The Forty Years War: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons, from Nixon to Obama [Hardcover]

Len Colodny (Author), Tom Shachtman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 8, 2009

In this groundbreaking book, renowned investigative writers Len Colodny and Tom Shachtman chronicle the little-understood evolution of the neoconservative movement—from its birth as a rogue insurgency in the Nixon White House through its ascent to full and controversial control of America's foreign policy in the Bush years, to its repudiation with the election of Barack Obama in 2008. In eye-opening detail, The Forty Years War documents the neocons' four-decade campaign to seize the reins of American foreign policy: the undermining of Richard Nixon's outreach to the Communist bloc nations; the success at halting dÉtente during the Ford and Carter years; the uneasy but effectual alliance with Ronald Reagan; and the determined, and ultimately successful, campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein—no matter the cost.

Drawing upon recently declassified documents, hundreds of hours of interviews, and long-obscured White House tapes, The Forty Years War delves into the political and intellectual development of some of the most fascinating political figures of the last four decades. It describes the complex, three-way relationship of Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and Alexander Haig, and unravels the actions of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Richard Perle, and Paul Wolfowitz over the course of seven presidencies. And it reveals the role of the mysterious Pentagon official Fritz Kraemer, a monocle-wearing German expatriate whose unshakable faith in military power, distrust of diplomacy, moralistic faith in American goodness, and warnings against "provocative weakness" made him the hidden geopolitical godfather of the neocon movement. The authors' insights into Kraemer's influence on protÉgÉs such as Kissinger and Haig—and later on Rumsfeld and the neocons—will change the public understanding of the conduct of government in our time.

Both a work of courageous journalistic investigation and a revisionist history of U.S. foreign policy, The Forty Years War is a must-read for anyone interested in America's standing in the world—yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Neoconservative ideologues battle pragmatists by fair means and foul in this scattershot history of American foreign policy. Colodny (Silent Coup) and Schachtman (Decade) hang their study on the figure of Fritz Kraemer, an obscure Pentagon analyst, whose championing of a militarized, moralistic foreign policy allegedly inspired two generations of neoconservatives. The book's first half follows the departure of Richard Nixon and erstwhile Kraemer-ite Henry Kissinger from conservative orthodoxy in seeking a rapprochement with Communist powers. In a voluminous rehash of Watergate, the authors insinuate that White House chief of staff and Kraemer protégé Alexander Haig, abetted by reporter Bob Woodward (a sinister mouthpiece), undermined the Nixon presidency for this apostasy. The second half treats ensuing decades as a seesaw struggle in which neocon policy makers' adventurism, from the Iran-Contra affair to the Iraq War, periodically self-destructs and generates a realist backlash. The authors' sharp narrative of factional infighting exhausts itself in flogging the Haig-Woodward conspiracy theory. Kraemer is an ill-chosen central character, more figurehead than intellectual godfather; his sketchily elaborated ideas shed little light on this serviceable but mundane account of the conflict between hawks and doves. (Dec.)
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Review

“Absorbing…a must read….illuminating and deeply provocative….The Forty Years War is a book that deserves to have a much higher public profile as Colodny and Shachtman are marshalling new evidence to challenge conventional interpretations of late Cold War political history and foreign policy.” (Zenpundit.com )

“A well-reported, fast-paced history lesson on the eternal conflict between ideologues and policymakers and the hubris that always accompanies success.” (Kirkus Reviews )

“[Colodny and Shachtman] tell the story from Nixon to now, and they do it in meticulous and interesting detail.” (Chicago Sun-Times )

“A rigorous and critical examination of the neoconservative movement and the bureaucratic, ideological battles over American foreign policy from 1969 to 2009.…[A] captivating chronicle. Highly recommended.” (Library Journal )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Harper (December 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061253898
• ISBN-13: 978-0061253898
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #971,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AN EXCELLENT EVALUATION OF NEOCON PHILOSOPHY & ITS EFFECTS: NIXON TO OBAMA, December 13, 2009

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RBSProds "rbsprods" (Deep in the heart of Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Forty Years War: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons, from Nixon to Obama (Hardcover)

