Congress and the Cold WarThe first historical interpretation of the congressional response to the entire Cold War. Using a wide variety of sources, including several manuscript collections opened specifically for this study, the book challenges the popular and scholarly image of a weak Cold War Congress, in which the unbalanced relationship between the legislative and executive branches culminated in the escalation of the US commitment in Vietnam, which in turn paved the way for a congressional resurgence best symbolized by the passage of the War Powers Act in 1973. Instead, understanding the congressional response to the Cold War requires a more flexible conception of the congressional role in foreign policy, focused on three facets of legislative power: the use of spending measures; the internal workings of a Congress increasingly dominated by subcommittees; and the ability of individual legislators to affect foreign affairs by changing the way that policymakers and the public considered international questions. |
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Contents
| 1 | |
Legislative Power and the Congressional Right | 35 |
Redefining Congressional Power | 69 |
The Consequences of Vietnam | 105 |
The Transformation of Stuart Symington | 144 |
The New Internationalists Congress | 190 |
The Triumph of the Armed Services Committee | 242 |
Appendix A The Foreign Aid Revolt of 1963 | 287 |
Appendix B The Senate and U S Involvement in Southeast Asia | 293 |
The Senate of the New Internationalists 19731976 | 300 |
The House and the End of the Cold War 19801985 | 311 |
Index | 327 |
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Common terms and phrases
1st session 2nd session administration affairs amendment American Appropriations Armed Services Committee assistance attack bill budget chair Church claimed Clark Cold colleagues Congress Congressional Quarterly considered critics debate defense Democrats Department described Downey early effect efforts elected executive File forces foreign aid foreign policy Foreign Relations Committee Fulbright funds George Gruening Hearings Henry Historical initiatives issue Jackson John Johnson Journal July June Kennedy leader legislative liberals Lodge Lyndon major March matters military Morse national security needed noted offered operations Papers Pentagon political position president Presidential Library Press questions Record Report Representatives Republican resolution Robert role Sept Series South Soviet Stennis Subcommittee Symington termed Thomas tion treaty U.S. Senate United University Vandenberg Vietnam vote Washington Post White House World Y Y Y York
Popular passages
Page 112 - Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.
Page 214 - EVEN IF HE WERE MEDIOCRE, THERE ARE A LOT OF MEDIOCRE JUDGES AND PEOPLE AND LAWYERS. THEY ARE ENTITLED TO A LITTLE REPRESENTATION, AREN'T THEY, AND A LITTLE CHANCE? WE CAN'T HAVE ALL BRANDEISES AND FRANKFURTERS AND CARDOZOS AND STUFF LIKE THAT THERE.
Page 116 - We fight because we must fight if we are to live in a world where every country can shape its own destiny, and only in such a world will our own freedom be finally secure.
Page 117 - This is not a routine appropriation. For each Member of Congress who supports this request is also voting to persist in our effort to halt Communist aggression in South Vietnam. Each is saying that the Congress and the President stand united before the world in joint determination that the independence of South Vietnam shall be preserved and Communist attack will not succeed.
Page 155 - If we have to start over again with another Adam and Eve, I want them to be Americans; and I want them on this continent and not in Europe.
Page 278 - The national security of all the Americas is at stake in Central America. If we cannot defend ourselves there, we cannot expect to prevail elsewhere. Our credibility would collapse, our alliances would crumble, and the safety of our homeland would be put in jeopardy.
Page 18 - Whereas the United Nations is not now in a position to furnish to Greece and Turkey the financial and economic assistance which is immediately required; and Whereas the furnishing of such assistance to Greece and Turkey by the United States will contribute to the freedom and independence of all members of the United Nations in conformity with the principles and purposes of the Charter...
Page 223 - Beginning in the early 19605, three independence movements - the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the National Union for...
Page 173 - Fiscal Year 1972 Authorization for Military Procurement, Research and Development, Construction and Real Estate Acquisition for the Safeguard ABM and Reserve Strengths, Hearings before the Senate Committee on Armed Services, 92 Cong. I sess (1971), Pt. 5; Department of Defense, "Fact Sheet
Bibliographic information
| Title | Congress and the Cold War |
| Author | Robert David Johnson |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, 2005 |
| ISBN | 1139447440, 9781139447447 |
| Length | 346 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies) History / Military / Vietnam War History / Modern / 20th Century History / United States / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |