Description
Book SynopsisHow could the United States, a nation founded on the principles of liberty and equality, have produced Abu Ghraib, torture memos, Plamegate, and warrantless wiretaps? Did America set out to become an empire? And if so, how has it reconciled its imperialism--and in some cases, its crimes--with the idea of liberty so forcefully expressed in the Decla
Trade Review"The book makes a very compelling case that imperialism has always been a centerpiece of the American project. Its brisk and readable style makes it useful for courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels."--Paul T. McCartney, Journal of American History "Empire for Liberty deserves a wide audience of students, scholars, and even general readers. Immerman provides crucial, poorly understood background that helps place recent controversies in a broad context, and he offers fresh analysis of some of America's most colorful and complicated thinkers about America's place in the world."--Mark Atwood Lawrence, History Teacher "Overall, Immerman has written one of the best descriptions and analyses of 'American empire'--its meaning, evolution, and key figures that have impacted the idea. Empire for Liberty is essential reading for students and enthusiasts of American history and the United States' place in and approach to the world, historically and contemporarily."--Stefan Fergus, Civilian Reader "In this penetrating, lively account that introduces readers to diplomatic history in a most painless way, Immerman offers case studies of six public figures whose choices affected the ever-increasing power of the U.S."--Choice "Immerman has produced a masterly if controversial conspectus that leads the reader far beyond the six men featured in the book."--Gill Bennett, RUSI Journal "Empire for Liberty makes important contributions by demonstrating how U.S. efforts to expand its empire gradually pushed it farther from the East Coast and further from its constituting ideals... Empire for Liberty puts a mirror in front of us, forcing us to accept the complexity of designing a moral foreign policy that still serves a national interest."--Barak Mendelsohn, Political Science Quarterly "Given the directness, the clarity, and the analytical rigor with which Richard H. Immerman has assessed American imperialism, he obviously was not intimidated by the words, the concept, or U.S. imperial practices."--Joseph A. Fry, Marine Corps University Journal "Empire for Liberty should be mandatory reading for anyone seeking to better understand how and why notions of empire and liberty drove the American experience, and the extent to which this nexus remains central to understanding contemporary US engagement with the rest of the world."--Andrew L. Johns, Canadian Journal of History "This book is a welcome addition to the growing body of scholarly work that grapples with the notion of America as an empire... [T]he essays in this book well repay reading by anyone who wonders about the big questions that swirl around America's rise to global prominence."--Frank Ninkovich, Historian
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION Contending with the American Empire 1 CHAPTER 1: Benjamin Franklin and America's Imperial Vision 20 CHAPTER 2: John Quincy Adams and America's Tortured Empire 59 CHAPTER 3: William Henry Seward Reimagines the American Empire 98 CHAPTER 4: Henry Cabot Lodge and the New American Empire 128 CHAPTER 5: John Foster Dulles and the Conflicted Empire 163 CHAPTER 6: Paul Wolfowitz and the Lonely Empire 196 POSTSCRIPT: The Dark Side 232 Notes 239 Index 257
