Decisions and Dilemmas

This book's unique combination of case studies and commentaries provides the basis for a systematic discussion of the role of individual leaders and complex institutions in U.S. foreign policy making. The case studies present routine and urgent, controversial and consensus-driven decisions in nine presidential administrations--"from Harry Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan in 1945, to George W. Bush's responses to international terrorism in the wake of 9/11. Each chapter includes essential background information, a chronology of events, and primary source documents. Through all these elements, even students with little or no background in history will gain a new understanding of how presidents, institutions, and issues all shape American foreign policy. 1. Truman and the Hiroshima Bomb; 2. Eisenhower and Arms Control; 3. Kennedy, Johnson and Southeast Asia; 4. Nixon, Ford, and the Era of Detente; 5. Carter and the Panama Canal Treaties; 6. Reagan and the Iran-Contra Affair; 7. George H.W. Bush and the Invasion of Panama; 8. Clinton and Northern Ireland; 9. George W. Bush and 9/11; Notes; Index