When Did the U.S. With antiwar sentiment growing on the home front, the Johnson administration lost confidence in Westmorelands strategy of attrition and its chances for victory in Vietnam. But as President John F. Kennedy had predicted just a few years earlier, the result had been like taking a drinkthe fix quickly wore off and more troops were needed. He was given command of the 101st Airborne Division in 1958 and became superintendent of West Point two years later. Westmoreland was replaced by General Creighton W. Abrams in 1968. In June 1968, Westmoreland was replaced by General Creighton Abrams. Westmoreland's request for 206,000 additional troops also didn't help matters. Westmoreland's command tour is well worth examining. By April 1967, during a trip to Washington, he was seeking to bring the total number of troops up to 550,500, which he called the "minimal essential force," while 670,000 was "the optimum.". The Republican party back then still believed in a lot of his economic values, the NPP allowing nazis and communists to establish themselves as full force especially within the TNO timeline and Goldwater's father being Jewish would be an immense turn off for him. You must be a Wikipedia editor. William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 - July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. Westmoreland oversaw dramatic increases in American combat numbers in Vietnam and later, but he later advocated for an orderly withdrawal. by Paul J. Angelo Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam. In 1936 Westmoreland graduated form America's most senior army establishment - West Point. Serving with the 9th for the remainder of the war, Westmoreland became the division's chief of staff in October 1944. Born on March 26, 1914, William Childs Westmoreland was the son of a Spartanburg, SC textile manufacturer. They limped through his tenure with basically cast-off American World War II weapons. He is also the founder of the first Baptist church in America. Join FPs editor in chief, Ravi Agrawal, for a rare in-depth interview with Guha. 173rd Airborne during the Battle of Dak To, November 1967. The logistical brilliance on fiery display during Shermans March to the Sea read more, The political and religious leader Roger Williams (c. 1603?-1683) is best known for founding the state of Rhode Island and advocating separation of church and state in Colonial America. . The Army already was preparing hundreds of units for duty in Southeast Asia, among them the newly activated 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). . Time magazine was so taken with him that it named him its Man of the Year for 1965. Delivered Wednesday. DePuy was probably the actual originator of the search-and-destroy approach to conduct of a war of attrition. ), Commander, Army Training and Doctrine Command (1977-1981) Is it possible that the riddle of America's military failure in Vietnam has a one-word, one-man answer? Soon after entering office, Clifford convinced Johnson to deny General William Westmoreland's request for an additional 206,000 American troops in Vietnam. William Westmoreland was born in 1914 near Spartanburg, South Carolina, into a family whose ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War and served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. General Creighton W. Abrams, Westmorelands deputy commander, replaced him as head of the MACV. It didnt, however, bring South Vietnam closer to victory. William Westmoreland was born in 1914 near Spartanburg, South Carolina, into a family whose ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War and served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. After successfully turning the tide against the North Vietnamese during 1965 he was named Time Man of the Year, but as the . Hickman, Kennedy. Westmoreland was replaced by General Creighton W. Abrams in 1968. Striking all across the country, the Viet Cong, with support from the North Vietnamese army, launched major attacks on South Vietnamese cities. The Americanization of the war deepened the U.S. role in Vietnam. The Second Indochina War, known in America as the Vietnam War, was a Cold War era military conflict that occurred in . But after his four years in command of U.S. forces in Vietnam he was succeeded by Gen. Creighton Abrams, his exact contemporary, his West Point classmate who also served in World War II in Europe and during the final stages of the Korean War, but who brought to his command of U.S. forces in Vietnam a radically different outlook on the nature of the war. The American phase of the Vietnam War had begun. When Westmoreland arrived in Vietnam in 1964, the United States had some 16,000 troops in the region. He later wrote, I permitted myself the most optimistic appraisal of the way the war was going that I had yet made. Some of his fellow generals worried he had been too optimisticand too willing to serve LBJs political objectives. 2022 Defense Media Network. He was an artilleryman who. Contents 1 Quotes 2 A Soldier Reports (1976) 3 Quotes about Westmoreland 4 External links On a visit to Vietnam Senator Hollings from Westmorelands home state of South Carolina was told by Westmoreland: Were killing these people, the enemy, at a ratio of 10 to 1. Said Hollings, Westy, the American people dont care about the ten. That year, the American buildup in Vietnam reached a peak of 535,000 men, but when Westmoreland asked for 200,000 more men, LBJ decided to get a new commander. Eric Tegler: You served with Gen. Westmoreland after he returned from Vietnam. Nine days later, LBJ surprised by the nation by saying he would not. I think those senior people lacked the experience and, I would say, the confidence to replace Westmoreland before it became so painfully obvious that it had to be done. Westmorelands tenure as commander of U.S. forces, the author concludes, ultimately put Americas massive effort in Vietnam on a negative trajectory from which it never recovered. He overestimated the American peoples patience and tolerance of friendly losses. Given the era, place, culture and institutions with which Westmoreland grew up he seems, even by 1965, to be a man of the old Army, a figure of the past fighting a conflict for which he was not only intellectually unprepared but by experience not ready for. Nov 2, 2017. Abrams called his strategy for persecuting the war the "one war . Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews. Join FPs Ravi Agrawal for a conversation with FP columnist and Harvard University professor Stephen M. Walt. WILLIAM WESTMORELAND. On his return to the United States he was . Gen. William C. Westmoreland, who commanded the United States forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, overseeing the vast troop buildup and the height of the fighting, died last night in a. Westmorelands influence was limited in the administration of Richard Nixon, and he resigned from the U.S. Army in 1972. Westmoreland's War is a landmark reinterpretation of one of America's most divisive wars, outlining the multiple, interconnected aspects of American military strategy in Vietnam-combat operations, pacification, nation building, and the training of the South Vietnamese armed forces. Global Climate Agreements: Successes and Failures, Backgrounder Vietnam War Facts 46%. During the war Gen. Harold K. Johnson, who was Chief of Staff of the Army for the same four years Westmoreland commanded in Vietnam, was terribly distressed with Westmorelands approach to the war. And yet a growing number of scholars believe that in the worlds largest democracy, Modi may be dismantling democracy itself. National Archives. A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the peoplewomen, children and old menin the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968. Westmoreland was taken out of Vietnam by promoting him upstairs to Army Chief of Staff, and replaced with his deputy, Creighton Abrams, who began implementing a steady troop draw down. William Westmoreland. For Westmoreland, Vietnam was an exercise in frustration. Not only had he not had military schooling; he had no graduate schooling, had not had a prior tour as a junior officer on the faculty at West Point, was not known as an intellectual, and had not written anything scholarly for publication. He has appeared on The History Channel as a featured expert. But the ambitious Tet Offensive, a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam that on January 31, 1968 (the lunar new year) disproved Westmorelands claims of progress. Geopolitics dominated the world in 2022, with Russias war in Ukraine and competition between the United States and China impacting everything from energy to food to semiconductors. He served initially in the horse artillery. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Eric Tegler is a writer/broadcaster from Severna Park, Md. The end was not in sight, and no one knew when it would be. Serving with the 82nd for four years, Westmoreland rose to become the division's chief of staff. Delivered Wednesday. You are also agreeing to our. You may opt out at any time. Gen. Creighton Abrams Westmoreland was replaced by Gen. Creighton Abrams, who aggressively pursued the Vietnamization program and oversaw the reduction of the U.S. presence in Vietnam to fewer than 30,000 troops. The first part of this exclusive on-demand session will focus on the year that was; the second will look ahead to the next 12 months. He created a major study known as PROVN [Program for the Pacification and Long-Term Development of Vietnam] which concluded that the Westmoreland approach was not working and could not work, and the reason it could not was that it was ignoring the war in the villages. While U.S. and South Vietnamese forces ultimately turned the tide and inflicted punishing losses on the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, in political terms everything had changed. Who replaced Westmoreland in Vietnam? Seward spent his early career as a lawyer before winning a seat in the New York State Senate in 1830. What does a changing India mean for the world order? In early 1968, he lead his men to fight against the VietCong that had invaded into South Vietnam and was victorious. Attrition was an important part of Gen. William Westmoreland's approach, but never to the exclusion of other methods. His understanding of the nature of the war paralleled Westmorelands the way to win was to go out and kill as many of the enemy as you could. This is a very well-written and brilliant article. TWE Remembers: General Westmoreland Says the End Begins to Come Into View in Vietnam, Meet Tulsi Gabbard, Democratic Presidential Candidate, it had been a mistake to send U.S. troops to fight in Vietnam, created a group to share favorable information, And at the recommendation of the so-called Wise Men, Army Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Military. RM2B01CEG - Vietnam: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and General William Westmoreland with Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Thieu and Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky of South Vietnam, Saigon. (2020, August 28). Employing an aggressive strategy of search and destroy, he sought to draw the forces of the Viet Cong (National Liberation Front) into the open where they could be eliminated. Its time for a new approach. Were measuring against a reality that no longer exists, one congressional aide said. Raised in Pacolet, Westmoreland was a good student, an Eagle Scout, and a competent athlete. How exactly has Modi corralled so much power? In doing so, he worked to make army life more inviting to young Americans by issuing directives which allowed for a more relaxed approach to grooming and discipline. He deprived the South Vietnamese of modern weaponry, giving U.S. and other allied forces priority for issue of the new M-16 rifle and other advanced military wherewithal. Glen correctly paints General Westmoreland as the perfect image of a soldierWorld War II