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Hello and welcome to The Rob Burgess Show. I am, of course, your host, Rob Burgess. On this, our 262nd episode, our returning guest is Brian VanDeMark. You first heard Brian VanDeMark on Episode 134 of the podcast. Brian VanDeMark grew up and attended college in Texas, went to graduate school in California, and now lives in Maryland. He teaches history at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, where he has been a member of its History Department since 1990. The author of several books on American history, he co-authored Robert McNamara's #1 best-selling Vietnam memoir, “In Retrospect,” which became the basis of Errol Morris's Academy Award-winning documentary film, "The Fog of War." His book, “Road to Disaster: A New History of America's Descent into Vietnam” was published by HarperCollins in 2018. His latest book, “Kent State: An American Tragedy” was published by W. W. Norton & Company in August 2024. Subscribe to my Substack: therobburgessshow.substack.com/ Follow me on Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/robaburg.bsky.social Follow me on Mastodon: newsie.social/@therobburgessshow Check out my Linktree: linktr.ee/therobburgessshow
An interview of Dr. Brian VanDeMark, of the Naval Academy's History Department, who discusses his recent book, Road to Disaster: A New History of America's Descent into Vietnam.Follow us Instagram and Twitter: @usnahistoryFor more information about NAHP and the Naval Academy's History Department, please visit https://usna.edu/History/NAHP/
The Road to the Vietnam War has been scrutinized by historians for decades offering a variety of explanations on how the U.S. became involved a war that most concluded was unwinnable by 1966, only a year after combat troops had been deployed. We explore the cataclysmic decisions of those in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations to explain why the "Best and the Brightest" became trapped in situations that suffocated their thinking and willingness to dissent, why they found change so hard, and why they were so blind to their own errors. To explain we interview Dr. Brian VanDeMark who is a professor of history at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis where he has been a member of its History Department since 1990. He is the author of several books on American history, he co-authored Robert McNamara's #1 best-selling Vietnam memoir, In Retrospect, which became the basis of Errol Morris's Academy Award-winning documentary film, "The Fog of War." He also wrote Pandora's Keepers: Nine Men and the Atomic Bomb and Into the Quagmire: Lyndon Johnson and the Escalation of the Vietnam War. His most recent book is Road to Disaster: A New History of America's Descent into Vietnam which was a Financial Times Best Book of the year in 2018
Hello and welcome to The Rob Burgess Show. I am, of course, your host, Rob Burgess. On this, our 134th episode, our guest is Brian VanDeMark. Brian VanDeMark grew up and attended college in Texas, went to graduate school in California, and now lives in Maryland. He teaches history at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, where he has been a member of its History Department since 1990. The author of several books on American history, he co-authored Robert McNamara's #1 best-selling Vietnam memoir, “In Retrospect,” which became the basis of Errol Morris's Academy Award-winning documentary film, "The Fog of War." His most recent book is “Road to Disaster: A New History of America's Descent into Vietnam” which was published by HarperCollins in 2018. Join The Rob Burgess Show mailing list! Go to tinyletter.com/therobburgessshow and type in your email address. Then, respond to the automatic message. I have a Patreon account, which can be found at www.patreon.com/robburgessshowpatreon. I hope you'll consider supporting in any amount. Also please make sure to comment, follow, like, subscribe, share, rate and review everywhere the podcast is available, including iTunes, YouTube, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Facebook, Twitter, Internet Archive, TuneIn and RSS. The official website for the podcast is www.therobburgessshow.com. You can find more about me by visiting my website, www.thisburgess.com.If you have something to say, record a voice memo on your smartphone and send it to therobburgessshow@gmail.com. Include “voice memo” in the subject line of the email.
