Synopses & Reviews
The Truman years saw the beginnings of a dramatic shift in the Republican party's approach to foreign policy and a growing congressional commitment to bipartisanship in foreign affairs. Traditional Republican isolationism, expressed in widespread opposition to overseas political commitments such as NATO and the Marshall Plan, gave way to an internationalist Republican sentiment that called for a militant anti-Communist posture and commitment on a global scale. In this new study, Kepley explains how and why a Cold War consensus developed in the Senate, and he explores the implications of that process for the recurrent conflict between the president and Congress over the conduct of foreign affairs.
Review
A survey of the evolution of bipartisan foreign-policy formation growing out of the WWII experience. Kepley treats the early Cold War years and the creation of NATO, the rocky road traveled past the Communist takeover of China, McCarthyism, and the Korean War. Bipartisanship was renewed and strengthened by Eisenhower's victory in 1952; consensus formed around Republic party internationalism and its commitment to contest monolithic communism worldwide. This is a familiar story told in a concise manner. . .Choice
About the Author
DAVID R. KEPLEY is an Archivist for the National Archives and an instructor at Northern Virginia Community College.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
The Origins of Bipartisanship, 1942-1948
The North Atlantic Treaty and the Military Assistance Program, January-September 1949
The Senate and the Fall of China, 1949
The Republicans and Formosa, October 1949-January 1950
McCarthyism and Bipartisanship, January-June 1950
Bipartisanship and the Korean War, June-November 1950
The Great Debate of 1951
MacArthur and the Demise of the Old Bipartisanship
Dulles, Eisenhower, and the New Bipartisanship
Conclusions
Abbreviations in Notes
Notes to Chapters
Note on Sources
Index