American National Will and the Vietnam War

Abstract

National will is the strategic link (Clausewitz calls it the center of gravity) in the success of any war. Growing disillusionment of the American people led to a loss of national will and, ultimately, to the defeat of the United States in Vietnam. Destruction of the enemy's will to continue to fight is not a new strategy. This essay describes some of the causes of America's inability to mobilize the national will in support of the war: everchanging aims, absence of a sound military strategy, lack of a declaration of war, failure to mobilize the reserves, unfair draft deferment policy, insufficient economic sacrifices, dishonesty and ineptitude of our national leaders, micromanagement by top leaders of tactical decisions, and a biased press. America lost the war not because of failure on the battlefield, but because we failed to sustain the national will of the people in support of our cause.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 23, 1987
Accession Number
ADA180210

Entities

People

  • Geoffrey G. Prosch

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Battlefields
  • Center Of Gravity
  • Congress
  • Governments
  • International Organizations
  • Losses
  • Military Strategy
  • Public Policy
  • Second World War
  • Security
  • Societies
  • South Vietnam
  • Students
  • United States
  • Universities
  • Vietnam War
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military Mobilization and Reserve Forces Studies.