Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine.

The war in Vietnam was an unparalleled test of American military might. But could the US ever have secured victory? Why did various

US presidents commit so much firepower to fighting such an elusive enemy? And why was the war even

fought at all? In today's episode, historian Geoffrey Warrow joins us to discuss his new military

history of Vietnam, which argues that this

was a war of choice and that those in the highest officers of US power underestimated their

enemy in waging the conflict for so long. Ellen Evans spoke to Jeffrey to find out more.

You say throughout this account that you lay out it was a war of choice, that it was

fought and elongated off the back of hubris and reputation. And before we get into the meat of how

this war was fought, can we start with the choices that led to the USA's involvement in Vietnam in the

1950s and ultimately to the escalation of engagement.

Yeah, well, that's a great question. You know, Franklin Roosevelt, who was, you know, United States

President until the last month of World War II in Europe, had always believed that the U.S.

would not support European colonialism after the war. And part of his whole plan for United Nations and a

new world order was that, you know, you'd have decolonization and then the U.S. would be sort of

the kind of the patron of all these developing nations around the world. And the old European

colonial powers would pitch in as well to bring them up and help them avoid communism, which was

an ever-present threat given the poverty of

these regions. But as World War II ends in Asia and Stalin seems bent on domination of East Central

Europe and Northeast Asia and perhaps more. And then you see the Chinese revolution in Mao Zedong

takes power in 1948 in China, which is just you know, just an earth-shattering event for

American policymakers. There's a change in attitude in the White House, and Harry Truman, the new

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