id author title date pages extension mime words sentences flesch summary cache txt en-wikipedia-org-8177 Military history of the United States - Wikipedia .html text/html 14392 1298 66 Jeffersonian leaders preferred a small army and navy, fearing that a large military establishment would involve the United States in excessive foreign wars, and potentially allow a domestic tyrant to seize power.[12] The military history of the American side of the war involved different strategies over the years.[65] The bombing campaigns of the Air Force were tightly controlled by the White House for political reasons, and until 1972 avoided the main Northern cities of Hanoi and Haiphong and concentrated on bombing jungle supply trails, especially the Ho Chi Minh Trail.[66] The most controversial Army commander was William Westmoreland whose strategy involved systematic defeat of all enemy forces in the field, despite heavy American casualties that alienated public opinion back home.[67] Stewart, "Emergence to World Power 1898–1902" Ch. 15, in "American Military History, Volume I: The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation, 1775–1917", (2004) ./cache/en-wikipedia-org-8177.html ./txt/en-wikipedia-org-8177.txt