Episode 72 - Reassessing Westmoreland with Dr. Martin Clemis

Dr. Jonathan Abel and co-host Dr. Bill Nance launch a new series in which we reassess commanders who have been given a good or bad reputation by historians. We begin with DR. Martin Clemis reassessing William Westmoreland, US commander in Vietnam during the key years of 1964 to 1968, and frequent punching bag for the ultimate defeat there. He explains the typical view of Westmoreland as a bull-headed, unimaginative commander trying to refight World War II in Vietnam. He walks through the reality on the ground that Westmoreland faced and illustrates how more recent historians have argued that Westmoreland was actually correct in his approach, with which he agrees.

“History is only a confused heap of facts.” - Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH
DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance
Artwork: Daniel O. Neal
Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band