Rufus Phillips

Rufus Colfax Phillips III
Born(1929-08-10)August 10, 1929
Middletown, Ohio
DiedDecember 29, 2021 (aged 92)
Arlington, Virginia
Alma materYale University

Rufus Colfax Phillips III (August 10, 1929 – December 29, 2021[1]) was an American writer, businessman, politician, and Central Intelligence Agency employee.[2]

Life

Phillips was born in Middletown, Ohio and was raised in rural Charlotte County, Virginia.[3] He attended Woodberry Forest School and then Yale College from 1947 to 1951. He was a Central Intelligence Agency officer in Saigon in the 1950s.[4]

In 1954, Phillips joined the United States Army and became an officer. He served as a military advisor to the South Vietnam government. Phillips was a protégé of General Edward Lansdale and participated in the 1962 RAND Counterinsurgency Symposium alongside other counterinsurgency experts such as David Galula and Frank Kitson.[5] In Vietnam, Phillips was one of the architects of the Chieu Hoi program to persuade Vietcong fighters to defect. Phillips then lived in Fairfax County, Virginia and was president of the Inter-Continental Consultants, Inc. He served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and was a Democrat. He ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1974, and lost the primary election.[6][7][8]

Phillips is the author of Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned.[9] He was a regular guest on The John Batchelor Show and discusses topics on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.[citation needed]

Krulak Mendenhall mission

Main article: Krulak Mendenhall mission

Works

  • Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned Naval Institute Press, 2017. ISBN 9781682473108, OCLC 992225373

References

  1. ^ Boot, Max (2022-01-11). "I lost my oldest friend in 2021. Rufus Phillips was the 'good American.'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  2. ^ "RUFUS C. PHILLIPS III". Washington Post. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  3. ^ Kennedy, Charles Stuart. "Interview with Rufus C. Phillips, III". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  4. ^ 'Fairfax Democrat Joins Senate Race,' The Washington Post, Ken Ringle, November 20, 1977
  5. ^ Hosmer, Stephen T.; Crane, S. O. (2006). Counterinsurgency: A Symposium, April 16–20, 1962. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  6. ^ Gerwehr, Scott; Hachigian, Nina (2005-08-26). "In Iraq's prisons: A little tenderness can turn around insurgents". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  7. ^ Ringle, Ken (1977-11-20). "Faifax Democrat Joins Senate Race". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  8. ^ "Candidate - Rufus Phillips". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  9. ^ "Vietnam, Allied invasion of Italy". The Washington Times. February 22, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2010.