leader, Airborne Infantry leader, former Superintendent of West Pointwith a very stiff soldierly look. Eric Tegler is a writer/broadcaster from Severna Park, Md. In the years following the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, Westmoreland became a noted public supporter of Vietnam veterans, leading a march to the Vietnam Memorial in 1982 and a gathering of some 200,000 veterans in Chicago in 1986. Everythings going to hell. Westmoreland continually pressed Washington to send combat troops. On March 22, 1968, Johnson announced that Westmoreland would be leaving Vietnam to take up the post of Army Chief of Staff. Why have Indias opposition parties crumbled? He told reporters that [the strategy] was not working at all. Westmoreland's Vietnam strategy ignored key considerations. And the number one reason why Westmoreland lost the war in Vietnam: With his unavailing approach to conduct of the war he squandered four years of support by much of the American people, the Congress, and even the media. By late summer 1967, the United States had 450,000 troops in Vietnam. Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security. Its hard to say how much, but he was one of the most handsome, photogenic officers weve ever had. As a teenager, he was heavily involved in the Boy Scouts movement. In 2011 Lewis Sorley published a biography of General William Westmoreland titled "Westmoreland, The General Who Lost Vietnam." In it Sorley makes the argument that Westmoreland didn't understand the nature of the war and squandered lives, treasure, and time during his command, thereby undermining the American people's support and . I wrote a response here on Quora of seeing Westmoreland at an airport once and my intended speech. With the Korean War raging, Westmoreland was given command of the 187th Regimental Combat Team. Three people could have acted to change the situation the Commander in Chief, Lyndon Johnson; the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara; and Earle Wheeler, the Chairman of the JCS. Saxon, Spartanburg County, South Carolina. In this four-part interview with DMN writer Eric Tegler, Sorley discusses Westmorelands tenure as Army Chief of Staff, how he became commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, his conduct of the war, and why he remained in command for so long. When Creighton Abrams replaced Westmoreland as COMUSMACV shortly after the Tet offensive, he adopted a new approach that came close to winning the war. It is reprinted here with the permission of the Gazette. He wrote a letter soon after the appointment was made telling others he didnt really feel very well prepared for it and that he was apprehensive about it. Eric Tegler But Gen. Creighton Abrams replaced Westmoreland as Army chief of staff in June 1972, before Westmoreland could recommend Peers as new commander of the Eighth Army. With the outbreak of World War II, Westmoreland swiftly rose through the ranks as the army expanded to meet wartime needs, reaching lieutenant colonel by September 1942. He lacked the schooling and relevant experience to understand the war and devise a viable approach to prosecuting it. Westmoreland was also faced in this period with having to deal with widespread civil disturbance. While victorious, the battles that fall pulled US forces out of South Vietnamese cities and set the stage for the Tet Offensive in late January 1968. General William Westmoreland with President Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House, November 1967. When it was time to brief we would be sent into his office following a very strict routine. Sorley, Lewis. By entering your email and clicking subscribe, you're agreeing to receive announcements from CFR about our products and services, as well as invitations to CFR events. During World War II, Westmoreland fought courageously with a battalion in North Africa and Sicily, and was chief of staff of the U.S. Armys Ninth Division when it entered Germany in 1944. He got his wish in March 1965 when the first Marines hit the shores of Da Nang. FINAL REVIEW - Good luck everyone!!!! How was Westmoreland viewed by the rest of the Army at that time? I saw a study which said the average Vietnamese soldier stood five feet tall and weighed 90 pounds. General Johnson turned out to be prescient. He couldnt. Westmoreland's Plan for Vietnam President Lyndon B. Johnson with General William Westmoreland in M151 jeep, visiting troop units in Vietnam, 26 October 1966. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1968 to 1972.. Westmoreland adopted a strategy of attrition against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, attempting to drain them of manpower . Biography of Colin Powell, Top US General, National Security Advisor, Lieutenant General James Gavin in World War II, Biography of Vo Nguyen Giap, Vietnamese General, Top Essentials to Know About the Vietnam War, M.S., Information and Library Science, Drexel University, B.A., History and Political Science, Pennsylvania State University. Your guide to the most important world stories of the day. The goal was not to seize and hold territory, but to inflict more losses than the Communist forces could sustain. Returning home, Westmoreland was criticized as the general who "won every battle until [he] lost the war." The enemy simply kept sending more and more replacements to make up his losses. July 1, 2005. After one year at the Citadel, he transferred to West Point, and in 1936 he graduated as first captain of the cadet corps, ranking 112 in a . He said, Ive beat up on the same VC division three times in a row and they just go back across the border into their sanctuaries, refit, re-supply, fill up with new people and come back. Westmorelands tenure as commander of U.S. forces, the author concludes, ultimately put Americas massive effort in Vietnam on a negative trajectory from which it never recovered. Westmoreland believed that the Viet Cong could be defeated through large-scale use of artillery, air power, and large-unit