Good question, and I don't have enough background to decide! His judgments on Ike and JFK seem plausible enough given Ike's experience and how I know JFK bailed on the Bay of Pigs invasion without actually calling it off, but I can't really go farther than that.
To really know, I'd need to read a couple other Cold War grand strategy books, but I don't know of any; or read biographies of the Presidents, but they're not really high on my list of history to dive into.
I don't know enough either, but it seems plausible. From what I've read both JFK and LBJ bungled Vietnam strategy. And Ike had set up a better course of deterrence without getting too involved. And Reagan was key in ending the Cold War, even if he gets too much praise at times from his supporters. What's high on your list? I'm reading about John Quincy Adams now.
In GURPS Social Engineering, for one of my fictional vignettes (which commonly open chapters in GURPS books), I had a gentleman with hawthorn in his buttonhole interrupted in his conversation with his supporters by a beautiful young Frenchwoman whose brother he was planning to rescue . . . and then a following cut scene that revealed that they were doing the Spanish Prisoner.
It's worth noting that 50 Year War is on sale right now, and so long as USNI doesn't notice, 50% off under their holiday sale, so the book is $11 including shipping.
Do you think the author is too praiseworthy of Reagan and Ike, and too critical of JFK and LBJ?
Good question, and I don't have enough background to decide! His judgments on Ike and JFK seem plausible enough given Ike's experience and how I know JFK bailed on the Bay of Pigs invasion without actually calling it off, but I can't really go farther than that.
To really know, I'd need to read a couple other Cold War grand strategy books, but I don't know of any; or read biographies of the Presidents, but they're not really high on my list of history to dive into.
I don't know enough either, but it seems plausible. From what I've read both JFK and LBJ bungled Vietnam strategy. And Ike had set up a better course of deterrence without getting too involved. And Reagan was key in ending the Cold War, even if he gets too much praise at times from his supporters. What's high on your list? I'm reading about John Quincy Adams now.
In GURPS Social Engineering, for one of my fictional vignettes (which commonly open chapters in GURPS books), I had a gentleman with hawthorn in his buttonhole interrupted in his conversation with his supporters by a beautiful young Frenchwoman whose brother he was planning to rescue . . . and then a following cut scene that revealed that they were doing the Spanish Prisoner.
It's worth noting that 50 Year War is on sale right now, and so long as USNI doesn't notice, 50% off under their holiday sale, so the book is $11 including shipping.
https://www.usni.org/press/books/fifty-year-war