LIKE McNAMARA, NIXON ALSO THOUGHT WE COULDN'T WIN

(h/t Jay Ackroyd at Atrios)

By December 1966 and certainly no later that June 1967, Robert McNamara, then Secretary of Defense, became convinced that America could not win the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon came to the same conclusion in 1966. From Leonard Garment's book, Crazy Rhythm:

But the two of them disagreed on what to do about Vietnam. Bobst thought it was an unmitigated disaster from which the United States must withdraw quickly. Nixon insisted that the U.S. position in Vietnam was that of a "cork in a bottle," and pulling the cork quickly could have unknown, even catastrophic, consequences. As Bobst talked, however, it became clear that the real issue between them was merely whether to get out quickly or slowly. Nixon, said Bobst, accepted that Vietnam could not be "won" and that we would eventually have to withdraw.