Lexington Books
Pages: 430
Trim: 6½ x 9⅜
978-0-7391-3769-7 • Hardback • October 2011 • $162.00 • (£125.00)
978-0-7391-3771-0 • eBook • September 2011 • $153.50 • (£119.00)
Louis B. Zimmer is professor emeritus of history at Montclair State University.
1 Acknowledgements
2 Author's Note
3 Preface
4 Chapter 1: Background to a Needless War
5 Chapter 2: Morgenthau and Bundy: The Harvard Dean Fails the Vietnam Reality Test
6 Chapter 3: Media Neglect of the National Interest
7 Chapter 4: Morgenthau and Schlesinger and the National Interest
8 Chapter 5: Morgenthau and the Council on Foreign Relations
9 Chapter 6: Morgenthau's Influence, Fulbright's Conversion and the Stupidity of Smart Men
10 Chapter 7: "What I have said recently, I have been saying for years without anybody paying attention."
11 Epilogue
12 Bibliography
13 Index
Hans Morgenthau was my teacher, mentor and friend. He recommended me for my law professorship. It was my great honor and distinct pleasure to have studied with Morgenthau while he was heroically leading the forces of opposition to the genocidal Vietnam War at great personal cost to himself and his family. Morgenthau’s stellar example of brilliance in the service of courage, integrity and principles has inspired and motivated me now for over four decades. After reading Zimmer’s compelling book, Morgenthau will do the same for you. Zimmer vividly brings back to life Morgenthau, his epic battle against the Vietnam War, and those tumultuous and tragic events that shaped my generation and determined the destinies of two nations only now beginning to reconcile—a volte-face preternaturally predicted by Morgenthau during the darkest days of the wars. This book is required reading for all those seeking to pursue peace with justice in today’s increasingly troubled and endangered world. Humanity desperately needs more like Morgenthau in order to survive. Zimmer explains why. A real tour de force of engaged historical research and scholarship.
— Francis A. Boyle, University of Illinois
Dr. Zimmer provides an exhaustively researched account of Hans J. Morgenthau's campaign against the United States's involvement in the Vietnam War. Zimmer reminds us about the central role that Margenthau played in formulating an authoritative and intellectual framework for opposing the war.
— David E. Settje, Concordia University Chicago
Louis B. Zimmer has written a compelling study of Hans J. Morgenthau, international foreign policy expert and principal critic of the American war in Vietnam. Through extensive research, Zimmer’s book provides a thorough account of Morgenthau’s arguments and demonstrates clearly how history has proven him to be right. Endorsing Morgenthau, Zimmer makes a strong argument against ideological bases for foreign policy decisions and the strength of his book lies in his voluminous research that draws both an explicit and implicit parallel to contemporary foreign policy decisions.
— Pamela A. Pears, Washington College
This is an intriguing peek into the public debate before and after the final commitment of ground troops in Vietnam in 1965, seen through the eyes and opinions of Hans Morgenthau, a widely respected foreign policy expert and academic. It is a good start in analyzing the language of intervention. Morgenthau forthrightly warned that Vietnam was a hopeless venture and urged restraint. Contrasting his transparent approach was the often hazy language of careerists and political advisors seeking fame and the pleasing of their bosses. Zimmer (emer., Montclair State Univ.) is particularly harsh on McGeorge Bundy and Robert McNamara, seeing them as dishonest, both in and out of government....Zimmer does carefully examine the often dishonest and contradictory nature of the so-called liberal organs, such as The New York Times. An interesting work on all levels. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
— Choice Reviews
The sheer breadth of primary-source-material research that Zimmer undertook for this book is impressive. Immersion in the archive allows him to gain insight into the mentalities of both the architects of the conflict and, at least for Zimmer, their most significant critic. Zimmer’s documentary approach reveals both the depths of the American foreign policy elite’s ideologically driven crusade against monolithic Communism and the extent of their rage against Morgenthau’s opposition to their politics in Vietnam….Zimmer’s book is very valuable in that it examines the debates and issues of the 1960s through the prism of the career of one of America’s foremost public intellectuals…. Zimmer provides an excellent insight into the importance of knowing Morgenthau to a new generation of IR students who can benefit from his insights in an age also characterized by long-standing wars and serious crises.
— The Review of Politics