One of President Trump’s most interesting staff picks has been General H.R. McMaster to replace General Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor. McMaster has received a generally warm reception from both sides of the aisle, and has been referred to often as a “warrior-scholar” for his deep thinking about the military. The prime example of this thinking is “Dereliction of Duty”, McMaster’s PhD thesis expanded into book form. It’s a harsh look at the decision in the upper ranks of military and government during the Vietnam Era, and how confusing and indecisive goals and leadership affected the conflict. It’s also at the center of our Book Spotlight this month…
”Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam”
by H.R. McMaster
“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 new 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 recently released transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-creates what happened and why. It also 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.
Dereliction Of Duty covers the story in strong narrative fashion, focusing 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.
Sure to generate controversy, Dereliction Of Duty is an explosive and authoritative new look at the controversy concerning the United States involvement in Vietnam.
About the Author
H.R. McMaster, a recent award-winning teacher at West Point and an inspiring leader in the Gulf War, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1984 and has an M.A. and a Ph.D. in American History from the University of North Carolina. He is now attending the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS.
