A convincing reassessment of Lyndon Johnson's foreign policy.
Although Brands (History/Texas A The Devil We Knew, 1993, etc.)
admits that it is difficult to consider LBJ's record in foreign
affairs without immediately thinking of the debacle in Vietnam that
wrecked his presidency, that is nonetheless what he attempts to do.
Coming to the Oval Office at the height of the American Century,
Johnson inherited a tradition of American globalism that began with
the Spanish-American War, gained momentum in WW I, and peaked after
WW II, from which the United States emerged as the greatest
economic and military force in the world, able to project its power
around the planet. The author argues that Johnson continued in this
vein and that many of his accomplishments deserve to be understood
and applauded. Obsessed with Communism and the nagging question of
"Who lost Cuba," Johnson intervened in Vietnam and successfully
invaded the Dominican Republic, ostensibly to protect American
lives but in reality to prevent a supposed Communist takeover. When
the Six-Day War broke out in the Middle East, Johnson could not, as
Eisenhower did in the Suez crisis of 1956, force Israel to give up
territory gained. He did, however, use America's coercive influence
to limit the scope and duration of the war. He suffered the snub of
de Gaulle ordering US troops out of France and withdrawing from
NATO, but soldiers remained in Europe and he kept the alliance
together. He helped halt wars between Greece and Turkey and between
India and Pakistan. In many ways, Brands offers Johnson as a
transitional figure between the days of American hegemony and the
current era when a multipolar world often seems to confound and
stymie US foreign policy. Judicious and well researched, the volume
presents a good opening in the reappraisal of Johnson and his
administration. (Kirkus Reviews)
Historian H.W. Brands offers a fresh look at Johnson's handling of international relations, putting Vietnam in the context of the many crises he confronted and the outdated policies of containment he was expected to uphold. The result is a fascinating portrait of a master politician at work, manouevring through a series of successes that made his ultimate failure in Vietnam all the more tragic.
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