000 04332nam a22004697a 4500
001 sulb-eb0013242
003 BD-SySUS
005 20160404145046.0
008 131127r20132013dcu o 00 0 eng d
020 _a9780815724438
020 _a0815724438
020 _z9780815724933
040 _aMdBmJHUP
_cMdBmJHUP
050 4 _aE840.4
_b.K36 2013
082 0 4 _a355.00973/0904
_223
100 1 _aKalb, Marvin L.,
_eauthor.
245 1 4 _aThe road to war
_h[electronic resource] :
_bpresidential commitments honored and betrayed /
_cMarvin Kalb.
260 _aBaltimore, Maryland :
_bProject Muse,
_c2013
_e(Baltimore, Md. :
_fProject MUSE,
_g2015)
260 _aWashington, D.C. :
_bBrookings Institution Press,
_c[2013]
_e(Baltimore, Md. :
_fProject MUSE,
_g2015)
300 _a1 online resource (1 PDF (x, 287 pages))
500 _aIssued as part of UPCC book collections on Project MUSE.
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 245-260) and index.
505 0 _aTruman's war in Korea -- The hatching of an American "commitment" -- Eisenhower: "My God, we must not lose Asia!" -- Kennedy: the coup that failed -- Johnson: "Let us continue" -- Nixon: "There is no way to win this war" -- One way or the other: getting out, finally -- "Honorable exit" or "decent interval" -- The Israel model: unprecedented and unpredictable -- Where are they now?
520 _aNot since Pearl Harbor has an American president gone to Congress to request a declaration of war. Nevertheless, since then, one president after another, from Truman to Obama, has ordered American troops into wars all over the world. From Korea to Vietnam, Panama to Grenada, Lebanon to Bosnia, Afghanistan to Iraq --why have presidents sidestepped declarations of war? Marvin Kalb, former chief diplomatic correspondent for CBS and NBC News, explores this key question in his thirteenth book about the presidency and U.S. foreign policy. Instead of a declaration of war, presidents have justified their war-making powers by citing "commitments," private and public, made by former presidents. Many of these commitments have been honored, but some betrayed. Surprisingly, given the tight U.S.-Israeli relationship, Israeli leaders feel that at times they have been betrayed by American presidents. Is it time for a negotiated defense treaty between the United States and Israel as a way of substituting for a string of secret presidential commitments? From Israel to Vietnam, presidential commitments have proven to be tricky and dangerous. For example, one president after another committed the United States to the defense of South Vietnam, often without explanation. Over the years, these commitments mushroomed into national policy, leading to a war costing 58,000 American lives. Few in Congress or the media chose to question the war's provenance or legitimacy, until it was too late. No president saw the need for a declaration of war, considering one to be old-fashioned. The word of a president can morph into a national commitment. It can become the functional equivalent of a declaration of war. Therefore, whenever a president "commits" the United States to a policy or course of action with, or increasingly without, congressional approval, watch out --the White House may be setting the nation on a road toward war.
588 _aDescription based on print version record.
650 0 _aPolitical leadership
_zUnited States
_xHistory
_y20th century.
650 0 _aPresidents
_zUnited States
_xHistory
_y20th century.
651 0 _aIsrael
_xMilitary relations
_zUnited States.
651 0 _aUnited States
_xMilitary relations
_zIsrael.
651 0 _aVietnam (Republic)
_xMilitary relations
_zUnited States.
651 0 _aUnited States
_xMilitary relations
_zVietnam (Republic)
651 0 _aKorea (South)
_xMilitary relations
_zUnited States.
651 0 _aUnited States
_xMilitary relations
_zKorea (South)
651 0 _aUnited States
_xMilitary policy
_xHistory
_y20th century.
655 0 _aElectronic books.
655 7 _aElectronic books.
_2local
710 2 _aProject Muse,
_edistributor.
776 0 8 _iPrint version:
_w(DLC) 2013010468
_z0815724934
_z9780815724933
710 2 _aProject Muse.
856 4 0 _zFull text available:
_uhttps://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780815724438/
942 _2Dewey Decimal Classification
_ceBooks
999 _c34533
_d34533