The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam

740 Pages·2018·27.1 MB·English

by  Max Boot

THE ROAD
NOT TAKEN
Edward Lansdale and the
American Tragedy in Vietnam
MAX BOOT
LIVERIGHT PUBLISHING CORPORATION
A Division of W. W. Norton & Company INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS SINCE 1923
NEW YORK • LONDON
FRONTPIECE: Lansdale arrives at Tam Son Nhut Airport in Saigon, August 29, 1965, to begin his second
tour in Vietnam. His embassy rival, Philip Habib, is at left. (AP)
To Sue Mi Terry,
for supporting me
And to the Council on Foreign Relations,
for supporting my work
CONTENTS
Maps
Dramatis Personae
PROLOGUE:
The Day of the Dead: Saigon, November 1–2, 1963
INTRODUCTION:
The Misunderstood Man
PART ONE • Ad Man (1908–1945)
1. In Terrific Flux
2. Enfant Terrible
3. An Institution Run by Its Inmates
PART TWO • Colonel Landslide (1945–1954)
4. The Time of His Life
5. In Love and War
6. The Knights Templar
7. “A Most Difficult and Delicate Problem”
8. “All-Out Force or All-Out Friendship”
9. The Power Broker
10. “A Real Vindication”
PART THREE • Nation Builder (1954–1956)
11. La Guerre sans Fronts
12. A Fortress Falls
13. “I Am Ngo Dinh Diem”
14. The Chopstick Torture
15. Pacification
16. The Viper’s Nest
17. “Stop Calling Me Papa!”
PART FOUR • Washington Warrior (1957–1963)
18. Heartbreak Hotel
19. Guerrilla Guru
20. A New War Begins
21. The Ambassador Who Never Was
22. “The X Factor”
23. “Worms of the World Unite”
24. “Washington at Its Nuttiest”
PART FIVE • Bastard Child (1964–1968)
25. “A Hell of a Mess”
26. “Concept for Victory”
27. Escalation
28. The Impossible Missions Force
29. Waging Peace in a Time of War
30. To Stay or to Go?
31. Waiting for the Second Coming
32. The Long Goodbye
PART SIX • The Beaten Man (1968–1987)
33. The War at Home
34. A Defeat in Disguise
35. The Abandoned Ally
36. The Family Jewels
37. The End of the Road
AFTERWORD:
Lansdalism in the Twenty-First Century
Acknowledgments
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index