A narrative history and assessment of the early years of Robert McNamara’s tenure as Secretary of Defense, including McNamara’s relationship with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, the transformation of the Department of Defense as a part of Kennedy’s New Frontier, and the Pentagon’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs episode, and onset of the Vietnam War along with other major national security events and developments during a turbulent and momentous period of the Cold War. (Fuller description is on the dust jacket flaps.)

History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Vol. 5: The McNamara Ascendancy, 1961-1965

History

Kaplan, Lawrence S.

Drea, Edward J.

Landa, Ronald D.

Military

Government Printing Office

N. A. T. O.and the Policy of Containment (Problems in American Civilization)

Homewood, IL Dorsey 1968

NATO 1948: The Birth of the Transatlantic Alliance

This compelling history brings to life the watershed year of 1948, when the United States reversed its long-standing position of political and military isolation from Europe and agreed to an "entangling alliance" with ten European nations. Not since 1800, when the United States ended its alliance with France, had the nation made such a commitment. The historic North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4, 1949, but the often-contentious negotiations stretched throughout the preceding year. Lawrence S. Kaplan, the leading historian of NATO, traces the tortuous and dramatic process, which struggled to reconcile the conflicting concerns on the part of the future partners. Although the allies could agree on the need to cope with the threat of Soviet-led Communism and on the vital importance of an American association with a unified Europe, they differed over the means of achieving these ends. The United States had to contend with domestic isolationist suspicions of Old World intentions, the military's worries about over extension of the nation's resources, and the apparent incompatibility of the projected treaty with the UN charter. For their part, Europeans had to be convinced that American demands to abandon their traditions would provide the sense of security that economic and political recovery from World War II required. Kaplan brings to life the colorful diplomats and politicians arrayed on both sides of the debate. The end result was a remarkably durable treaty and alliance that has linked the fortunes of America and Europe for over fifty years. Despite differences that have persisted and occasionally flared over the past fifty years, NATO continues to bind America and Europe in the twenty-first century. Kaplan's detailed and lively account draws on a wealth of primary sources—newspapers, memoirs, and diplomatic documents—to illuminate how the United States came to assume international obligations it had scrupulously avoided for the previous 150 years.

Americas

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

This compelling history brings to life the watershed year of 1948, when the United States reversed its long-standing position of political and military isolation from Europe and agreed to an 'entangling alliance' with ten European nations. The historic North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4, 1949, but the often-contentious negotiations stretched throughout the preceding year. Lawrence S. Kaplan, the leading historian of N.A.T.O., traces the tortuous and dramatic process, which struggled to reconcile the conflicting concerns on the part of the future partners. He brings to life the colorful diplomats and politicians arrayed on both sides of the debate. The end result was a remarkably durable treaty and alliance that has linked the fortunes of America and Europe for over fifty years. Kaplan's detailed and lively account draws on a wealth of primary sources-newspapers, memoirs, and diplomatic documents-to illuminate how the United States came to assume international obligations it had scrupulously avoided for the previous 150 years.

NATO and the United States: The enduring alliance (Twayne's international history series)

Twayne Publishers

Kaplan, a NATO scholar and professor of history, analyzes the challenges the organization faces in the 1990s, arguing that the alliance is still essential for a stable Europe and that it is incumbent on the US to maintain its NATO troop strength. Includes texts of the Brussels Pact, the North Atlantic Treaty, and various related agreements, and a chronology. Paper edition (9221-X), $16.95. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

NATO and the United States, Updated Edition: The Enduring Alliance (Twayne's International History Series)

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Twayne Pub

NATO and the United States: The Enduring Alliance (Twayne's International History Series)

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

The United States and NATO: The Formative Years

Univ Pr of Kentucky

The United States and NATO: The formative years

University Press of Kentucky

The creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was one of the most important accomplishments of American diplomacy in countering the Soviet threat during the early days of the Cold War. Why and how such a reversal of a 150-year nonalignment policy by the United States was brought about, and how the goals of the treaty became a reality, are questions addressed here by a leading scholar of NATO. The importance of restoring Europe to strength and stability in the post-World War II years was as obvious to America as to its allies, but the means of achieving that goal were far from clear. The problem for European statesmen was how to secure much- needed American economic and military aid without sacrificing political independence. For American policymakers, in contrast, a degree of American control was seen as an essential quid pro quo. As Mr. Kaplan shows, the lengthy negotiations of 1947 and 1948 were chiefly concerned with reconciling these opposing views. For the Truman administration, the difficulties of achieving a treaty acceptable to the allies were matched by those of winning its acceptance by Congress and the public. Many Americans saw such an "entangling alliance" as a threat not only to American security but to the viability of the United Nations. Mr. Kaplan demonstrates the tortuous course of the debate on the treaty and the pivotal role of the communist invasion of South Korea in its ultimate approval. This authoritative study offers a timely reevaluation of the origins of an alliance that continues to play a critical role in the balance of power and in the prospects for world peace.

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Books by Kaplan, Lawrence S.