ABSTRACT
This chapter examines presidential use of military force to attain specific policy objectives in the context of the conflict in Vietnam. The cases selected occurred at major decision points during the war: Operation Rolling Thunder in 1965, the Cambodian Invasion in 1970, and the Easter Offensive and Operation Linebacker in 1972. The chapter examines the decisionmaker's capacity for strategic learning—for understanding and applying the lessons of things done right and wrong. It illustrates the effects that individual approaches to strategy, policymaking, and decisionmaking can have on the outcome of such initiatives. The chapter suggests that several considerations when evaluating the appropriate uses of military force for achieving specific political ends. President Nixon again chose to use military means to achieve political ends in May 1972. Nixon's memoir stresses the positive aspects of the operation. In fact, he wrote that "this had been the most successful operation of the Vietnam War.".
