Customer Reviews

The Deadly Bet: LBJ, Vietnam, and the 1968 Election (Vietnam: America in the War Years)

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Four-and-a-half stars, actually.

The Deadly Bet is essentially a review, with some analysis, of the political year of 1968, beginning with the Tet Offensive and ending with the election of Richard Nixon. Key figures, mostly from American politics, are used as Chapter titles to illustrate not only their roles in the events of that year, but the impact their lives and deaths had upon history.

The title of the book refers to the idea LaFeber presents that when a democracy undertakes a major war it is taking a gamble with the very security and stability of its institutions, betting that it can do what is necessary to win the conflict while still preserving the social fabric and being able to pursue domestic agendas. The events of 1968, as chronicled by LaFeber, show how Lyndon Johnson's bet in Vietnam failed, ruining his political career and creating a fundamental crisis in America (one which still divides the nation to this day).

I found the book to be both interesting and enlightening. As someone who didn't live through the sixties, I appreciated all the facts and recollections that LaFeber could reasonably fit in, as it allowed me to gain a better feel for the era. I thought the book was well written, it laid everything out quite clearly and precisely, and it more than kept my interest. As well, I enjoyed the analysis LaFeber offered, as he was often able to overcome bias from both the left and right to try to present a clearer picture of the many competing forces at work during that critical time.

Overall, the Deadly Bet was both scholarly and readable, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the era.

Beware, don't buy from "lady_college". My experience was very disturbing. Absolutely no customer service whatsoever. Emails were not even acknowledged. Textbook ordered August 14, 2010 has not been shipped. To top it off, a status was not provided nor were emails answered. Pay $2 more and get your books and better service.

There is nothing here that one cannot read elsewhere and possibly with greater detail. This book focuses on the 1968 election as the pivotal election of the second half of the 20th Century and does not give a convincing argument as to why.

The chapters centers on the primary political figures of that year (Johnson, McCarthy, Kennedy, King, Humphrey, Wallace, Nixon, etc) and how each candidate contributed to the 1968 political landscape. But I felt the treatment of each individual was at best superficial and contributed little to an understanding of any of them or the electoral process in 1968.

Lyndon Johnson wasn't a very bright president. He tried to change too many things for no real reason except to take the credit for doing so, and he took advantage to play old-time politics. He almost ruined the country with his "domestic reforms" which caused devisiveness; as a consequence, we almost had another civil war all over again, only not on a battlefield.
He came close to instigating a race war.

George Wallace was campaigning in Maryland and crippled after an attack to keep him out of the office of President. He might have torn our country apart had he been elected, but he couldn't have caused more distress than LBJ and Nixon combined. Nixon showed that he was a crook after fooling the whole country for a long time; nevertheless, he was forced to leave office in disgrace. He was instrumental in a travesty of justice when Alger Hiss was put in jail for perjury. Nixon became nationally recognized as a result, as Howard Baker of East Tennessee did with Watergate.

Regarding the Viet Nam War, these presidents had made the life-and-death 'bet' that they could somehow commit the American people to a long war against a ferocious foe we never could understand nor cope with; the presidents lost, and both disappeared in disgrace. As with the American Civil War, only the "ghosts survived." The Viet Nam War was the nation's longest war and prompted student activism on college campuses.

The photos scattered throughout helped alleviate boredom. For those of us who lived through that time, it is just a reminder -- not a discovery. This is one of a series by Cornell University professors. It is the third volume published so far. LaFeber has written a book about the Cold War and the new global capitalism from a different perspective.