Presidential commissions and national security
Subtitle: the politics of damage control
By: by Kenneth Kitts.
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Boulder, Colo
Language: eng
Number of pages: 194
Subjects: Executive advisory bodies -- United States -- Case studies.; National security -- United States -- Decision making -- Case studies.
Genres: Case studies.
Description: "Kenneth Kitts otters entry into the highly political, behind-closed-doors world of blue-ribbon investigative commissions convened in the aftermath of national security crises." "Ranging from Pearl Harbor to the September 11 terrorist attacks, Kitts takes the reader into the "backroom" to watch as presidents, their advisers, and commission members confront an armory of pressures. With rich detail and accounts of political intrigue, he reveals just how and when presidents reach for the blue-ribbon option to try to defuse crises, deflect criticism, and maintain control of national security policy - and how presidential expectations are sometimes unmet, as commissions issue damning reports with unforeseen and explosive consequences."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Presidents and the blue ribbon option; title: The politics of infamy : the Roberts Commission and Pearl Harbor; title: The politics of spying : the Rockefeller Commission and the CIA; title: The politics of Armaggedon : the Scowcroft Commission and the MX missile; title: The politics of scandal : the Tower Commission and Iran-Contra; title: The politics of terror : Tom Kean and the 9/11 Commission; title: The politics of damage control.