How do you explain how well-intentioned, patriotic, bright people make poor judgments that lead to so much suffering? Historian and U.S. Naval Academy Professor Brian VanDeMark joins the podcast to discuss his acclaimed new book, Road to Disaster: A New History of America's Descent into Vietnam. How do advances in cognitive psychology help explain how intelligent, well-intentioned leaders led America into the tragedy of Vietnam? What lessons does this hold for our own era? In this podcast, Brian VanDeMark talks about his book, discussing how factors such as incomplete information, unchallenged assumptions, lack of creative thinking, and short-sightedness led to a compounding of errors by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. WAR ROOM Editor-in-Chief Andrew Hill moderates. Brian VanDeMark is Professor of History at the U.S. Naval Academy. Andrew A. Hill is WAR ROOM Editor-in-Chief. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or the Department of Defense. Photo: Secretary of State Dean Rusk, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House. Photo Credit: Yochi Yokamoto, Executive Office of the President of the U.S., public domain
Many books have been written on the tragic decisions regarding Vietnam made by the young stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet despite millions of words of analysis and reflection, no historian has been able to explain why such decent, brilliant, and previously successful men stumbled so badly. That changes with The Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent Into Vietnam (Harper Collins, 2018). Historian Brian VanDeMark, a professor of history at the United States Naval Academy, draws upon decades of archival research, his own interviews with many of those involved, and a wealth of previously unheard recordings by Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, who served as Defense Secretaries for Kennedy and Johnson. Yet beyond that, Road to Disaster is also the first history of the war to look at the cataclysmic decisions of those in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations through the prism of recent research in cognitive science, psychology, and organizational theory to explain why the “Best and the Brightest” became trapped in situations that suffocated creative thinking and willingness to dissent, why they found change so hard, and why they were so blind to their own errors. An epic history of America’s march to quagmire, Road to Disaster is a landmark in scholarship and a book of immense importance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Many books have been written on the tragic decisions regarding Vietnam made by the young stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet despite millions of words of analysis and reflection, no historian has been able to explain why such decent, brilliant, and previously successful men stumbled so badly. That changes with The Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent Into Vietnam (Harper Collins, 2018). Historian Brian VanDeMark, a professor of history at the United States Naval Academy, draws upon decades of archival research, his own interviews with many of those involved, and a wealth of previously unheard recordings by Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, who served as Defense Secretaries for Kennedy and Johnson. Yet beyond that, Road to Disaster is also the first history of the war to look at the cataclysmic decisions of those in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations through the prism of recent research in cognitive science, psychology, and organizational theory to explain why the “Best and the Brightest” became trapped in situations that suffocated creative thinking and willingness to dissent, why they found change so hard, and why they were so blind to their own errors. An epic history of America’s march to quagmire, Road to Disaster is a landmark in scholarship and a book of immense importance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Many books have been written on the tragic decisions regarding Vietnam made by the young stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet despite millions of words of analysis and reflection, no historian has been able to explain why such decent, brilliant, and previously successful men stumbled so badly. That changes with The Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent Into Vietnam (Harper Collins, 2018). Historian Brian VanDeMark, a professor of history at the United States Naval Academy, draws upon decades of archival research, his own interviews with many of those involved, and a wealth of previously unheard recordings by Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, who served as Defense Secretaries for Kennedy and Johnson. Yet beyond that, Road to Disaster is also the first history of the war to look at the cataclysmic decisions of those in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations through the prism of recent research in cognitive science, psychology, and organizational theory to explain why the “Best and the Brightest” became trapped in situations that suffocated creative thinking and willingness to dissent, why they found change so hard, and why they were so blind to their own errors. An epic history of America’s march to quagmire, Road to Disaster is a landmark in scholarship and a book of immense importance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Many books have been written on the tragic decisions regarding Vietnam made by the young stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet despite millions of words of analysis and reflection, no historian has been able to explain why such decent, brilliant, and previously successful men stumbled so badly. That changes with The Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent Into Vietnam (Harper Collins, 2018). Historian Brian VanDeMark, a professor of history at the United States Naval Academy, draws upon decades of archival research, his own interviews with many of those involved, and a wealth of previously unheard recordings by Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, who served as Defense Secretaries for Kennedy and Johnson. Yet beyond that, Road to Disaster is also the first history of the war to look at the cataclysmic decisions of those in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations through the prism of recent research in cognitive science, psychology, and organizational theory to explain why the “Best and the Brightest” became trapped in situations that suffocated creative thinking and willingness to dissent, why they found change so hard, and why they were so blind to their own errors. An epic history of America’s march to quagmire, Road to Disaster is a landmark in scholarship and a book of immense importance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Many books have been written on the tragic decisions regarding Vietnam made by the young stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet despite millions of words of analysis and reflection, no historian has been able to explain why such decent, brilliant, and previously successful men stumbled so badly. That changes with The Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent Into Vietnam (Harper Collins, 2018). Historian Brian VanDeMark, a professor of history at the United States Naval Academy, draws upon decades of archival research, his own interviews with many of those involved, and a wealth of previously unheard recordings by Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, who served as Defense Secretaries for Kennedy and Johnson. Yet beyond that, Road to Disaster is also the first history of the war to look at the cataclysmic decisions of those in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations through the prism of recent research in cognitive science, psychology, and organizational theory to explain why the “Best and the Brightest” became trapped in situations that suffocated creative thinking and willingness to dissent, why they found change so hard, and why they were so blind to their own errors. An epic history of America’s march to quagmire, Road to Disaster is a landmark in scholarship and a book of immense importance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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