness of LBJ during Vietnam War interactions, 1963-65.. McMaster clarifies what we already knew...micromanagement was the order of the day for LBJ. Further, his domestic programs seemed to drive foreign policy, causing secrecy in the creation of a war posture without consent of Congress. Strategy creation, or lack of it, also comes under scrutiny. It also demonstrates how the JCS was marginalized by a master politician (LBJ) and that resulted in later legislation requiring the JCS to provide their views in planning military operations. That's not to say that the Joint Chiefs did not push their own agendas--they did; to the detriment of the USA. Great research by the author about lying, cheating politicians.
    • 4/5
      Simply, highly recommended. Has to do with the timeless interaction between the branches of military; military and politics and government and citizenry. Basically, sad.
    • 5/5
      I read this book for one purpose: the author is now President Trump's National Security Advisor. Early reports are that he is pretty tough. After reading the book, I endorse that conclusion. What sort of a person, in a comparatively lowly rank (Major), would seriously attack a system in which he was a part? McMaster's book is not political. His approach is straightforward. His focus is on the period between 1963 and 1965 so the main actors are President Johnson, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. These folks and others were ambiguous with each other, the American people, and each other. This is a thoroughly researched book. As told, the conclusion is inescapable. I suspect McMasterr knew what he was going say even before he began to write but that takes nothing away from his scholarship. It was hard to read this book. While there is much that has been in the public domain for 45+ years, it was still hard to get over the near total lack of concern by any of these folks about the lives that would be involved. That observation needs repeating. Dereliction of Duty is almost an inadequate conclusion. Lying and misdirection was practiced to such an extent that it is not possible to comment about competence.
    • 5/5
      McMaster's scathing account of Lindon Johnson, Robert McNamara, and Gen. Maxwell Taylor's deliberate, lying, obfuscation, and criminal mismanagement of the the run up to the Vietnam war. Now that McMaster is in Trump's cabinet makes this work very important. Compare LBJ's Not recommended for anyone who has painful memories of the Vietnam War.