Since 1798, when Congress authorized John Adams to employ the navy
to capture armed French vessels preying on American shipping on the
Atlantic coast, U.S. presidents have grappled with the crucible of
war. Some have dealt with it skillfully while others have tended
toward the inept. Some have wanted to exert their war powers while
others have shied away from them. Some have been successful while
others have not.
Never having had their authority clearly defined, the
presidents, as commanders in chief, have been allowed to interpret
the scope of their involvement in wartime decision making. The
question of whether a president can order forces into combat
against another nation has never been resolved and precedent
supports both sides. "Essentially," says Raymond O'Connor, "the
president can do whatever he can get away with."
"Commanders in Chief," offering an enlightening look at the
president's constitutional and political roles during wartime,
brings together the work of prominent historians. These experts
analyze the war powers of the presidency as well as the wartime
leadership of six presidents--William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson,
Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard
Nixon.
Two of the authors take provocative revisionist views of their
subjects. Lewis Gould asserts that McKinley delivered able and
talented leadership during the Spanish-American War, while Robert
Ferrell sharply criticizes Wilson's leadership during World War I.
On the other hand, Warren Kimball emphatically confirms the high
ranking by most scholars of Roosevelt as the most gifted wartime
chief executive of the twentieth century, and Clayton James
substantiates Truman's feisty and pragmatic leadership in two
conflicts. In Frank Vandiver's essay on Johnson and Stephen
Ambrose's on Nixon, the authors emphasize the diversity of
challenges the two presidents faced during the controversial
Vietnam War.
Revising and updating earlier studies, including "The Ultimate
Decision: The President as Commander in Chief," the 1960 classic
collection edited by Ernest May, this book offers a thoughtful and
thought-provoking critique of the character and capabilities of
America's modern commanders in chief and presents fresh insight
into an issue that affects us all.
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