William Childs Westmoreland (26 March 1914 – 18 July 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably the commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He later served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1968 to 1972.
Born into a prosperous family in Upstate South Carolina, he demonstrated leadership abilities from an early age as a Boy Scout and attended the US Military Academy in West Point, graduating at the top of his class in 1936. He excelled during his service in the European theater during World War II, and in the Korean War, leading to him becoming one of the youngest general officers of the time. After returning from Korea, he continued to climb the ranks within the Army, serving as Superintendent of West Point from 1960 to 1963.
Following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, American involvement in Vietnam steadily escalated, beginning with combat advisors. Westmoreland was sent to South Vietnam in January 1964, and took command of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) in June. In Vietnam, Westmoreland adopted a strategy of attrition against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam, to drain them of manpower and supplies. He used artillery and air power on a huge scale.
As time went on and success was not gained, public support for the war diminished, especially after the Battle of Khe Sanh and the surprise Tet Offensive in 1968. By the time he had left his command, American military forces in Vietnam had reached a peak of 535,000 personnel. Westmoreland's strategy was ultimately unsuccessful, due to growing American casualties and reliance on conscription, which undermined support for the war and weakened South Vietnamese support. Historians continue to debate his effectiveness as a commander and his emphasis on body count.
Westmoreland was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on 26 March 1914 to Eugenia Talley Childs and James Ripley Westmoreland. His upper middle class family was involved in the local banking and textile industries. Eugenia's aunt, Bessie Springs Childs, lived with other influential family members in Columbia, South Carolina, owning property that would become the Visanska Starks House. The family operated Springs Industries (now Springs Global) railroads and utilities.
At the age of 15, William became an Eagle Scout in his Boy Scouts of America (BSA) local council's Troop 1, and was recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo from the BSA as a young adult. After spending a year at The Citadel in 1932, he was appointed to attend the United States Military Academy on the nomination of Senator James F. Byrnes, a family friend.
Westmoreland said his motive for entering West Point was "to see the world". He was a member of a distinguished West Point class that also included Creighton Abrams and Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Westmoreland graduated as First Captain, the highest cadet rank, and received the Pershing Sword, which is "presented to the cadet with highest level of military proficiency". Westmoreland also served as the superintendent of the Protestant Sunday School Teachers.
Following graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1936, Westmoreland became an artillery officer and served in several assignments with the 18th Field Artillery at Fort Sill. In 1939, he was promoted to first lieutenant, after which he was a battery commander and battalion staff officer with the 8th Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. In World War II, Westmoreland saw combat with the 34th Field Artillery Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, in Tunisia, Sicily, France, and Germany; he commanded the 34th Battalion in Tunisia and Sicily. He reached the temporary wartime rank of colonel, and on 13 October 1944, was appointed the chief of staff of the 9th Infantry Division.
After the war, Westmoreland completed paratrooper training at the Army's Jump School in 1946. He then commanded the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. From 1947 to 1950, he served as chief of staff for the 82nd Airborne Division. He was an instructor at the Command and General Staff College from August to October 1950 and at the newly organized Army War College from October 1950 to July 1952. From July 1952 to October 1953, Westmoreland commanded the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team in Japan and Korea. He was promoted to brigadier general in November 1952 at the age of 38, making him one of the youngest U.S. Army generals in the post-World War II era.
After returning to the United States in October 1953, Westmoreland was deputy assistant chief of staff, G–1, for manpower control on the Army staff until 1955. In 1954, Westmoreland completed a three-month management program at Harvard Business School. As historian Stanley Karnow noted, "Westy was a corporation executive in uniform." From 1955 to 1958, he was the United States Army's Secretary of the General Staff. He then commanded the 101st Airborne Division from 1958 to 1960. He was Superintendent of the United States Military Academy from 1960 to 1963. In 1962, Westmoreland was admitted as an honorary member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati. He was promoted to lieutenant general in July 1963 and was Commanding General of the XVIII Airborne Corps from 1963 to 1964.
Vietnam War: Background and overview
The attempted French re-colonization of Vietnam following World War II culminated in a decisive French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The Geneva Conference (26 April – 20 July 1954) discussed the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina, and temporarily separated Vietnam into two zones, a northern zone to be governed by the Việt Minh, and a southern zone to be governed by the State of Vietnam, then headed by former emperor Bảo Đại. A Conference Final Declaration, issued by the British chairman of the conference, provided that a general election be held by July 1956 to create a unified Vietnamese state. Although presented as a consensus view, this document was not accepted by the delegates of either the State of Vietnam or the United States.
In addition, China, the Soviet Union, and other communist nations recognized North Vietnam while the United States and other non-communist states recognized South Vietnam as the legitimate government. In the 1950s the United States had endorsed the view of the Republic of Vietnam that Vietnam should be one nation, but by the time Westmoreland became army commander in South Vietnam, the United States had shifted to a view that Vietnam should like Korea remain separated between an anti-Communist South and a Communist North, separated by a demilitarized zone. To achieve this the United States was willing greatly to increase the resources it was devoting to Vietnam, but not to make the still larger increase that would have been required by an invasion of the North. The infiltration by regular North Vietnamese Army forces into the South could not be dealt with by an invasion of the North because intervention by China was something the U.S. government wanted to avoid, but President Lyndon B. Johnson had given commitments to uphold South Vietnam against communist North Vietnam.
General Harold Keith Johnson, Army Chief of Staff, came to see U.S. goals as having become mutually inconsistent, because defeating the Communists would require declaring a national emergency and fully mobilizing the resources of the US. General Johnson was critical of Westmoreland's defused corporate style, considering him overattentive to what government officials wanted to hear. Nonetheless, Westmoreland was operating within longstanding army protocols of subordinating the military to civilian policymakers. The most important constraint was staying on the strategic defensive out of fear of Chinese intervention, but at the same time Johnson had made it clear that there was a higher commitment to defending Vietnam. Much of the thinking about defense was by academics turned government advisors who concentrated on nuclear weapons, seen as making conventional war obsolete. The fashion for counter-insurgency thinking also denigrated the role of conventional warfare. Despite the inconclusive outcome of the Korean War, Americans expected the war to end with an unconditional surrender of the enemy.