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Article: Sanctified swords; American military intervention.(The War Council: McGeorge Bundy, the NSC, and Vietnam)(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 24, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE powerful special assistant for national security to John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson presents an enduring mystery. How did somebody as intelligent as McGeorge Bundy convince not only himself but also two presidents that sending troops to a small country far away was essential to America's future?
Andrew Preston, a historian, goes over familiar ground, but adds to it on the basis of new research in a dozen archives. Bundy, who became dean of the faculty of arts and sciences at Harvard University at the age of 34, used to advise his students to read Shakespeare's "Henry IV" to understand American history. By this, Mr Preston speculates, Bundy understood that ...