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Overview
In his thousand-day presidency, John F. Kennedy led America through one of its most difficult and potentially explosive eras. With the Cold War at its height and the threat of communist advances in Europe and the Third World, Kennedy had the unenviable task of maintaining U.S. solidarity without leading the western world into a nuclear catastrophe.
In Kennedy's Wars, noted historian Lawrence Freedman draws on the best of Cold War scholarship and newly released government documents to illuminate Kennedy's approach to war and his efforts for peace. He recreates insightfully the political and intellectual milieu of the foreign policy establishment during Kennedy's era with vivid profiles of his top advisorsRobert McNamara, Dean Rusk, Robert Kennedyand influential figures such as Dean Acheson and Walt Rostow. Tracing the evolution of traditional liberalism into the Cold War liberalism of Kennedy's cabinet, Freedman evaluates their responses to the tensions in Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam. He gives each conflict individual attention, showing how foreign policy decisions came to be defined for each new crisis in the light of those that had gone before. The book follows Kennedy as he wrestles with the succession of major conflictstaking advice, weighing the risks of inadvertently escalating the Cold War into outright military confrontation, exploring diplomatic options, and forming strategic judgments that would eventually prevent a major war during his presidency.
In Kennedy's Wars, noted historian Lawrence Freedman draws on the best of Cold War scholarship and newly released government documents to illuminate Kennedy's approach to war and his efforts for peace. He recreates insightfully the political and intellectual milieu of the foreign policy establishment during Kennedy's era with vivid profiles of his top advisorsRobert McNamara, Dean Rusk, Robert Kennedyand influential figures such as Dean Acheson and Walt Rostow. Tracing the evolution of traditional liberalism into the Cold War liberalism of Kennedy's cabinet, Freedman evaluates their responses to the tensions in Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam. He gives each conflict individual attention, showing how foreign policy decisions came to be defined for each new crisis in the light of those that had gone before. The book follows Kennedy as he wrestles with the succession of major conflictstaking advice, weighing the risks of inadvertently escalating the Cold War into outright military confrontation, exploring diplomatic options, and forming strategic judgments that would eventually prevent a major war during his presidency.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780195152432 |
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Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Publication date: | 05/16/2002 |
Edition description: | New Edition |
Pages: | 560 |
Product dimensions: | 5.01(w) x 8.04(h) x 1.33(d) |
Lexile: | 1470L (what's this?) |
About the Author
Lawrence Freedman has been Professor of War Studies at King's College, London since 1982. He has written extensively on nuclear strategy and the Cold War, as well as commentating regularly on contemporary security issues. Elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1995, he was appointed by Prime Minister Tony Blair as Official Historian of the Falklands Campaign in 1997.
Table of Contents
Preface: Kennedy's Wars | ix | |
Dramatis Personae | xiii | |
Introduction | 3 | |
I. | The Cold War and How to Fight It | |
1. | Liberal Anticommunism | 13 |
2. | Beyond Massive Retaliation | 18 |
3. | The Third World Alternative | 27 |
4. | Policies and People | 32 |
II. | Berlin and Nuclear Strategy | |
5. | The New Strategy | 45 |
6. | To Vienna and Back | 51 |
7. | The Berlin Anomaly | 58 |
8. | A Contest of Resolve | 66 |
9. | The Wall | 72 |
10. | Tests and Tension | 79 |
11. | Flexible Response | 92 |
12. | Berlin to Cuba | 112 |
III. | Cuba | |
13. | Removing Castro | 123 |
14. | A Deniable Plan | 129 |
15. | An Undeniable Fiasco | 139 |
16. | Still Castro | 147 |
17. | Mongoose | 153 |
18. | Searching for Missiles | 161 |
19. | The Options Debated | 170 |
20. | Blockade | 182 |
21. | Military Steps | 193 |
22. | Political Steps | 203 |
23. | The Denouement | 208 |
24. | A Crisis Managed | 218 |
25. | Aftermath | 225 |
26. | Back to Square One | 238 |
IV. | Alliances and Detente | |
27. | The Sino-Soviet Split | 249 |
28. | Toward a Test Ban | 261 |
29. | The Test Ban Treaty | 270 |
30. | Measured Response | 276 |
V. | Vietnam | |
31. | Counterinsurgency | 287 |
32. | Laos | 293 |
33. | Commitment without Combat | 305 |
34. | Deciding not to Decide | 313 |
35. | The Taylor Report | 322 |
36. | Decisions | 330 |
37. | The Influence of Laos | 340 |
38. | In the Dark | 356 |
39. | Coercion and Clients | 367 |
40. | Diem's Assassination | 382 |
41. | Kennedy to Johnson | 398 |
Conclusion | 415 | |
Acknowledgments | 421 | |
Notes | 423 | |
Bibliography | 489 | |
Index | 507 |
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