Trapped by Success - (Contemporary American History Series) by David Anderson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Eisenhower Administration developed and implemented policies in Southeast Asia that contributed directly to the massive American military involvement in Vietnam in the decade after Dwight Eisenhower left office. Working with the most recently declassified government records on U.S. policy in Vietnam in the 1950s, David L. Anderson asserts that the Eisenhower Administration was less successful in Vietnam than the revisionists suggests.Trapped By Success is the first systematic study of the entire eight years of the Eisenhower Administration's efforts to build a nation in South Vietnam in order to protect U.S. global interests. Proclaiming success, where, in fact, failure abounded, the Eisenhower Administration trapped itself and its successors into a commitment to the survival of its own frail creation in Indochina. The book is a chronicle of clandestine plots, bureaucratic fights, cultural and strategic mistakes, and missed opportunities.

Anderson examines the politicla environments in Saigon and Washington that contributed to the deepening of American involvement. Contrary to other studies that highlight Eisenhower's restraint in preventing French collapse in Indochina in 1954, Trapped By Success shows how the administration publicly applauded South Veitnam's survival and growing stability, while it was actually producing an almost totally dependent regime that would ultimately consume billions of American dollars and thousands of American lives.

Review Quotes

"" "Trapped By Success" offers an engaging and thoughtful approach to Vietnam. It is the most thorough account available on the evolution of the U.S. commitment during the critical period after the French withdrawal. Based on systematic research in a wide range of archives, Anderson's study is destined to become the standard work on Eisenhower's Vietnam policy and, as such, an important contribution to our understanding of the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam." -- Gary R. Hess, Bowling Green State University

About the Author

David L. Anderson is assistant professor of history at the University of Indianapolis. He is the author ofImperialism and Idealism: American Diplomats in China.