Haunting Legacy

"What a terrific book! Scrupulously researched and beautifully told, Haunting Legacy proves that try as they might, our past seven presidents have --one after the other --failed to exorcize the ghost of Vietnam." --Lesley Stahl, correspondent for 60 Minutes "If you wonder whether Vietnam still matters, it does. Read this book and discover why and how." --Ted Koppel, anchor of ABC's Nightline for twenty-five years "A clear-eyed look at the Vietnam War's fateful consequences --especially subsequent wars --up until the present in Afghanistan. It could not be a more timely and thoughtful contribution to the literature." --Jamie Stiehm, Huffington Post "The ghost of the Vietnam War has influenced and haunted two generations of American policymakers. Now, a brilliant two-generation team looks at that legacy in an insightful and fascinating way." --Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute "It could hardly by more timely, as America and its leaders grapple with the challenges posed by Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya --all at once." --Mark Thompson, Time, Battleland Blog " Haunting Legacy should be required reading for all occupants of the White House and every presidential aspirant." --Larry Berman, author of Lyndon Johnson's War: The Road to Stalemate in Vietnam

The United States had never lost a war - that is, until 1975, when it was forced to flee Saigon in humiliation. This title presents the history of presidential decision making on one crucial issue: in light of the Vietnam debacle, under what circumstances should the United States go to war?

The United States had never lost a war—that is, until 1975, when it was forced to flee Saigon in humiliation after losing to what Lyndon Johnson called a "raggedy-ass little fourth-rate country." The legacy of this first defeat has haunted every president since, especially on the decision of whether to put "boots on the ground" and commit troops to war.

In Haunting Legacy, the father-daughter journalist team of Marvin Kalb and Deborah Kalb presents a compelling, accessible, and hugely important history of presidential decisionmaking on one crucial issue: in light of the Vietnam debacle, under what circumstances should the United States go to war?

The sobering lesson of Vietnam is that the United States is not invincible—it can lose a war—and thus it must be more discriminating about the use of American power. Every president has faced the ghosts of Vietnam in his own way, though each has been wary of being sucked into another unpopular war. Ford (during the Mayaguez crisis) and both Bushes (Persian Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan) deployed massive force, as if to say, "Vietnam, be damned." On the other hand, Carter, Clinton, and Reagan (to the surprise of many) acted with extreme caution, mindful of the Vietnam experience. Obama has also wrestled with the Vietnam legacy, using doses of American firepower in Libya while still engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The authors spent five years interviewing hundreds of officials from every post war administration and conducting extensive research in presidential libraries and archives, and they've produced insight and information never before published. Equal parts taut history, revealing biography, and cautionary tale, Haunting Legacy is must reading for anyone trying to understand the power of the past to influence war-and-peace decisions of the present, and of the future.