"Today, the Vietnam War is remembered in popular memory as a war embroiled in deceptions and half-truths. This is no accident. It is not that this war was started more dishonestly than other American wars. Rather, Americans remember the war in this way because of the domestic political debate that took place during its conduct. Early in the Vietnam War, opponents attacked the Cold War ideology that justified it. But they found that military containment was so deeply entrenched in the popular American understanding of international relations that it was virtually unassailable. In 1968, opponents of the war in Congress switched tactics and instead began attacking the President's credibility on the war. This tactic proved so successful that virtually all opponents of the war soon followed suit. The tactic worked, ultimately ending the war. But this tactic also had a number of unintended consequences. First, it left the ideology of containment intact, perpetuating the Cold War for another decade. And this tactic--attacking the administration's credibility on the Vietnam War--also permanently altered how Americans understood--and remembered--the Vietnam War."
Containment and Credibility will be published by Carrel Books, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing.
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