
Dereliction of Duty
Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
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Narrated by:
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H. R. McMaster
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By:
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H. R. McMaster
About this listen
"The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C." (H. R. McMaster, from the conclusion)
Dereliction of Duty is a stunning analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations, and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-creates what happened and why. McMaster pinpoints the policies and decisions that got the United States into the morass and reveals who made these decisions and the motives behind them, disproving the published theories of other historians and excuses of the participants.
A riveting narrative, Dereliction of Duty focuses on a fascinating cast of characters: President Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, General Maxwell Taylor, McGeorge Bundy, and other top aides who deliberately deceived the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the US Congress, and the American public.
McMaster’s only book, Dereliction of Duty is an explosive and authoritative new look at the controversy concerning the United States involvement in Vietnam.
©1997 H. R. McMaster (P)2018 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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The Achaemenid Persian kings ruled over the largest empire of antiquity, stretching from Libya to the steppes of Asia and from Ethiopia to Pakistan. In Persians, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells the epic story of this dynasty and the world it ruled. Drawing on Iranian inscriptions, cuneiform tablets, art, and archaeology, he shows how the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the world’s first superpower—one built, despite its imperial ambition, on cooperation and tolerance. This is the definitive history of the Achaemenid dynasty and its legacies in modern-day Iran.
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Good History and Historiography
- By David A on 04-19-22
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The Wrong Stuff
- How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned
- By: John Strausbaugh
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In the wake of World War II, with America ascendant and the Soviet Union devastated by the conflict, the Space Race should have been over before it started. But the underdog Soviets scored a series of victories—starting with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and continuing in the years following--that seemed to achieve the impossible. It was proof, it seemed, that the USSR had manpower and collective will that went beyond America's material advantages. They had asserted themselves as a world power. But in The Wrong Stuff, John Strausbaugh tells a different story.
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Limited storyline repeated over and over as the book slowly winds along.
- By Dr. Michael B on 05-04-25
By: John Strausbaugh
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Serving the Servant
- Remembering Kurt Cobain
- By: Danny Goldberg
- Narrated by: Danny Goldberg
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Danny Goldberg explores what it is about Kurt Cobain that still resonates today, even with a generation who wasn’t alive until after Kurt’s death. In the process, he provides a portrait of an icon unlike any that has come before.
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Good Perspective Danny but you left some stuff out
- By Amazon Customer on 07-12-19
By: Danny Goldberg
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The Cause of Death
- By: Cynric Temple-Camp
- Narrated by: Mark Davis
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Spontaneous combustion and exhumation, drug mules and devil worshippers, a gruesome killing beneath the Palmerston North Airport control tower, a mysterious death in a historic homestead, a firsthand dissection of the infamous Mark Lundy case... In The Cause of Death, provincial pathologist Dr. Cynric Temple-Camp lifts the lid on the most unusual stories of death and murder he's encountered during his 30-year career.
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Love it!
- By NurseNano on 07-27-18
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This Idea Is Brilliant
- Lost, Overlooked, and Underappreciated Scientific Concepts Everyone Should Know
- By: John Brockman
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Charles Constant
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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As science informs public policy, decision making, and so many aspects of our everyday lives, a scientifically literate society is crucial. In that spirit, Edge.org publisher and author of Know This, John Brockman, asks 206 of the world's most brilliant minds the 2017 Edge Question: What scientific term or concept ought to be more widely known?
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Condensed Brilliance in Digestable Chunks
- By Andrew on 02-15-18
By: John Brockman
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Knowing What We Know
- The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes—this is Simon Winchester’s brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom?
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Colorful anecdotes but tiring after a while.
- By Thumb Guy on 05-03-23
By: Simon Winchester
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Assessing America’s National Security Threats
- By: H. R. McMaster, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: H. R. McMaster
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Original Recording
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The United States faces significant dangers and opportunities in the coming century. Malicious actors have harnessed new technologies such as drones, missiles, and offensive cyber weapons to threaten and, in some cases, attack America and its allies. Jihadist terrorist organizations are pursuing more destructive capabilities and are growing in strength as the United States disengages from protracted counterterrorism operations abroad.
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Not a great one…
- By STS-51-L on 05-04-23
By: H. R. McMaster, and others
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Embers of War
- The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
- By: Fredrik Logevall
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 32 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In this landmark work that will forever change your understanding of how and why America went to war in Vietnam, author Fredrik Logevall taps newly accessible diplomatic archives in several nations and traces the path that led two Western nations to tragically lose their way in the jungles of Southeast Asia. He brings to life the bloodiest battles of France’s final years in Indochina - and describes how, from an early point, a succession of American leaders made disastrous policy choices that put America on its own collision course with history.
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Understanding Why We failed the People of Vietnam
- By VA on 03-22-21
By: Fredrik Logevall
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Where Tyranny Begins
- The Justice Department, the FBI, and the War on Democracy
- By: David Rohde
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In Where Tyranny Begins, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Rohde investigates the strategies Trump systematically used to turn the country's two most powerful law-enforcement agencies into his personal political weapons. Rohde also reveals how, during the Biden years, Justice Department non-partisan 1970s norms that Attorney General Merrick Garland reinforced inadvertently helped Trump, and could fail to deliver a trial and legal accountability by Election Day 2024.
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Review of why we fired trump
- By ludlow on 09-24-24
By: David Rohde
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The Pentagon Papers
- The Secret History of the Vietnam War
- By: Neil Sheehan, E. W. Kenworthy, Fox Butterfield, and others
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 37 hrs
- Unabridged
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The basis for the film The Post, The Pentagon Papers are a series of articles, documents, and studies examining the Johnson Administration's lies to the public about the extent of US involvement in the Vietnam War, bringing to light shocking conclusions about America's true role in the conflict. With a brand-new foreword by James L. Greenfield, this edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning story is sure to provoke discussion about free press and government deception.
