Title: Against the president : dissent and decision-making in the White House : a historical perspective /
Authors: White, Mark J.
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee,
Year: 2007
Subjects: Presidents United States Decision making Case studies.; Political leadership United States Case studies; Presidents United States History; United States Politics and government; United States Politics and government; United States Politics and government Decision making Case studies.
Abstract: "Historians have often analyzed the relationship between presidents and their advisers - but rarely the influence of those counselors who have dissented from the view of the chief executive. Mark J. White's innovative study considers the question of alternative policies by examining the response of presidents, from Harry Truman to Lyndon Johnson, to dissent within their own administrations on key foreign policy issues."
Contents: Introduction -- Truman, Hopkins, Davies, and the Polish question -- The ghost of FDR -- Talking with Churchill and Stalin -- Truman, Wallace, and meeting the Soviet challenge -- Troubled by Truman -- The bomb -- Fighting the Cold War consensus -- Eleven days in September -- Eisenhower, Wilson, and the origins of the Vietnam War -- A new Wilsonianism -- "Nothing but grief:" contesting a commitment -- Kennedy, Stevenson, and Cuba -- The rivals -- Operation castration -- War or peace -- Johnson, Ball, and the Vietnam War -- The accidental president and the tardy rebel -- Devil's advocate -- Crossing the rubicon -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.