THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180024
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: BY BARRETT R. RICHARDSON
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
FROM GEORGE Washington's first military defeat on Staten Island, N.Y., on Aug. 27, 1776, to George Bush's conduct of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, James R. Arnold examines a broad spectrum of wartime presidential leadership in his book ``Presidents Under Fire: Commanders in Chief in Victory and Defeat'' (Orion Books, $27.50).
The Virginia historian concentrates his attention on four presidents: Washington, James Knox Polk, the Confederacy's Jefferson Davis and Lyndon Johnson, with others, including Bush, given only brief mention where transition and perspective are needed.
His book should be required reading for presidents and those who aspire to the Oval Office. It could have been helpful to Bill Clinton, a president with no prior military experience, before he embarked on his Haiti invasion, which by design or fortuitous circumstance, began well.
Arnold points out that although the Founding Fathers intended to limit the president's power to plunge the nation into war, modern presidents can do so without congressional approval.
Against great odds, George Washington won the Revolutionary War as Continental Army commander. After Washington became president and commander in chief, however, the young nation he led took a beating during the campaigns against the Indians in the Northwest territories. Eventually victory was achieved after Washington selected General ``Mad'' Anthony Wayne to press the fight. Arnold cites patience as the key to Washington's success.
Although President Polk had no prior military experience, he conducted America's first war of foreign conquest and is rated by Arnold as the most successful commander in chief for his Mexican War fight, during which the United States launched its first saltwater invasion of a hostile coast.
In many ways, Polk's performance was thoroughly modern: He criticized his generals; bemoaned the lack of congressional support for the war; decried leaks to the press; railed against hostile, unpatriotic journalists; and withheld key documents from congressional scrutiny, Arnold says.
Despite these problems, Polk stayed focused on clearly defined objectives. Similar singleness of purpose aided presidents William McKinley, in the Spanish-American War, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, in World War II.
Jefferson Davis, a seasoned soldier and politician, did not use his background to good advantage as leader of the Confederacy. His unbending personality contributed to many of the South's difficulties. He compounded Confederate problems by failing to appoint a general in chief and by trying to micromanage the war.
Although Davis articulated a cogent strategy, the offensive-defensive, he was unable to find the generals among fiercely jealous rivals to carry it out. Lincoln also had problems with his generals, but he did not hesitate to try different ones. Davis further failed to fill the Confederacy's three greatest needs: money, manpower and supplies.
Lyndon Johnson's legacy of defeat was sown by President Harry Truman's decision to resist aggression in Korea. The ``police action'' there and the evolution of the ``domino theory'' of Communist aggression paved the way for the waging of a limited war in Vietnam. Johnson, like Davis, was undone by his own personality traits and became the second commander in chief to lose a war.
Like the dour Davis, the jovial Johnson tried to micromanage war, Arnold says. Unlike Davis, Johnson failed to define a clear objective. Arnold sees Johnson's meddling as reflecting his own uncertainty. Also, Johnson was determined not to let Vietnam interfere with national spending to achieve his dream of the Great Society.
``Haunted by a fear that he lacked courage to `stand up,' Johnson lacked the courage to resist starting a war. Later he lacked the courage to cut the losses and withdraw. Throughout he failed to level with the American people about the extent of the sacrifice needed,'' Arnold concludes.
``Presidents Under Fire'' is a well-documented, highly readable and riveting account of the ongoing agony and occasional ecstasy of this nation's leaders as they wrestled with decisions that ultimately cost hundreds of thousands of human lives and affected millions of others. MEMO: Barrett R. Richardson is a retired staff editor who teaches English at
Tidewater Community College. ILLUSTRATION: ``Presidents Under Fire'' concentrates on the experiences of
four wartime leaders.
by CNB