William Bundy drafted a response memorandum that, though it did not “attempt to meet all of Ball’s arguments,” addressed several of his points and all the other “apparent heresies” Bundy could think of. Bundy’s effort is a fascinating historical artifact in its own right, and not only because it represented the only indepth examination in this period of the stakes and options in Vietnam by a staunch proponent of standing firm in Vietnam. Equally fascinating is that Bundy endorsed many of Ball’s assertions, implicitly if not explicitly. He agreed that all of America’s options in the war were
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