The Kennedy Withdrawal

In October 1963, President Kennedy proposed withdrawing from Vietnam, gaining him a durable reputation as a skeptic on the war. However, drawing on secret White House tapes, Marc Selverstone reveals that JFK never had a firm intention to withdraw. The real value of the proposal lay in obtaining political cover for his open-ended Vietnam policy.

When John F. Kennedy was shot, millions were left to wonder how America, and the world, would have been different had he lived to fulfill the enormous promise of his presidency. For many historians and political observers, what Kennedy would and would not have done in Vietnam has been a source of enduring controversy. Now, based on convincing new evidence--including a startling revelation about the Kennedy administration's involvement in the assassination of Premier Diem--Howard Jones argues that Kennedy intended to withdraw the great bulk of American soldiers and pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Vietnam. Drawing upon recently declassified hearings by the Church Committee on the U.S. role in assassinations, newly released tapes of Kennedy White House discussions, and interviews with John Kenneth Galbraith, Robert McNamara, Dean Rusk, and others from the president's inner circle, Jones shows that Kennedy firmly believed that the outcome of the war depended on the South Vietnamese. In the spring of 1962, he instructed Secretary of Defense McNamara to draft a withdrawal plan aimed at having all special military forces home by the end of 1965. The "Comprehensive Plan for South Vietnam" was ready for approval in early May 1963, but then the Buddhist revolt erupted and postponed the program. Convinced that the war was not winnable under Diem's leadership, President Kennedy made his most critical mistake--promoting a coup as a means for facilitating a U.S. withdrawal. In the cruelest of ironies, the coup resulted in Diem's death followed by a state of turmoil in Vietnam that further obstructed disengagement. Still, these events only confirmed Kennedy's view about South Vietnam's inability to win the war and therefore did not lessen his resolve to reduce the U.S. commitment. By the end of November, however, the president was dead and Lyndon Johnson began his campaign of escalation. Jones argues forcefully that if Kennedy had not been assassinated, his withdrawal plan would have spared the lives of 58,000 Americans and countless Vietnamese. Written with vivid immediacy, supported with authoritative research, Death of a Generation answers one of the most profoundly important questions left hanging in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's death. Death of a Generation was a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2003.

Focusing on the Cold War mindset of JFK, this unique portrait of his presidency introduces readers to the wars he inherited and started all over the world.

In what may well be the most shocking andietnam War, JFK and Vietnam--written by an Asian history and Intelligenceennedy Administration over the Vietnam War. Newman reveals the men who thwarted Kennedy and unravels the lies that led to catastrophe. 8-page insert.

The Virtual JFK DVD is now available For more information on the film companion to the book, visit http: //www.virtualjfk.com/ It Matters Who Is President--Then and Now At the heart of this provocative book lies the fundamental question: Does it matter who is president on issues of war and peace? The Vietnam War was one of the most catastrophic and bloody in living memory, and its lessons take on resonance in light of America's current devastating involvement in Iraq. Tackling head-on the most controversial and debated "what if" in U.S. foreign policy, this unique work explores what President John F. Kennedy would have done in Vietnam if he had not been assassinated in 1963. Drawing on a wealth of recently declassified documents, frank oral testimony of White House officials from both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and the analysis of top historians, this book presents compelling evidence that JFK was ready to end U.S. involvement well before the conflict escalated. With vivid immediacy, readers will feel they are in the president's war room as the debates raged that forever changed the course of American history--and continue to affect us profoundly today as the shadows of Vietnam stretch into Iraq.

A re-creation of the deliberations, actions, and deceptions that brought two decades of post-World War II confidence to an end, this book offers an insight into the Vietnam War at home and abroad - and into American foreign policy in the 1960s.

At last, the first memoir from a Kennedy family member—an inspirational, candid, and explosive personal story sure to be one of the most sensational bestsellers of the year Christopher Kennedy Lawson was born to enormous privilege. But with fame, money, and power came tragedy and heartbreak. In this clear-eyed, sensitive, and compulsively readable autobiography, he breaks his family’s long-held silence to a rare glimpse into the exclusive worlds of both Washington politicos and the Hollywood elite during the socially turbulent 1960s and 1970s. As the first born child of famed Rat Pack actor, Peter Lawford, and John F. Kennedy’s sister, Patricia, Christopher Lawford was raised in Malibu and Martha’s Vineyard with movie stars and presidents as close family members and friends. But this little boy who learned the twist thanks to private lessons from Marilyn Monroe would grow up to become a spoiled adolescent with a near-fatal jones for heroin and alcohol. With deep sincerity, Kennedy sets the record straight, sharing many never-before-told stories about the good, the bad, and the ugly in his life, including the deaths of his uncles, his parents’ divorce and its effect, his hard-fought struggle to overcome addiction, his long-lasting sobriety, his acting career, and his relationships with his famous cousins and his own children. Surprisingly frank, Kennedy pulls no punches as he tells us what it’s really like to be a member of America’s first family.

The famed political critic “analyzes the issue most prominently posed in Oliver Stone’s film JFK . . . strong arguments against Kennedy mythologists” (Publishers Weekly). Rethinking Camelot is a thorough analysis of John F. Kennedy’s role in the US invasion of Vietnam and a probing reflection on the elite political culture that allowed and encouraged the Cold War. In it, Chomsky dismisses efforts to resurrect Camelot—an attractive American myth portraying JFK as a shining knight promising peace, foiled only by assassins bent on stopping this lone hero who would have unilaterally withdrawn from Vietnam had he lived. Chomsky argues that US institutions and political culture, not individual presidents, are the key to understanding US behavior during Vietnam. Rethinking Camelot is “an interesting work not only for the history it explores, but also as a study of how various individuals and groups write and interpret history” (Choice). Praise for Noam Chomsky “Chomsky is a global phenomenon . . . perhaps the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet.” —The New York Times Book Review “The conscience of the American people.” —New Statesman “Reading Chomsky is like standing in a wind tunnel. With relentless logic, Chomsky bids us to listen closely to what our leaders tell us—and to discern what they are leaving out . . . The questions Chomsky raises will eventually have to be answered. Agree with him or not, we lose out by not listening.” —Business Week “One of the radical heroes of our age . . . a towering intellect . . . powerful, always provocative.” —The Guardian