Includes bibliographical references and index.

Presidential leadership and U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia : the buck stops and starts here / David L. Anderson -- Harry S. Truman and the roots of U.S. involvement in Indochina, 1945-1953 / Robert J. McMahon -- Dwight D. Eisenhower and wholehearted support of Ngo Dinh Diem / David L. Anderson -- Commitment in the age of counterinsurgency : Kennedy's Vietnam options and decisions, 1961-1963 / Gary R. Hess -- The reluctant warrior : Lyndon Johnson as commander in chief / George C. Herring -- Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnamese / Sandra C. Taylor -- Containing domestic enemies : Richard M. Nixon and the war at home / Melvin Small -- "Peace with honor" : Richard Nixon and the diplomacy of threat and symbolism / Jeffrey P. Kimball -- Gerald R. Ford and the president's war in Vietnam / David L. Anderson.