battles. "Vietnam War: General William Westmoreland." This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. Todays list: The top ten reason By the way, here is the first review I have seen of Sorley's new biography of Westmoreland, which I read in galleys last summer, and enjoyed. Gen. William Westmoreland, the top U.S. commander in Vietnam, conducts a press briefing at the Pentagon on Nov. 22, 1967, to discuss recent events on the battlefield. William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 - July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, who commanded U.S. military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak (1964-68), including during the Tet Offensive. Youve got to do something about this., Gen. Fred Weyand, later Chief of Staff of the Army, was a corps-level commander with the II Field Force, Vietnam, when Westmoreland was in command. Taking control in a difficult period, he assisted Abrams in winding down operations in Vietnam, while also attempting to transition the US Army to an all-volunteer force. A go-getter, a hard-charger, he did everything necessary to get promoted. Editor's Note: This review originally appeared in the Marine Corps Gazette, 96, no. President Lyndon Johnson, and the men leading the American effort in Vietnam, found this intolerable. Lyndon Johnson with William Westmoreland in Vietnam in 1966. How will foreign policy shape the world in 2023? In June, President Johnson replaced Westmoreland in command of the MACV. Johnson began this publicity drive in April by bringing the head of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Gen. William Westmoreland, to report on the war's progress. In this case, however, it was also defined as the process of countering . William Childs Westmoreland ( March 26, 1914 - July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, who most notably commanded U.S. forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He adopted a strategy of attrition against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army. After unsuccessfully running for governor of South Carolina in 1974, he penned his autobiography, A Soldier Reports. Robert McNamara once said that if you sent to central casting for a general, theyd send you William C. Westmoreland. Daddis offers what can be best described as a counter-Lewis Sorley interpretation of Westmoreland, taking issue with Sorley's dismissive assessment of Westmoreland (e.g., Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, 2011) in favor of the "savior general" Creighton Abrams (e.g., Thunderbolt: General Creighton Abrams, 1992), who replaced Westmorela. However, President Richard Nixon rarely consulted him and he was never promoted to the post of chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. In his book, Sorley details Westmorelands career, his flaws and deceptions and his failure to understand the fundamental nature of the conflict in Vietnam. William Westmoreland (1914-2005) was a United States Army general and commander of US forces in Vietnam between 1964 and June 1968. December 5, 2022, Climate Change and Regional Instability in Central America, Report Up to the level of division commander, Westmoreland was well respected by the Armys senior commanders and by his own troops. While in this assignment, Westmoreland married Katherine S. Van Deusen. The facts about the Vietnam War can still come out, decades after the last American soldier left that country. He ordered U.S. officials in Saigon to highlight evidence showing that the United States was winning the war. Gen. William C. Westmoreland, who commanded the United States forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, overseeing the vast troop buildup and the height of the fighting, died last night in a retirement . However, later that year he was replaced Creighton W. Abrahams and . Westmoreland never heeded such advice, despite hearing it and other doubts from a number of people, including McNamara and Johnson. In October 1967, Gallup found for the first time ever that more Americans (46 percent) thought that it had been a mistake to send U.S. troops to fight in Vietnam than thought it hadnt (44 percent). When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. By signing up, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to occasionally receive special offers from Foreign Policy. His desk was maybe 20 paces from the door to his office. The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. He was 91 . Westmoreland was born on March 26th 1914 into a prosperous family that lived in South Carolina. Just ten weeks after Westmorelands National Press Club speech, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive. Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam. Its not until Gen. Abrams comes on the scene as deputy commander that this changes, and changes very dramatically. Nine days later, LBJ surprised by the nation by saying he would not seek re-election. How exactly has Modi corralled so much power? Gen. Palmer, Westmorelands classmate and deputy commanding general of U.S. Army, Vietnam, went to Westmoreland and said he had some real concerns about how the war was going. https://www.thoughtco.com/vietnam-war-general-william-westmoreland-2360174 (accessed December 12, 2022). Best Defense: Westmoreland was on a treadmill. He handled himself reasonably well because he concentrated on post administration rather than on the academic or military training of cadets. General William Westmoreland was commander of all American forces in the Vietnam War (1954-75) from 1964 until 1968.. Westmoreland was born on March 26, 1914, near Spartanburg, South Carolina.After attending the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, for one year, Westmoreland entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, in New York, and graduated . , photogenic officers weve ever had Battle until [ he ] Lost war... The end was not to seize and hold territory, but as the war! 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