Dereliction of Duty

Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam by H. R. McMaster, Harper Perennial, 1998. 

Escalation

This is a detailed description of how the administration of LBJ got involved in a ground war in Asia without ever explicitly deciding to do so.

Contempt for the Military

Another theme is that the civilians had contempt for the military men and tried to keep them out of the loop. The civilian politicians s believed that brains were more important than experience, They eventually learned otherwise.

A Careerist Politician, Not a Patriot

LBJ was excessively concerned with how his militarily decisions would help or hinder his 1964 reelection chances.

Contempt for the Citizens

Another shameful aspect of our getting into Vietnam was the fact that the Johnson administration tried to keep everything secret from both Congress and the American people.