The Secret Diary of McNamara's Dove: The Long-Lost Story of John T. McNaughton's Opposition to the Vietnam War

Abstract

It may finally be possible after more than 35 years of debate to form a consensus as to what John McNaughton really believed concerning U.S. involvement in Vietnam and when he believed it. The recent discovery of a diary in the possession of his family allows for an unfiltered look at his thoughts regarding the administration's commitment. This personal and confidential journal clarifies McNaughton's views and in doing so comes down strongly on the side of the recollections of his colleagues in government who contemplated, debated, and anguished over the issue with him. The log commences on January 1, 1966 and concludes in late April, 1967, just three months prior to the death of McNaughton, his wife, and their younger son in a plane crash. Within its 181 pages are John McNaughton's thoughts about the various issues on which he worked and the individuals with whom he dealt inside the Johnson White House, State Department, and Pentagon. The Vietnam passages among the 107 separate entries document his consistent and persistent opposition to U.S. policy.

Thomas C. Schelling and James M. Sakoda: The Intellectual, Technical, and Social History of a Model

“…Today it is clear, there was an official and a secret McNaughton, the former loyal to McNamara and Johnson, the latter obviously convinced that the U.S. should not be in Vietnam in the first place, since a huge majority of the Vietnamese had a strict preference for Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Cong; cf. [Harrison and Mosher, 2007] and [Harrison and Mosher, 2011] 175 A task force with access to secret ("classified") material from the archives of the Department of Defense, State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), had to write the study. On completion in 1969, it was bound into 47 volumes of 3000 pages narrative along with 4000 pages of supporting documents.…”