A Cross of Iron : Harry S. Truman and the Origins of the National Security State, 1945–1954

In A Cross of Iron, one of the country's most distinguished diplomatic historians provides a comprehensive account of the national security state that emerged in the first decade of the Cold War. Michael J. Hogan traces the process of state-making as it unfolded in struggles to unify the armed forces, harness science to military purposes, mobilize military manpower, control the defense budget, and distribute the cost of defense across the economy. At stake, Hogan argues, was a fundamental contest over the nation's political identity and postwar purpose. President Harry S. Truman and his successor were in the middle of this contest. According to Hogan, they tried to reconcile an older set of values with the new ideology of national security and the country's democratic traditions with its global obligations. Their efforts determined the size and shape of the national security state that finally emerged. Cover......Page 1 Frontmatter......Page 2 Contents......Page 8 Preface and Acknowledgments......Page 10 1 - The National Security Discourse: Ideology, Political Culture, and State Making......Page 14 2 - Magna Charta: The National Security Act and the Specter of the Garrison State......Page 36 3 - The High Price of Peace: Guns-and-Butter Politics in the Early Cold War......Page 82 4 - The Time Tax: American Political Culture and the UMT Debate......Page 132 5 - "Chaos and Conflict and Carnage Confounded": Budget Battles and Defense Reorganization......Page 172 6 - Preparing for Permanent War: Economy, Science, and Secrecy in the National Security State......Page 222 7 - Turning Point: NSC-68, the Korean War, and the National Security Response......Page 278 8 - Semiwar: The Korean War and Rearmament......Page 328 9 - The Iron Cross: Solvency, Security, and the Eisenhower Transition......Page 379 10 - Other Voices: The Public Sphere and the National Security Mentality......Page 432 11 - Conclusion......Page 476 Selected Bibliography......Page 496 Index......Page 520 In A Cross of Iron, one of the country's most distinguished diplomatic historians addresses the domestic underside of America's expanding global role in the first decade of the Cold War. The result is the fullest account yet of one of the most important developments in recent American history - the emergence of a national security state where none had existed before. Drawing on prodigious research in archival and manuscript materials, Michael J. Hogan traces the process of state making as it unfolded in efforts to unify the armed forces, organize the Defense Department, harness science to military purposes, mobilize military manpower, and distribute the cost of defense across the economy. In tracing these efforts, not to mention the great debates over defense spending and the scope of the country's commitments around the world, Hogan's challenging narrative brings into sharp focus the dramatic postwar transformation of the American state. Cover 1 Frontmatter 2 Contents 8 Preface and Acknowledgments 10 1 - The National Security Discourse: Ideology, Political Culture, and State Making 14 2 - Magna Charta: The National Security Act and the Specter of the Garrison State 36 3 - The High Price of Peace: Guns-and-Butter Politics in the Early Cold War 82 4 - The Time Tax: American Political Culture and the UMT Debate 132 5 - "Chaos and Conflict and Carnage Confounded": Budget Battles and Defense Reorganization 172 6 - Preparing for Permanent War: Economy, Science, and Secrecy in the National Security State 222 7 - Turning Point: NSC-68, the Korean War, and the National Security Response 278 8 - Semiwar: The Korean War and Rearmament 328 9 - The Iron Cross: Solvency, Security, and the Eisenhower Transition 379 10 - Other Voices: The Public Sphere and the National Security Mentality 432 11 - Conclusion 476 Selected Bibliography 496 Index 520 9780521795371

A Cross of Iron provides the fullest account yet of the national security state that emerged in the first decade of the Cold War. Michael J. Hogan traces the process of state-making through struggles to unify the armed forces, harness science to military purposes, mobilize military manpower, control the defense budget, and distribute the cost of defense across the economy. President Harry S. Truman and his successor were in the middle of a fundamental contest over the nation's political identity and postwar purpose, and their efforts determined the size and shape of the national security state that finally emerged.

A Cross of Iron provides a full account of the national security state that emerged in the first decade of the Cold War. It traces the process of state-making as it unfolded in struggles to unify the armed forces and harness science "How can we prepare for total war," Hanson Baldwin asked in 1947, "without becoming a 'garrison state' and destroying the very qualities and virtues and principles we originally set out to save?" Michael J. Hogan. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.