| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
x, 436 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [393]-416) and index. |
| Contents |
Too Much Too Soon -- Man and Moment -- Position of Strength -- Location, Location, Location -- World Island -- Chinese Checkers -- National Home -- Panic Attack -- Talking Tough -- Zeitgeist Wins -- War of Maneuver -- What Goes Up? -- Wars of Choice -- Getting a Grip -- Hard Choices -- The Green Mountain -- Trading Places -- Thunder and Lightening -- All-Out Limited War -- Trapped -- Back to the Ranch -- The Nixinger War -- Futurismo -- Chances Are -- Targets -- Willful, Mendacious, Deluded -- Napoleon in Russia -- Armed Missionaries -- Iraq Syndrome. |
| 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. |
| Subject |
United States -- History, Military -- 20th century.
|
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United States -- History, Military -- 21st century.
|
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Intervention (International law)
|
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Presidents -- United States -- History.
|
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Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.
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Korean War, 1950-1953.
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Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973.
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975.
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Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946-
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Iraq War, 2003-2011.
|
| ISBN |
0374102171 hardcover alkaline paper |
|
9780374102173 hardcover alkaline paper |
|
