Warriors and Politicians: US Civil-Military Relations under Stress

by Stevenson; Charles A.

• ISBN13: 9780415770088
• ISBN10: 0415770084
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-07-07
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Although the United States has never faced the danger of a military coup, the relations between civilian leaders and the military have not always been easy. Presidents have contended with military leaders who were reluctant to carry out their orders. Generals and Admirals have appealed to Congress for sympathy and support. Congressional leaders have tried to impose their own visions and strategies on the U.S. armed forces. This triangular struggle has recurred time and again, in wartime and in efforts to reshape the military for future wars. This book argues that the U.S. military is in a triangular relationship with two civilian masters the President and the Congress. An underlying theme is how civil-military relations get caught up in domestic politics. This book illustrates this dual system of civilian military control in a series of case studies, starting from the way the Continental Congress ran the Revolutionary War by committee and concluding with the George W. Bush/Donald Rumsfeldefforts to transform the U.S. military into a modern terrorist-fighting force. These show how warriors and politicians interacted at different points in U.S. history.

Table of Contents

List of figures	xi
Preface	xii
1 Introduction: the peculiar nature of US civil—military relations	1	(12)
PART I The challenge of warfighting	13	(64)
2 Revolutionary war by committee	15	(15)
3 Lincoln, Congress, and the generals	30	(22)
4 Managing the Vietnam War	52	(25)
PART II The challenge of rearmament	77	(60)
5 John Adams and the politics of rearmament, 1798	79	(14)
6 Franklin Roosevelt and the politics of rearmament	93	(21)
7 Harry Truman and the politics of rearmament	114	(23)
PART III The challenge of transformation	137	(77)
8 Theodore Roosevelt and military modernization	139	(13)
9 The McNamara revolution	152	(13)
10 The Goldwater—Nichols revolution from above	165	(12)
11 The Bush—Rumsfeld wars and transformation	177	(17)
12 Conclusions: US civil—military relations under stress	194	(20)
Notes	214	(23)
Bibliography	237	(11)
Index	248