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→Failure of US campaign to help the South: General Westmoreland, who permitted a six month tour of duty for officers
[[James Q. Wilson]] wrote: "First, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson both wanted to avoid losing Vietnam without waging a major war in Asia." <ref>When Richard Nixon became president, he wanted to end the war by pulling out American troops, and he did so. None of the three presidents wanted to win, but all wanted to report "progress." All three administrations instructed military commanders always to report gains and rely on suspect body counts as a way of measuring progress. [http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110009203] </ref>
[[James Q. Wilson]] wrote: "First, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson both wanted to avoid losing Vietnam without waging a major war in Asia." <ref>When Richard Nixon became president, he wanted to end the war by pulling out American troops, and he did so. None of the three presidents wanted to win, but all wanted to report "progress." All three administrations instructed military commanders always to report gains and rely on suspect body counts as a way of measuring progress. [http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110009203] </ref>
Another factor was [[careerism]] of the [[officer corps]]. The number of officers in the US army grew disproportionately from the end of WWII, with a 1-in-15 ratio dropping to 1 in 6. Competition for promotions was handled badly by [[General Westmoreland]], who permitted a six month tour of duty for officers. This was hardly enough time to learn how to engage the enemey successfully, and gave rise to resentment among the largely working-class enlisted men.
America at first operated on the assumption that [[victory by body count]] was possible and would eventually bring the North Vietnamese to the peace table. There were in fact peace negotiations following [[Operation Linebacker II]] in December 1972, but these succeeded mostly in giving the United States its prisoners back and time to withdraw from the fight. It was simply impossible for the North Vietnamese leadership, which had been fighting in some form for 30 years, to imagine the indefinite existence of South Vietnam apart from unification under their rule. Accordingly, after U.S. troops had withdrawn, they renewed their offensive in 1975 and took over the former South Vietnamese capital of [[Saigon]], renaming it "Ho Chi Minh City."
America at first operated on the assumption that [[victory by body count]] was possible and would eventually bring the North Vietnamese to the peace table. There were in fact peace negotiations following [[Operation Linebacker II]] in December 1972, but these succeeded mostly in giving the United States its prisoners back and time to withdraw from the fight. It was simply impossible for the North Vietnamese leadership, which had been fighting in some form for 30 years, to imagine the indefinite existence of South Vietnam apart from unification under their rule. Accordingly, after U.S. troops had withdrawn, they renewed their offensive in 1975 and took over the former South Vietnamese capital of [[Saigon]], renaming it "Ho Chi Minh City."