Wesley Fishel and Vietnam: A Great and Tragic American Experiment

In this book, Joseph G. Morgan examines the career of Wesley Fishel, a political scientist who vigorously supported American intervention in the Vietnam War, which he deemed a ‘great, and tragic, American experiment.” Morgan demonstrates how Fishel continued to champion the prospect of an independent South Vietnam, even when Vietnamese resistance and infighting among American and Vietnamese leaders undermined this effort. Morgan also analyzes how opponents of the war questioned Fishel’s scholarly integrity and his academic collaboration with the US government in implementing Cold War policies.