Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 22, 1990                   TAG: 9007270008
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Reviewed by ROBERT I. ALOTTA
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOOK LOOKS AT PRESIDENTS, THEIR WARS

Richard Barnet, a senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, has written one of the most important books of the past decade. His subject is the use of presidential power to lead this nation into war.

Presidents and the people have been at loggerheads over who has the right to control the issue of war and peace. Barnet draws his microscope back to the days following the American Revolution when citizens took to the streets of Philadelphia to protest George Washington's lack of support for French revolutionaries. He reminds us that James Madison tried to shift the blame for the War of 1812 onto the public; that James Polk "sold" the Mexican War to Americans who knew he had instigated the whole affair.

More recent presidents have done much the same thing. Woodrow Wilson had his "Creel Committee" in place to gain support for World War I, and then to have the public contribute to the war effort. Franklin Roosevelt had his own persuasive air; Lyndon Johnson, his kitchen cabinet of advisers; Ronald Reagan, his communicative skills. Each in his own way "used" the public to extend his agenda. The author believes that any president who starts a war without the will of the people has to win it quickly or he's in deep trouble.

What does Barnet see as the main problem? Throughout our history, he contends, "leaders have taken public opinion more seriously than the people themselves . . . In the nuclear age, however, the power of public opinion has increased dramatically." And he demonstrates how public protest has changed the stance of governments and made Congress change direction. The solutions?

A better-educated population is a key factor. Following high school and college, education takes the form of "bites" on TV. Fewer and fewer people are actually reading news magazines and foreign-policy journals. They gain the majority of their first impressions from the tube. As a result, their information is tainted because it lacks depth.

In his conclusions, he reminds us how we celebrate democracy abroad but don't practice it at home; how we decry apartheid in South Africa but continue to practice discrimination here. Barnet's book is excellent, and that's an understatement.