Andrew Paul oral history interview

The Scope and Contents note of this oral history was originally generated by feeding the electronic transcript into OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4o on 2024 July 26. It was then reviewed and edited by a human.

Oral history interview with Andrew Paul, Dartmouth Class of 1960, for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Paul recounts his early life and education in New York City and Scarsdale, New York, as the child of Hungarian immigrant parents. He details his time at Dartmouth College majoring in French and international relations, and his involvement in the Army ROTC program at Dartmouth. Paul describes his military service after graduation, being commissioned as a second lieutenant, undergoing infantry training, and serving as an instructor at the Army Intelligence School. He discusses his time as a Special Forces officer in the reserves while pursuing a master's degree at Georgetown University and participating in the Barry Goldwater presidential campaign of 1964. Paul reflects on his initial perception of the Vietnam War as a necessary fight against communism, and his views on the U.S. military's strategic and tactical failures in the conflict. He also discusses his mixed feelings towards the anti-war movement and societal upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s, his career as a lobbyist and defense industry professional, and his volunteer work with the Veterans Council in Florida.