William Childs Westmoreland (born 1914) was commander of all American forces in the Vietnam War from 1964 until 1968, when he became chief of staff of the U.S. Army.

By the time the political and military situation in South Vietnam had become almost chaotic Westmoreland had risen to the rank of general. He had acquired a reputation for efficiency and was a protegé of General Maxwell D. Taylor, a leading proponent of the "Flexible Response" and the popular counterinsurgency strategies of the Kennedy administration.

In early 1964 President Lyndon Johnson sent Westmoreland to Saigon as deputy commander, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Within a few months, at the rank of full general, he succeeded to command American forces assisting the Republic of Vietnam in its war against the Communist Viet Cong insurgents. Westmoreland's assumption of command coincided with a decisive change in the nature of the conflict. The Viet...