In the months between January -July 1965, the Johnson Administration escalated the Vietnam War in three crucial respects: a/ it embarked upon a program of sustained bombing of North Vietnam (Rolling Thunder), b/ it significantly increased the number of ground troops to be deployed (up to 175,000) and c/ it changed the mission of the ground troops from advisors to combat troops.
- As national security advisor to the President, McGeorge Bundy advised the President to take all of these steps.
- What easons did Bundy have (at the time) to urge these steps?
- When he looked back at these events thirty years later, he believed his recommendations were a mistake. Why? In other words, what did the later Bundy identify as his main mistakes at the time?
- As Goldstein points out, McGeorge Bundy was widely regarded as a man of great brilliance. And most people thought the same of Robert McNamara---another brilliant person. How would you explain why they both gave such flawed advice?