General Westmoreland: An Unfulfilled Hero Who Was Turned into a Scapegoat
General Westmoreland: An Unfulfilled Hero Who Was Turned into a Scapegoat

Summary/Abstract: This article is dedicated to the most prominent American commander of the Vietnam War, or to be more precise, to the treatment of General William C. Westmoreland in modern American historiography. Ridiculed and accused of lying to the American public during his lifetime, General Westmoreland still remains one of the ‘villains’ of the Vietnam War. In recent years it has changed slightly, and now on the publishing market we can find books both attacking and defending the MACV commander and his decisions. However, mainstream historiography continues to judge him through the prism of the American trauma caused by the Vietnam War, and not his real merit and achievements. This article aims to dispel at least a few myths persisting both about General Westmoreland and his strategy to win ‘an unwinnable conflict.’

• Details
• Contents