America's Rasputin
eBook - ePub

America's Rasputin

Walt Rostow and the Vietnam War

  1. 344 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

America's Rasputin

Walt Rostow and the Vietnam War

About this book

David Milne's America's Rasputin provides the first major study of the man who pushed two presidents into Vietnam.

Walt Rostow's meteoric rise to power—from Flatbush, Brooklyn, to the West Wing of the White House—seemed to capture the promise of the American dream. Hailing from humble origins, Rostow became an intellectual powerhouse: a professor of economic history at MIT and an influential foreign policy adviser to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Too influential, according to some. While Rostow inspired respect and affection, he also made some powerful enemies. Averell Harriman, one of America's most celebrated diplomats, described Rostow as "America's Rasputin" for the unsavory influence he exerted on presidential decision-making. Rostow was the first to advise Kennedy to send U.S. combat troops to South Vietnam and the first to recommend the bombing of North Vietnam. He framed a policy of military escalation, championed recklessly optimistic reporting, and then advised LBJ against pursuing a compromise peace with North Vietnam.
David Milne examines one man's impact on the United States' worst-ever military defeat. It is a portrait of good intentions and fatal misjudgments. A true ideologue, Rostow believed that it is beholden upon the United States to democratize other nations and do "good," no matter what the cost. America's Rasputin explores the consequences of this idealistic but unyielding dogma.

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Yes, you can access America's Rasputin by David Milne in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Political Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Halftitle
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Introduction
  9. One The Education of Walt Whitman Rostow. 1916–1949
  10. Two The Mahing of an Anticommunist Zealot, 1950–1960
  11. Three Rattling Sabers, 1961
  12. Four A Distant Voice. 1962–1963
  13. Five The Rostow Thesis. 1964–1965
  14. Six The Prophet Returns. 1966
  15. Seven Postponing the Inevitable. 1967
  16. Eight A World Crashes Down, 1968
  17. Epilogue, 1969–2003
  18. Notes
  19. Bibliography
  20. Index