Making War, Thinking History: Munich, Vietnam, and Presidential Uses of Force from Korea to Kosovo

by Jeffrey Record

Overview

In examining the influence of historical analogies on decisions to use—or not use—force, military strategist Jeffrey Record assesses every major application of U.S. force from the Korean War to the NATO war on Serbia. Specifically, he looks at the influence of two analogies: the democracies' appeasement of Hitler at Munich and America's defeat in the Vietnam War. His book judges the utility of these two analogies on presidential decision-making and finds considerable misuse of them in situations where force was optional. He points to the Johnson administration's application of the Munich analogy to the circumstances of Southeast Asia in 1965 as the most egregious example of their misuse, but also cites the faulty reasoning by historical analogy that prevailed among critics of Reagan's policy in Central America and in Clinton's use of force in Haiti and the former Yugoslavia.

The author's findings show generational experience to be a key influence on presidential decision-making: Munich persuaded mid-twentieth-century presidents that force should be used early and decisively while Vietnam cautioned later presidents against using force at all. Both analogies were at work for the Gulf War, with Munich urging a decision for war and Vietnam warning against a graduated and highly restricted use of force. Record also reminds us of the times when presidents have used analogies to mobilize public support for action they have already decided to take. Addressing both the process of presidential decision-making and the wisdom of decisions made, this well-reasoned book offers timely lessons to a broad audience that includes political scientists, military historians, defense analysts, and policy makers, as well as those simply curious about history's influence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612515823
Publisher:	Naval Institute Press
Publication date:	02/15/2014
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.49(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey Record is a professor of strategy at the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama. He served in Vietnam as a civilian pacification adviser and received his doctorate from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1
1 Munich and Vietnam: Lessons Drawn	11
2 Truman in Korea	34
3 Eisenhower in Indochina	45
4 Kennedy and Johnson in Vietnam and the Caribbean	55
5 Nixon and Kissinger in Vietnam	70
6 Reagan in Lebanon, Grenada, Central America, and
Afghanistan	79
7 Bush in Panama, the Persian Gulf, and Somalia	97
8 Clinton in Haiti and the Balkans	113
9 Legacies of Munich and Vietnam for the Post-Cold War World	129
10 Using Force, Thinking History	156
Notes	167
Bibliography	181
Index	195