History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Volume Five: The McNamara Ascendancy 1961-1965 - Berlin Wall, Bay of Pigs Fiasco, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Nuclear Test Ban
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
This is the fifth volume in the history of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. It covers the first four and one-half years of Robert S. McNamara's term as secretary of defense, an exceptionally important and fateful time in the history of the United States and the Department of Defense (DoD). These were years of great international challenges for the United States and of much change in DoD. The volume begins with the efforts by President John F. Kennedy and McNamara to establish more effective management of the military establishment and ends with the full commitment of President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration to the war in Vietnam.
Robert McNamara was the longest-serving secretary of defense, the most controversial, and arguably the most successful in administering the Defense Department. The strong leadership he exerted benefited markedly from his personal relationship with and support from Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. He remained a prominent and often dominant figure through more than seven years in the two administrations.
The period from 1961 to mid-1965 witnessed strenuous efforts by McNamara to establish greater control over the DoD budget and to make the department function more efficiently and economically. He regarded the budget as central to conceiving and implementing policy and viewed it in the broader context of national security, embracing policy in its many aspects—the national economy, strategic planning, technology, force programming, collective security, military assistance, and resource allocation. McNamara had a deep understanding of the relationship between programs and budget and the need to rationalize the process that linked them. His dynamic approach and aggressive style contributed to problems with the military and Congress, both of which on occasion took exception to his innovations and practices.
Despite sometimes bitter resistance, McNamara succeeded in effecting large and important changes in the way DoD did business. He moved the department toward greater centralized direction, greater cohesion, and greater joint effort and mutual support by the military services. Progress in this direction was made possible by the exercise of personal control and coordination by the secretary, using powers strengthened by legislative and executive actions. This improved unification occurred at the expense of growing disaffection by the military.
Like the previous volumes in this series Volume V seeks to present a broad and analytical account of U.S. national security that necessarily includes in considerable detail the policymaking roles of the president, National Security Council, State Department, and Joint Chiefs of Staff. Much of the volume is devoted to OSD participation in the critical international events of the period. While the focus is properly on Washington decisionmaking, the international background of foreign policy decisions is thoroughly explored.
This is a scholarly, readable, and informative account.
Progressive Management
Progressive Management: For over a quarter of a century, our news, educational, technical, scientific, and medical publications have made unique and valuable references accessible to all people. Our imprints include PM Medical Health News, Advanced Professional Education and News Service, Auto Racing Analysis, and World Spaceflight News. Many of our publications synthesize official information with original material. They are designed to provide a convenient user-friendly reference work to uniformly present authoritative knowledge that can be rapidly read, reviewed or searched. Vast archives of important data that might otherwise remain inaccessible are available for instant review no matter where you are. The e-book format makes a great reference work and educational tool. There is no other reference book that is as convenient, comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and portable - everything you need to know, from renowned experts you trust. Our e-books put knowledge at your fingertips, and an expert in your pocket!
Related to History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Volume Five
Related ebooks
Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance, and U.S. Strategy in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Politics and Force Levels: The Strategic Missile Program of the Kennedy Administration Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Origins of the Grand Alliance: Anglo-American Military Collaboration from the Panay Incident to Pearl Harbor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerican Presidents in Diplomacy and War: Statecraft, Foreign Policy, and Leadership Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFast Tanks and Heavy Bombers: Innovation in the U.S. Army, 1917–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGale Researcher Guide for: The Pentagon Papers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wizards of Armageddon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5George F. Kennan and the Making of American Foreign Policy, 1947-1950 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntegration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCivil-Military Relations From Vietnam To Operation Iraqi Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDereliction of Duty: Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Towards An American Army: Military Thought From Washington To Marshall Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForeign Powers and Intervention in Armed Conflicts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPower in Uncertain Times: Strategy in the Fog of Peace Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoving Targets: Nuclear Strategy and National Security Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Diplomacy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerican Force: Dangers, Delusions, and Dilemmas in National Security Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUniquely American Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhile America Sleeps: Self-Delusion, Military Weakness, and the Threat to Peace Today Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5JFK and de Gaulle: How America and France Failed in Vietnam, 1961–1963 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInadvertent Escalation: Conventional War and Nuclear Risks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Uncle Sam Wants: U.S. Foreign Policy Objectives in Australia and Beyond Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe United States and the Berlin Blockade 1948-1949: A Study in Crisis Decision-Making Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJames Longstreet and the American Civil War: The Confederate General Who Fought the Next War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFranklin Roosevelt And General Hap Arnold: The Statesman And The Strategist Build An Air Force Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings21st Century Power: Strategic Superiority for the Modern Era Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSmart Power: Toward a Prudent Foreign Policy for America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Wars & Military For You
The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"The Good War": An Oral History of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Washington: The Indispensable Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Volume Five
0 ratings0 reviews