The Coldest Peace - by Mike Gallagher (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

An immersive, surprising history of Dwight D. Eisenhower's role in ending the Korean War and the urgent lessons this forgotten moment offers for today, including the simmering tension between the U.S. and China, from a former Congressman and current head of defense at Palantir.

In The Coldest Peace, Mike Gallagher takes readers inside one of the most overlooked acts of statesmanship and technological prowess in American history: how Dwight D. Eisenhower leveraged a clear-eyed strategy and the emerging tech of his era to end America's first forever war, avoid a nuclear showdown with global communism, and restore American power.

At a time when many Americans feel betrayed by endless wars, as artificial intelligence transforms human society, and as China builds a vast arsenal for a second showdown with the United States, this book offers something rare: a hardnosed case study of a president successfully securing peace and preventing war.

Through vivid storytelling--from Eisenhower's clandestine visit to Korea's frontlines as president-elect, to his high-stakes nuclear brinksmanship with Red China, to his engagement with the GOP's isolationist wing--Gallagher unearths the lessons that today's national security leaders have forgotten, but which America's crises demand. For Americans who believe in strength without folly, honor without holocaust, and wars that end--or better still, never begin--The Coldest Peace is not just a story from the past, it's a path to peace in the twenty-first century.

About the Author

Mike Gallagher is the head of defense at Palantir Technologies. Previously, he represented Wisconsin's Eighth District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2024, serving as the founding chairman of the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party and a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees. Prior to Congress, he served for seven years on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. He has a PhD in international relations from Georgetown University.