This book illustrates that there are varying degrees and dimensions causing tensions in civil-military relations. The primary factor identified in this study as the main cause of most frictions in civil-military relations is the civilian policy maker's propensity to ignore and marginalize military professionals when the counsel they provide runs counter to their thinking. Successful civil-military relationship requires partnership with each member performing their parts and responsibilities. This study finds limited experience in politics, lack of strategic depth, gaps in professional...

Presidents Truman and Eisenhower both began their first terms in office having to guide the military, the economy and national security policy through the waning months of an unexpected war and into an era of dubious peace. The Truman administration's policymaking in these areas was often simple but marked with turbulence, inconsistencies and inaccuracies. As a result, military force structure and the national industrial support base underwent significant expansions and contractions in response to global security events, often at a pace too slow to meet impending threats effectively at their...

The Soviet Union's behavior following the conclusion of World War II challenged United States policy. Communist aggression around the world created a turbulent and difficult environment for the United States and Western Europe to address. Communist actions increased the difficulties for the United States which simultaneously attempted to stabilize the global economy and Western European governments. U.S. policy lacked focus and senior leaders urged President Harry S. Truman to review national policy. The political environment following the conclusion of World War II was not optimal for...

In November 1945, when General George Marshall accepted the mission from President Truman to broker peace between the Chinese Communists and Nationalists, he understood the obstacles he faced and the strategic importance of his effort. The inability to achieve comity between the warring parties in China risked ceding regional influence to the Soviet Union and, more importantly, risked the hard-fought and hard-won peace in the Pacific Theater. Yet by January 1947, Marshall left China without achieving his mission and a few months later, he halted an escalation of American military commitment...

The renowned Field Marshal Count Helmuth von Moltke, chief of the great German General Staff and architect of the three campaigns that permitted the unification of Germany in 1871, believed fervently that war, to be understood, must be dissected and the parts examined. To that end, he directed not only that a section of the General Staff devote its energies exclusively to the study of military history but that all General Staff officers, drawn from the cream of the Prussian officer corps, travel to battlefields, study the plans made by the commanders, and relive the battles on the actual...

This book has been compiled to provide the organizations and individuals whose interest in the dress of the Continental Marine probes beyond the customary printed sources to the actual re-creation of the uniform with the necessary guidance to do so. With the Bicentennial of the American Revolution imminent, the need for a book of this nature has become evident through the increasing number of queries received from the military community and the general public.

Warriors, statesmen, prophets, and scholars; the firmest of friends and most formidable of foes: there are heroes (and heroines) of many kinds in the often tragic, yet inspiring saga of North American Indians. Most-but not all-of the Indian personalities whose lives are briefly described here were Chiefs; some of them have become famous around the world. All were leaders in a great struggle to preserve treasured lands and lifeways. With their tribesmen, they are inseparably linked to our country's history from its earliest beginnings through generations of growth.

The music lover who is listening to Indian music for the first time is apt to be perplexed by his novel experience. He may protest that "It all sounds alike," that "They only have one tune," and in all seriousness finally ask, "But is it music?" Such honest reactions are not uncommon among the uninitiated. They are normal human responses to the unfamiliar and are not peculiarly related to Indian music. Similar questions have been raised about the art work of our best contemporary composers, artists, writers, and architects by those who are unable to view the new art in its social setting and...

Long before the arrival of the Europeans on this continent, and from time immemorial, they have been a sovereign nation, rightfully under the sole and exclusive government of their own laws, usages and customs, within their own dominions, of which dominions, except so far as altered by treaty, they have ever been and still are the absolute lords and masters, acknowledging no earthly superior. The arrival of the Europeans on this continent produced no change in their political condition. They were never conquered. They have had various wars with the white people, which have been followed by...

James Madison's family traditions were wholly colonial and extended back to the first settlement of Virginia. With the mother country he had no living connection, and only one member of the family, his second cousin, Rev. James Madison, received any part of his education there. England was not, therefore, home to the Madison's as it was to many other Virginia families, and there were no divisions of the house and consequent heartburning when the separation came, but all of them embraced the patriot cause in the beginning and without hesitation. From the shores of Chesapeake Bay, where James...