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Commander in chief : how Truman, Johnson, and Bush turned a presidential power into a threat to America's future / Geoffrey Perret.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Perret, Geoffrey.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- United States--History, Military--20th century.
- United States.
- History, Military.
- United States--History, Military--21st century.
- Intervention (International law).
- Presidents--United States--History.
- Presidents.
- History.
- Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.
- Truman, Harry S.
- Korean War, 1950-1953.
- Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973.
- Johnson, Lyndon B.
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975.
- Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946-.
- Bush, George W.
- Iraq War, 2003-2011.
- Physical Description:
- x, 436 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
- Summary:
- This is a story of ever-expanding presidential powers in an age of unwinnable wars. Harry Truman and Korea, Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam, George W. Bush and Iraq: three presidents, three ever broader interpretations of the commander-in-chief clause of the Constitution, three unwinnable wars, and three presidential secrets. Presidential biographer and military historian Perret places these men and events in the larger context of the post-World War II world to establish their collective legacy: a presidency so powerful it undermines the checks and balances built into the Constitution, thereby creating a permanent threat to the Constitution itself. Since World War II wars have become tests of stamina rather than strength, and more likely than not they sow the seeds of future wars--yet recent American presidents have chosen to place their country in the forefront of fighting them.--From publisher description.
- Contents:
- Chapter 1 Too Much Too Soon 15
- Chapter 2 Man and Moment 28
- Chapter 3 Position of Strength 38
- Chapter 4 Location, Location, Location 54
- Chapter 5 World Island 67
- Chapter 6 Chinese Checkers 79
- Chapter 7 National Home 93
- Chapter 8 Panic Attack 106
- Chapter 9 Talking Tough 119
- Chapter 10 Zeitgeist Wins 133
- Chapter 11 War of Maneuver 149
- Chapter 12 What Goes Up... 163
- Chapter 13 Wars of Choice 176
- Chapter 14 Getting a Grip 186
- Chapter 15 Hard Choices 202
- Chapter 16 The Green Mountain 211
- Chapter 17 Trading Places 223
- Chapter 18 Thunder and Lightning 235
- Chapter 19 All-Out Limited War 246
- Chapter 20 Trapped 257
- Chapter 21 Back to the Ranch 272
- Chapter 22 The Nixinger War 286
- Chapter 23 Futurismo 299
- Chapter 24 Chances Are 315
- Chapter 25 Targets 326
- Chapter 26 Willful, Mendacious, Deluded 339
- Chapter 27 Napoleon in Russia 353
- Chapter 28 Armed Missionaries 364
- Chapter 29 Iraq Syndrome 375.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [393]-416) and index.
- ISBN:
- 0374102171
- 9780374102173
- OCLC:
- 65644335
- Online:
- Contributor biographical information
- Publisher description
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