Presidential Decisions for War: Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf - Rilegato

Hess, Gary R.

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0801865158 ISBN 13: 9780801865152

Casa editrice: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr, 2001

Riassunto

In 1950, Americans expected that the United States would wage another major war in the near future. Instead, over the course of the next half-century, they fought limited wars against minor powers: North Korea, North Vietnam and Iraq. This is an exploration of the ways in which Presidents Truman, Johnson and Bush took America into these wars. The author recreates the unfolding crises in Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf, explaining why the presidents and their advisers concluded that the use of military power was ultimately necessary to uphold US security. The decisions for war are then evaluated in terms of how effectively the president assessed US interests, explored alternatives to war, adhered to constitutional processes, and built congressional, popular, and international support. Once at war, each president as commander in chief faced the challenge of waging a limited war, which imposes restrictions on military operations and objectives and on the extent to which popular emotions can be aroused. After tracing how Truman, Johnson and Bush responded to unfolding military developments, Hess evaluates the wartime leadership of each president in terms of his effectiveness in co-ordinating political and military objectives, managing civilian-military relations, communicating objectives and sustaining popular and congressional support, gaining and sustaining international backing, and responding to diplomatic initiatives and opportunities for peace. The work concludes that the quality of presidential leadership directly affected the different outcomes of these three wars, each of which remains a topic of ongoing controversy among historians and the public.

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Recensione:

"The basic conception for this book is a stroke of genius... Hess gives a fine sense of how various pressures operated to shape both a president's decision for war and the way in which the decision was carried out. The book is genuinely comparative, frequently drawing parallels and showing what one president learned from his predecessors. Hess's evaluations are always thoughtful and measured." -- David W. Levy, University of Oklahoma

L'autore:

Gary R. Hess is Distinguished Research Professor of History at Bowling Green State University. He is the author of The United States at War, 1941-1945; Vietnam and the United States: Origins and Legacy of War; The United States' Emergence as a Southeast Asia Power, 1940-1950; America Encounters India, 1941-1947; and numerous essays. He was president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations in 1991 and has served on the Board of Editors of Diplomatic History. He has been a four-time Fulbright Scholar/Lecturer in India.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0801865158
• ISBN 13: 9780801865152
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 262