Summary

The question of how the United States became enmeshed in the Vietnam War has troubled three generations of Americans. Now, in this incisive and very well documented history of American intervention in Vietnam from the end of World War 2 to the first months of John F. Kennedy's presidency, historian James R. Arnold present the dramatic unfolding of the events by which Washington led us into Vietnam. At no point along this way did any policymaker consider the ultimate result of this course as seriously heed those who counseled caution.