1968 politics Archives - R. Lawson Author

The Vietnam War Revisited – Part XXVIII – The Ten Thousand Day War

R Lawson — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 22:51:58 +0000

The Vietnam War polarized American politics for many reasons, some warranted, others not. The rancor has persisted for three generations among the diehards, revisionist historians, and the actual veteran survivors. The conflict was poorly understood and reported back then and now. There was plenty of blame to go around including the lack of accurate accounts by the media. […]

The post The Vietnam War Revisited – Part XXVIII – The Ten Thousand Day War appeared first on R. Lawson Author.

The Vietnam War Revisited- Part XI – Two Earthshaking Events

R Lawson — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:00:23 +0000

1963 – A pivotal year hallmarked by two earthshaking events affecting the outcome of the Vietnam War. Diem never enjoyed a popular mandate to govern South Vietnam. That background set the stage for the first event. The CIA operative, Edward Lansdale propped up his rule thoughout most of the Fifties. Diem’s presidency favored Catholics, not […]

The post The Vietnam War Revisited- Part XI – Two Earthshaking Events appeared first on R. Lawson Author.

The Vietnam War Revisited- Part X – No Easy Answers

R Lawson — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 17:00:02 +0000

In my last blog I recounted JFK’s Vietnam dilemma in 1962 – How to get out of Vietnam without jeopardizing his chances of re-election one and a half years away? His options were limited to “fish or cut bait.” Buoyed by his confrontational victory over USSR’s Khrushchev in the Cuban missile crisis, his administration’s prestige […]

The post The Vietnam War Revisited- Part X – No Easy Answers appeared first on R. Lawson Author.

The Vietnam War Revisited- Part IX – JFK’s Dilemma

R Lawson — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 19:29:30 +0000

In case you missed any of the previous blogs, here they are:The Vietnam War RevisitedThe Vietnam War Revisited – Part II – It Did Not Have to Be That WayThe Vietnam War Revisited – Part III – Misgovernment The Vietnam War Revisited – Part IV – Was It Worth It?The Vietnam War Revisited – Part […]

The post The Vietnam War Revisited- Part IX – JFK’s Dilemma appeared first on R. Lawson Author.

Vietnam War Revisited – Part VI – Ignoring Expert Advice

R Lawson — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 14:36:57 +0000

In my last blog, I summarized the background leading up to American involvement in Vietnam despite serious warnings and reservations by the CIA and the military. In 1954, the South Vietnam political situation under the Diem government was best described as chaotic, lacking loyal and effective support. Commitment to the fight of communism was not […]

The post Vietnam War Revisited – Part VI – Ignoring Expert Advice appeared first on R. Lawson Author.

The Vietnam War Revisited – Part IV- Was It Worth It?

R Lawson — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 14:00:16 +0000

This series of blog posts is based off my reading of The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, by Barbara Tuchman. The Vietnamese repulsed Chinese invasions for millennia, resisted the Japanese in WWII, and defeated the French after almost a century of colonization of Indochina. I recount and document this history of the Mandarin […]

The post The Vietnam War Revisited – Part IV- Was It Worth It? appeared first on R. Lawson Author.

The Vietnam War Revisited – Part III – Misgovernment

R Lawson — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 14:00:15 +0000

If you read my two prior blogs addressing this subject you will understand where I’m going with my discussion of Barbara Tuchman’s analysis of the Vietnam War. If you missed them, here they are:The Vietnam War RevisitedThe Vietnam War Revisited – Part 2 The blogs contain links to other pertinent blogs about the basically misunderstood […]

The post The Vietnam War Revisited – Part III – Misgovernment appeared first on R. Lawson Author.

The Vietnam War Revisited – Part II – It Did Not Have to Be That Way

R Lawson — Mon, 27 May 2019 22:52:08 +0000

If you read my first blog with this title posted in January 2019, you have some understanding how that controversial war divided and polarized our society into political camps that persist over five decades later. We suffer a form of national PTSD as a consequence of the confusion and myths that Vietnam engendered. Negative societal […]

The post The Vietnam War Revisited – Part II – It Did Not Have to Be That Way appeared first on R. Lawson Author.

Vietnam: The Day It Became the Longest War

R Lawson — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 14:00:06 +0000

Vietnam – The Longest War A fellow Vietnam vet, a Marine A4 / CAS pilot, sent me a very revealing link that will shock you. It’s an excerpt of a book chapter written by Lt. General Charles Cooper, USMC (Ret) that demonstrates LBJ’s disingenuous behavior, his micromanagement and mismanagement of the Vietnam War. He believed […]

The post Vietnam: The Day It Became the Longest War appeared first on R. Lawson Author.

Operation Rolling Thunder – Part II

R Lawson — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 23:43:23 +0000

A Follow Up – Operation Rolling Thunder From 1965 to 1968, the 7th Air Force conducted “graduated bombing” of North Vietnam targets to persuade the enemy to come to terms dictated by the LBJ administration to end the war and limit their ability to conduct the war. The backbone of the operation was the Wild […]

The post Operation Rolling Thunder – Part II appeared first on R. Lawson Author.