The Woodrow Wilson Center Press
Marigold: The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam
Related Topics: Cold War, History, Communism, Asia, Southeast Asia
Marigold presents the first rigorously documented, in-depth story of one of the Vietnam War's last great mysteries: the secret Polish-Italian peace initiative, codenamed "Marigold," that sought to end the war, or at least to open direct talks between Washington and Hanoi, in 1966. The initiative failed, the war dragged on for another seven years, and this episode sank into history as an unresolved controversy. Antiwar critics claimed Johnson had bungled (or, worse, deliberately sabotaged) a breakthrough by bombing Hanoi on the eve of a planned historic secret US-North Vietnamese encounter in Warsaw. Conversely, LBJ and top aides angrily insisted there was no "missed opportunity," Poland never had authority to arrange direct talks, and Hanoi was not ready to negotiate. Conventional wisdom echoes the view that Washington and Hanoi were so dug in that no real opportunity existed. This book uses new evidence from long hidden communist sources to show that Warsaw was authorized by Hanoi to open direct contacts and that Hanoi had committed to entering talks with Washington. It reveals LBJ's personal role in bombing Hanoi at a pivotal moment, disregarding the pleas of both the Poles and his own senior advisors. The historical implications of missing this opportunity are immense: Washington did not enter negotiations with Hanoi until more than two years and many thousands of lives later, and then in far less auspicious circumstances.
What People are Saying
James G. Hershberg presents an exhaustively documented, scholarly, and critical assessment of the secret and ultimately failed Polish-Italian peace initiative, codenamed "Marigold", that sought bring a peaceful end to the Vietnam War. . . . A thoughtful and well-reasoned study, Marigold: The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam is highly recommended especially for American military history shelves.--Midwest Book Review
“Hershberg superbly details a singular event of a highly controversial era—the Vietnam conflict. . . . Highly recommended.”--Choice
Chapter List
Prologue: Mission Impossible? “Operation Lumbago” and LBJ’s Thirty-Seven-Day Bombing Pause, December 1965– January 1966
Chapter 1: DO`ng Chi Lewandowski’s Secret Mission: The Players Take Their Places, February– June 1966
Chapter 2: “Could It Really Be Peace?” Marigold’s “Devious Channels”— Act One: July 1966
Chapter 3: Intermezzo: August to October 1966— A “Mosaic of Indiscretions and Rumors”
Chapter 4: “A Nerve-Eating Business”: Marigold Blossoms—Act Two, November 1966
Chapter 5: “Something Big Has Happened”: Toward the Warsaw Meeting, December 1– 5, 1966
Chapter 6: Informing the North Vietnamese Ambassador in Warsaw: Nguyen Dinh Phuong’s Marigold Mystery Tour
Chapter 7: “It Is Pity”: Waiting for Gronouski— December 6, 1966
Chapter 8: “It Looked as If We Could Move Forward”: Marigold in Suspense, December 7– 13, 1966
Chapter 9: “The Americans Have Gone Mad”: Bombing Hanoi Again, December 13/14– 18, 1966
Chapter 10: “The Christmas Present”: Marigold’s Last Gasp, and First Leaks, December 19– 24, 1966
Chapter 11: “The Ultimate Reply”: The End of the Affair, December 25– 31, 1966
Chapter 12: Secret Spats: Talking and Fighting, January 1967
Chapter 13: “A Sunburst of Recriminations”: Riders on the Storm, February– June 1967
Chapter 14: The Long Year Wanes: D’Orlandi, Lodge, and Lewandowski Leave Vietnam, March– June 1967
Chapter 15: “You Will Never Get the Inside Story”: The Secret Search for The Secret Search for Peace in Vietnam, May 1967– March 1968
Chapter 16: Sequels, Revivals, Regrets: Marigold’s Echoes during LBJ’s Last Year, February 1968– January 1969
Epilogue: “A Lot More Dead Young Soldiers”— Last Words, and the Battle for History
Acknowledgments 733
A Note on Sources 739
Notes 743
Selected Bibliography 867
Index 875