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Awful as an audiobook
- By Sean on 02-08-18
By: Neil Sheehan, and others
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Odd Girl Out
- By: Laura James
- Narrated by: Lucinda Clare
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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From childhood, Laura James knew she was different. She struggled to cope in a world that often made no sense to her, as though her brain had its own operating system. It wasn't until she reached her 40s that she found out why: Suddenly and surprisingly, she was diagnosed with autism. With a touching and searing honesty, Laura challenges everything we think we know about what it means to be autistic. Married with four children and a successful journalist, Laura examines the ways in which autism has shaped her career, her approach to motherhood, and her closest relationships.
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Narration is not my favorite
- By Linden on 03-01-21
By: Laura James
What listeners say about Dereliction of Duty
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- Michael
- 08-17-20
the truth behind the failure into Vietnam
The history of America's decent into Vietnam began with president Kennedy's administration and was drivin further down a path with no foreseeable future for success. simply put, H.R.McMaster walks you through the abdication of responsibility by the joint chiefs of staff, President Lyndon B Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara to the American people. the Joint chief of staff focused on how to win tactically but failed to speak thw truth regarding the full requirements of success. This detailed book accounts for all the decisions, misjudgments, comprises, and omissions that led to Vietnam.
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- Walter
- 10-08-23
The blunders that led to a war of folly in Vietnam
H.R. McMaster, in his first book, scrutinizes the American decisions and decision-making processes that led to American intervention in Vietnam.
McMaster ultimately concludes that it was the incompetence, and indifference to the outcome, by the POLITICAL leaders of the era, namely LBJ's sidelining of the military leadership, that made America blunder into a war that could not be won.
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- Merle Newman
- 10-10-18
A General Speaks Truth to Power
The author most recently served as National Security Advisor to President Trump departing after just one year apparently over differences with the President. This book is a detailed analysis of what when wrong in Vietnam from the perspective of a highly educated US military officer who was not a decision maker at that time. The focus is on the period of 1962 to 1965 and while very detailed it is also very repetitive. But if you want to get riled up (again) over the handling of the Vietnam War this is the book for you. The author is the narrator. His performance as a narrator is unpolished but sincere. It’s worth the read.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Male in Chicago
- 05-02-19
A strong and well written argument
A strong and well written argument regarding the current belief that the Vietnam War or Limited Police Action in South Vietnam, was caused by deceit and lies, and that Johnson would do whatever it took to get the Great Society passed
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- Steve Dietrich
- 03-22-20
A MUST READ FOR THE LESSONS OF HISTORY
John F Kennedy declared , in one of his early speeches , " there is no place too far away to fight for freedom" and began the quiet insertion of US Special Forces into Vietnam. It was part of his effort to move away from Mutual Assured Destruction , sending US advisors to work with foreign nations including South Vietnam. Those advisors were officially stationed in the US and TDY to far off places
Kennedy also brought HBS and Ford whizkid David McNamara into the administration. Throughout it's history the nation the President, as commander and chief of the military , has had a very close relationship with the Chiefs of the various services. McNamara began to challenge that but Kennedy maintained control until his assignation.
In the vacuum that existed after Kennedy's death McNamara accelerated his efforts to distance the service chiefs from the President. Johnson also used McNamara to blunt the chief's communication channel to the President to suit both Johnson's and McNamara's political agenda.
McMaster documents the tragedy as it unfolds, McNamara's manipulation , often on Johnsons' request . Along the way the careers of many of the military's most competent leaders were sacrificed in order to implement a sure to loose strategy in Vietnam. McNamara cut out the military leaders time and again so that the President did not have to face a truth that he did not want to be responsible for knowing.
At the same time McNamara's whiz kids were trying to take control of military aircraft designs. Their fixation on his pet TFX as a joint service fighter was only stopped when one Admiral sacrificed his career to protect the nation. Facing a Senate committee hearing on the project Admiral Tom Connally was asked about the project and responded , " Senator there's not enough power in all of Christdom to operate that aircraft off a carrier. " In a rare victory, McNamara's politicization of the military acquisition process was challenged and the F-14 was born. It became the Tomcat in honor of the admiral who sacrificed his career for the truth and ruled the skies until grounded by Clinton.
McMaster's account reflects painstaking research and lets the facts tell the story with very little interpretation - a great and important read.
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- LDL
- 11-11-19
A sobering but important story
H.R McMaster provides a critical lesson for anyone interested in military planning, public policy, or the survival of representative democracy. It's the story of how key well meaning individuals neglected their true responsibilities in deference to consensus and institutional loyalty. Well worth the time and definitely enhanced by the author's narration.
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- Greg
- 08-17-21
Great Info but hard to follow
Great book for any military leader. Following along was a little choppy especially if you know very little about the Vietnam politics. Another great book by this author is Battle Grounds.
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- Steve
- 01-28-24
Great summary of complex processes, decisions, and motivations
This book provides fascinating insights into the inner workings of the Johnson administration, starting with what led up to his beliefs, and approaches to working with the military, and the consequences of his priorities at the time: winning the election and his domestic policy. Very well constructed narrative
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- John
- 07-02-19
everybody lied ...
under Lyndon Johnson (and predecessors. to a lesser extent) ...everybody lied about the Vietnam War
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 11-13-20
Great Read
Very insightful and thought provoking. Made it clear to me how the political aspirations of seniors in the government can truly impact why and how our military goes to war. Also clearly shows me how much military leadership has to focus on their military objectives an
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1 person found this helpful