The Wars of the Bushes: A Father and Son as Military Leaders

The Wars of the Bushes is a fascinating study of the United States' foreign policy and the military engagements waged during the two Bush presidencies. Historian Stephen Tanner deftly argues that the current president's foreign policy is seriously at odds with the first President Bush's successful recipe of broad-based global alliances, clear-cut political goals, and quick, decisive wars. Tanner's study begins with an examination of George H. W. Bush's career. Bush's own wartime experiences, coupled with his knowledge of the world beyond America's shores, resulted in a foreign policy that achieved its military objectives while defining the United States as the globe's only post-Cold War superpower. His success enabled him to assemble a truly international force in response to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. In comparison, President George W. Bush's legacy will be his controversial policy of pre-emptive war and his misuse of American might to force its will on reluctant allies. Instead of focusing on the war on terror, Bush diverted American forces into a war in Iraq, one instigated for dubious motives and which now threatens to consume both American lives and money without any obvious benefit. Through a highly readable narrative, Tanner sheds light on how America has arrived at this stage in its history. More importantly, he points to the direction America must take in the future- a step towards the past, when the father set an example that the son has refused to follow. Stephen Tanner is the author of five books, including the recent and well-received Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban.