Toward the National Security State: Civil-Military Relations during World War II (In War and in Peace: U.S. Civil-Military Relations)

American involvement in World War II greatly transformed U.S. civil-military relations by propelling the U.S. military into a prominent position within the national government. The war established new linkages and a new unity between key civilian and military personnel. And these new civil-military relations became institutionalized with the postwar creation of the national security state. Waddell explores these new developments and examines how they affected the very nature of American governmental power.War is considered the most significant influence on building and transforming government institutions. And yet, scholars interested in American political development tend to ignore World War II while focusing on the Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal. In turn, scholars who focus on the war tend to focus on the diplomacy, strategies, battles, and personalities that dominated the war itself. Rarely is the war considered from the perspective of how it changed the fundamental nature of American government as it led to the national security state, the military-industrial complex, and the militarization of foreign policy. This book places these dramatic shifts in the context of the changing civil-military relations of World War II. It examines these relations in terms of the three central areas of modern warfare-production, strategy, and manpower. Chapters focus on the military-corporate relations involved in mobilizing the arsenal of democracy; top-level command relations between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his military commanders; and the civil-military tensions and relations involved in mobilizing a mass citizen army. A final chapter analyzes what came of these changes as the U.S. institutionalized a striking new civil-military unity in and through the postwar national security state. "American involvement in World War II transformed U.S. civil-military relations by propelling the U.S. military into a prominent position within the national government. This established new linkages and a new unity between key civilian and military personnel that were institutionalized in the postwar national security state. Waddell explores these developments and examines the impact of the new relationships that were forged in the face of the threat of fascism and rose to dominate the military-industrial complex during the Cold War." "War is considered the most significant influence on building and transforming government institutions. Yet, scholars interested in American political development tend to ignore WWII, while focusing on the Great Depression and the New Deal of the 1930s. In turn, scholars who do focus on the Second World War tend to focus on the diplomacy, strategies, battles, and personalities that dominated the war itself. Rarely is the war considered from the perspective of how it changed the fundamental nature of American government, despite the fact the national security state institutionalized after the war did just that." "The book approaches this dramatic shift in American national government by examining the intense wartime changes in civil-military relations that allowed the U.S. to participate fully as a partner in a two-front world war and greatly influenced the postwar transformation of American government. Dramatic wartime transformations are traced in three areas of civil military relations: military corporate relations surrounding mobilizing the "arsenal of democracy," top level command relations between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his military commanders; and the civil-military tensions and relations involved in mobilizing a mass citizen army. A final chapter analyzes the postwar synthesis of these changes as the U. S. institutionalized a striking new civil-military unity through the postwar national security state."--BOOK JACKET American involvement in World War II greatly transformed U.S. civil-military relations by propelling the U.S. military into a prominent position within the national government. The war established new linkages and a new unity between key civilian and military personnel. And these new civil-military relations became institutionalized with the postwar creation of the national security state. Waddell explores these new developments and examines how they affected the very nature of American governmental power. War is considered the most significant influence on building and transforming government institutions. And yet, scholars interested in American political development tend to ignore World War II while focusing on the Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal. In turn, scholars who focus on the war tend to focus on the diplomacy, strategies, battles, and personalities that dominated the war itself. Rarely is the war considered from the perspective of how it changed the fundamental nature of American government as it led to the national security state, the military-industrial complex, and the militarization of foreign policy. This book places these dramatic shifts in the context of the changing civil-military relations of World War II. It examines these relations in terms of the three central areas of modern warfare-production, strategy, and manpower. Chapters focus on the military-corporate relations involved in mobilizing the arsenal of democracy; top-level command relations between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his military commanders; and the civil-military tensions and relations involved in mobilizing a mass citizen army. A final chapter analyzes what came of these changes as the U.S. institutionalized a striking new civil-military unity in and through the postwar national security state.