Robert Komer was the leading national security expert during the Cold War and proved his capabilities serving no less than three United States Presidents. While his abrasive personality and curt interactions with officials earned him the nickname, "Blowtorch," he became President Johnson's "point man" in working towards peace in Vietnam. In the first biography ever written about Komer, Blowtorch: Robert Komer, Vietnam, and American Cold War Strategy (Naval Institute Press), Professor and Scholar Frank Leith Jones highlights Komer's actions as he labored to eradicate Communism in Southeast Asia through his multi-dimensional approach which included social, economic, and military facets. Jones' lecture will focus on the American involvement in Vietnam within the wider scope of the Cold War, allowing for analysis of the conflict and Komer's impact on American policy and strategy in more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Length: 62 Minutes

Lecture Date: October 16, 2013

свернуть