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rationalized and justified whereas every action by an out-group is criticized and seen as inspired by perverse motives. Through this pattern of thought, the 'stab-in-the-back' interpretation externalizes blame for U.S. defeat entirely to civilian policymakers. A virtuous and effective military had its hands tied by villainous civilians who, pandering to base political instincts, betrayed the soldiers (and eventually South
Vietnam) by failing to allow them to do what was needed to win.
77:, especially between 1969 and 1972. He also argues that, in Lloyd C. Gardner's words, "the Nixinger case that the war had been won were it not for a last minute failure of will, has been built upon a lengthy series of "ifs," none of which were real alternatives at the time". Gardner gave the book a positive review, stating that it was "as exhaustively researched as was possible", considering that not all evidence had been publicly released.
100:. In his review of the book, Pierre Asselin stated that the book focused on the American perspective and did not include enough documents from foreign sources. Ken Hughes argues that Asselin's review of the book was "a particularly nasty academic hatchet job", noting that earlier Kimball published a negative review of Asselin's book.
127:
disagreed that the "decent interval" theory adequately explains Nixon
Administration policies, because according to him the president's outlook went rapidly up and down depending on casualty figures and news reports. However, Nichter overall praises the book: "Well written and thoroughly researched,
123:, Kimball and Burr "deserve praise for their discerning and cogent reconstruction of the motives and actions of the Nixon Administration in its first year". House finds that they made a "powerful argument, thanks to their masterful blending of memoir literature and historical documentation".
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Moyar's critique shows that a line of argument that
Jeffrey Kimball long ago called the 'stab-in-the-back legend' remains alive and well. The stab-in-the-back legend displays classic characteristics of what psychologists call in-group/out-group bias, in which every action by an in-group is
92:, with an introduction written by him. The documents he chooses support the idea that Nixon pursued a "madman" course in diplomacy. He also reproduces two documents cited as evidence that Nixon and Kissinger hoped to achieve a "
512:
Levy, David W. (1991). "To Reason Why: The Debate About the Causes of U.S. Involvement in the
Vietnam War: Kimball, Jeffrey P.: Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 355 pp., Publication Date: June 1990".
492:"Nixon's Nuclear Specter: The Secret Alert of 1969, Madman Diplomacy, and the Vietnam War by William Burr and Jeffrey P. Kimball. Lawrence: Univ. Press of Kansas, 2015. Pp. xvi, 455. ISBN 678–0–7006–2082–1"
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wrote that
Kimball's books "shaped future works, and these volumes on my shelves stand as a reminder that my own work on the Nixon tapes would not have happened without them". According to historian
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towards the end of the
Vietnam War. One challenge they faced is the lack of documentation, due to important evidence being redacted or lost. According to a review by Jonathan M. House in
58:'": the idea that Nixon eventually settled for securing a "decent interval" before South Vietnamese defeat. Hughes regrets that Kimball's work is "virtually unknown" outside academia.
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The book argues that the
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is a rich study for scholars of the era, and essential for those interested in
Vietnam, the Nixon era, and the mindset of our 37th president."
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Jervis, Robert (2004). "The
Vietnam War Files: Uncovering the Secret History of the Nixon-Era Strategy by Jeffrey Kimball".
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In this book, Kimball published a collection of primary source documents, mostly from the
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had not been effective at advancing the United States' foreign policy goals either in the
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Nixon's
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Fatal Politics: The Nixon Tapes, the Vietnam War, and the Casualties of Reelection
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To Reason Why: The Debate about the Causes of U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War
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The Vietnam War Files: Uncovering the Secret History of Nixon-era Strategy
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26:. Among the ideas that Kimball developed was the idea of a
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22:is an American historian and emeritus professor at
463:Asselin, Pierre (2006). "Kimball's Vietnam War".
96:" between American withdrawal and the fall of
363:. University of Virginia Press. p. 124.
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130:Nixon’s Nuclear Specter
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