general ridgway kept us out of nam for ten years... before they ousted him

Chief of Staff

In May 1952, Ridgway replaced General Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). However, he upset other European military leaders by surrounding himself with American staff, and eventually returned to the U.S., where he replaced General Collins as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. After Eisenhower was elected President, he asked Ridgway for his assessment of US military involvement in Vietnam in conjunction with the French. In response, Ridgway prepared a comprehensive outline of the massive commitment that would be necessary for success, which dissuaded the President from intervening. However, the relationship between the two men, which had been so good during World War II, was sorely tested as a result of Ridgway's assessment because Eisenhower very much supported American intervention in Vietnam. Following that episode, Ridgway retired from the US Army in 1955, succeeded in the Chief of Staff post by his one time 82nd Airborne Division Chief of Staff Maxwell D. Taylor. In the opinion of a number of military historians, Ridgway's stand as Chief of Staff delayed US intervention in Vietnam for around ten years.[citation needed]