Dereliction Of Duty Summary

In Dereliction of Duty, H. R. McMaster provides a detailed analysis of the key decisions that the Johnson administration made leading up to the Vietnam War. Using recently declassified material, including many tapes and papers from the Johnson Presidential Library, he highlights how and why those decision were made, thereby giving readers a fresh and unique view of how the United States turned Vietnam into an American war. McMaster, a military historian and former history instructor at the United States Military Academy, based this book on his dissertation he wrote while at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the time of writing this book, he was a major in the United States Army. McMaster had previously led combat troops …show more content…
Although not published by an academic institution, many professors and military professionals reviewed earlier versions of the manuscript for Dereliction of Duty, thereby giving much credibility to the work of H.R. McMaster. The book consists of fifteen chapters, each focusing on a specific time period leading up to the Vietnam War. In all, McMaster highlights the period between 1961 and 1965, during which the most critical decisions were made that led to the Americanization of the Vietnam War. He wrote the book in chronological order, with each chapter providing examples of the failure of the Johnson administration to re-evaluate the current situation in Vietnam. For his skilled work, McMaster received the New York Military Affairs Symposium’s 1997 Award for Outstanding Book on Military History. As the subtitle suggests, the focus of the book revolves around President Johnson, Secretary of Defense McNamara, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). Contrary to popular belief that the United States was drawn into the war to contain the spread of communism, McMaster argues that the Americanization of Vietnam was the result of Johnson’s insecurity, McNamara’s flawed plan of ‘graduated pressure’, and the JCS’s failure to challenge the strategy and provide sound military …show more content…
Hence, the President reduced the JCS to a position of little influence by using Taylor as intermediary. On the other hand, McMaster faults the JCS for inter-service rivalry and it becoming an obstacle to expressing their objection to the ‘graduated pressure’ strategy and offering alternatives. Instead, they worked within the strategy in hopes that greater, unrestricted military action would follow. On numerous occasions, McNamara did not share plans with the JCS until after the President had already made a decision, and as a result, made the JCS reluctant to oppose those policy decisions. Although they thought that the president’s policy was unsound, they were unable to work out their differences, thereby reinforcing the United States’ gradual movement toward Americanization of the