Search results for ""Author David F. Schmitz""

The twentieth century witnessed the rise of the United States as the preeminent player on the world stage. While many individuals were responsible for the American ascension, few have left a larger legacy in the arena of foreign policy than Henry L. Stimson. Serving nearly every American president from Theodore Roosevelt to Harry S. Truman, Stimson shaped America's worldview and influenced America's foreign affairs decisions for over 40 years. A Republican, Stimson served as Secretary of War under William H. Taft (1911-13), Secretary of State under Herbert Hoover (1929-33), and Secretary of War for Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman (1940-45); in addition, he fought in World War I, initiated the Good Neighbor Policy in Central America, and served as Governor General of the Philippines (1927-29). In this new book, David Schmitz reveals how the life of Stimson provides a unique framework for analyzing America's foreign policy development from the imperialism of the 1890s to the origins of the Cold War and the emergence of the United States as the world's leading power after World War II. The author also explains the continuities in foreign policy over this period and the emergence of the internationalist perspective over isolation-ism, showing how Stimson was able to pass along his perspec-tives to the next generation of American policymakers who after World War II established the internationalist mindset of the Cold War years. Stimson's crucial role in the development and use of the atomic bomb is also examined. Henry L. Stimson: The First Wise Man is useful for courses in United States foreign policy, World War II, American history from 1900-1945, and survey courses in U.S. history.

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"As with sailing, so with politics: make your cloth too taut and your ship will dip and heel, but slacken off and trim your sails, and things head up again." - Euripides, OrestesThe Great Depression of the 1930s and the global crisis of World War II created ripe conditions for change in both US and international politics, setting off many questions regarding America's role in the world. The power and influence held by the United States at this time informed Franklin Roosevelt's belief that the country was optimally positioned to become a world leader. As such, his decisions and actions preceding the war were a critical juncture in twentieth-century US foreign policy and responsible for the nation's eventual entrance into the war. Scholarship often presents the 32nd President as an isolationist with little continuity or initiative in his approach to world politics. Based on a new, interpretive framework, however, FDR's actions take on a more purposeful tack.The Sailor: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Transformation of American Foreign Policy, 1933-1945 examines Roosevelt's worldview and political ideology throughout his career to understand how they shaped the policies he developed in response to the crises that arose during his presidency. Author David Schmitz explains why Roosevelt found the traditional foreign policy of neutrality inadequate and shows how the president spurred a new, internationalist approach in the United States' dealings with other actors on the global stage. Arguing against existing scholarship that suggests FDR rarely made informed foreign policy decisions, Schmitz claims that the president was consistent and calculating in his outlook and actions involving international affairs and the direction of American foreign policy. Guided by a vision of peace and American security, Schmitz argues that Roosevelt pursued a "Third Way" between imperialism and revolution: a pro-Western nationalism built upon organized, international collaboration with a focus toward promoting and protecting American values and institutions.Schmitz shows how Roosevelt intentionally carried out this vision in the hopes of bringing about "an end to the beginnings of all wars."The Sailor is an important interpretive analysis of the Roosevelt administration's foreign policy. By challenging previously held assumptions, Schmitz constructs a new narrative about FDR's overall attitude to the US and its role in a postwar world. He shows how FDR successfully transformed US neutrality into US internationalism, forever changing the direction of American foreign policy. This work will appeal to scholars and general readers alike, specifically, those interested in Franklin Roosevelt, World War II, and American foreign relations.

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As National Security Advisor to President Gerald Ford, advisor to President Ronald Reagan, and as National Security Advisor to President George H. W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft was at the center of the ongoing debate over how to shape American foreign policy in the post-war world. As David F. Schmitz makes clear in his new biography, Scowcroft was a realist in his outlook on American foreign policy and an heir to the Cold War internationalism that had shaped that policy since 1945. During his most important service, as George H. W. Bush's national security advisor, Scowcroft sought to work with like-minded Republicans and Democrats to construct a post-Cold War foreign policy that would provide consistency and stability to American policymaking in a rapidly changing international environment, defend the internationalist position from challenges and criticisms, and buffer the conduct of diplomacy from the turbulence of domestic politics. The type of bi-partisan cooperation and internationalism that marked the pre-Vietnam War years served as Scowcroft's guide to how to defend American interests and promote U.S. values and institutions globally. While not always successful, Scowcroft provided a consistent internationalist voice in the midst of change.

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