The General vs. the President - by H W Brands (Paperback)

From the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, bestselling historian, and author of Our First Civil War comes the riveting story of how President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur squared off to decide America's future in the aftermath of World War II.

"A highly readable take on the clash of two titanic figures in a period of hair-trigger nuclear tensions.... History offers few antagonists with such dramatic contrasts, and Brands brings these two to life." --Los Angeles Times

At the height of the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman committed a gaffe that sent shock waves around the world, when he suggested that General Douglas MacArthur, the willful, fearless, and highly decorated commander of the American and U.N. forces, had his finger on the nuclear trigger. At a time when the Soviets, too, had the bomb, the specter of a catastrophic third World War lurked menacingly close on the horizon. A correction quickly followed, but the damage was done; two visions for America's path forward were clearly in opposition, and one man would have to make way.

The contest of wills between these two titanic characters unfolds against the turbulent backdrop of a faraway war and terrors conjured at home by Joseph McCarthy. From the drama of Stalin's blockade of West Berlin to the daring landing of MacArthur's forces at Inchon to the shocking entrance of China into the war, The General and the President vividly evokes the making of a new American era.

Review Quotes

"Fast-paced, dramatic, and amply illustrates why Truman's stock has been on the rise in recent decades." --Boston Globe

"A vivid accounting of an event that was, on the surface, a personality conflict between two strong-minded figures and, at the bottom, a courageous act that solidified civilian authority over the military in wartime." --Dallas Morning News

"Brands spikes the shadowboxing between [Truman and MacArthur] with vivid dispatches from the battlefield that give his tale a get-along kick." --TIME

"A highly readable take on the clash of two titanic figures in a period of hair-trigger nuclear tensions. . . . History offers few antagonists with such dramatic contrasts, and Brands brings these two to life." --Los Angeles Times

"Two American heroes tested and tried at their most inspired hours. . . . An exciting, well-written comparison study of two American leaders at loggerheads during the Korean War crisis." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

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