Nation: How Clifford Helped Reverse the War Policy

What had happened to Clark Clifford? The question inevitably arose in Washington as the Secretary of Defense began taking his own distinctive line on Viet Nam, notably in his public rebukes of the South Vietnamese regime. Even officials high in the Johnson Administration were uncertain whether he was acting with the President's assent—or out of sheer foolhardiness. Some speculated that perhaps the President had grown passive as his term drew to a close and was simply allowing his Defense Secretary to take charge. Others were convinced that the President was in full agreement with what his longtime friend and adviser was...

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