Four and a half ENGROSSING Stars! "The Forty Years War" is an enjoyable investigative work of recent history and political machinations concerning "neo-conservatives", their philosophy, and events they influenced at the highest levels of government. They are one of the most distinctive political camps in America and therefore should get our attention, whether we agree with them or not. This book by authors Len Colodny and Tom Shachtman covers events and key personnel from Nixon to Obama seen in a different light. Neocons are more complex than simply being militaristic 'hawks' and some originate from an unexpected source. They adhere to the political philosophy of author, scholar, military educator, and political advisor Dr. Fritz G. A. Kraemer (1908-2003), a alluring man "with two doctorates [law and economics] and a rapier of an intellect". Born in Germany, he fought the Nazis and communists before emigrating to the USA and joining the Army, receiving a battlefield commission and a Bronze Star at the WW-II's Battle of the Bulge. Neocons include the likes of Kraemer protégés Henry Kissinger (who evolved in a direction explained in the book) & Alexander Haig, former Democrats Paul Wolfowitz & Richard Perle, diplomat Vernon Walters, James Schlesinger, William Kristol, Eliot Abrams, Democrat "Scoop" Jackson, and Douglas Feith, and many others. And what these Neocons have been up to over the last 7 presidential administrations may amaze some and disturb others, as they have waged 40 years of political war with opposing forces.

Along the way, the book cites fascinating moments, people, and key organizations in our history: the true origins of the "Nixon doctrine", the Coalition for a Democratic Majority, the "salted peanuts" memo, "dead keys", Vietnam, Watergate, the SALT II tribulations, an openly weeping President Lon Nol, Nixon's 'Saturday Night Live' TV show surprise, China, the U.S.S.R, "Team B", Iran-Contra, Lebanon, the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), Afghanistan, Iraq, right up to the Obama administration. While I don't agree with everything here, the authors provide alternative food for thought and do cover a lot of ground in a highly-readable, deeply-investigated, and informative manner. The neocon impact on recent history, like it or not, as cited in "The Forty Years War", makes for compelling reading which may cause your view of certain recent events and key historical players to change significantly in terms of 'why' certain events happened or did not happen. Highly Recommended as a great feat of historical scholarship. Four and a half ENGROSSING Stars (This review is based on a Kindle 2 download, reviewed in text-to-speech and written modes.)

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who was Fritz Kraemer and Why Should I Care?, December 21, 2009

By 

Frederick J. Graboske - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Forty Years War: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons, from Nixon to Obama (Hardcover)

I must preface my comments with the admission that I played a small role in the development of this book, offering comments to the authors based on my 12 years as supervisory archivist for the Nixon tapes.

There are many reasons to read, and to write, history. One of those reasons is to aid our understanding of how we as a nation got to where we are today. By elucidating the role of Fritz Kraemer's philosophy on policy-makers over the past 40 years, the authors have added to this understanding.

Richard Nixon admired men with strong personalities (John Connally and Bob Haldeman, for example) and people with strong beliefs (Catholics, for example). Nixon was so interested in Kraemer's beliefs, although he did not share them, that he asked Kissinger to bring him in for a conversation. This was a signal mark of respect by Nixon, who accorded it to very few other people. It marks Kraemer as a first-rate intellect.

Colodny & Schachtman demonstrate the influence that Kraemer and his ideas had on two generations of policy-makers at the highest echelons of the government. Of course, the concept of projecting strength is not new; in a sense, it lay behind the creation and implementation of the Cold War containment strategy of surrounding the communist states with American-led military alliances with their forward bases. It lies behind the strategic concept of the aircraft carrier and airborne divisions. The Soviets used the same concept in building the Cuban missile bases that led to the 1962 crisis.

So, Kraemer was not an original thinker, but he was an influential one. He contrasted Nixon's foreign policy pragmatism with his own philosophical idealism. American foreign policy in the 20th century can be seen as vacillating between idealism (Wilson's 14 Points and the Kellogg--Briand pact)and pragmatism (our support for friendly dictators). For 40 years Kraemer personally influenced policy-makers from Haig & Kissinger to Rumsfeld & Cheney, as the authors demonstrate.

The militarist philosophy he espoused is exemplified today by the enormous military/industrial complex against which Dwight Eisenhower warned us. It is so ingrained in our political life that there was no "peace dividend" when the Cold War ended. Even now, with huge budget deficits, no major politican in either party is suggesting significant reductions in the size of our current military establishment, which reputedly is larger than the next two dozen countries combined.

This huge military establishment begs to be used, or mis-used, as it was in the second Iraq war. The response to the 9/11 attacks was invasion of Afghanistan and the on-going effort to defeat the Taliban, rather than focusing on defeating terrorists. We are muddling ourselves out of Iraq, after having inflicted enormous damage on that country and its people. Even though the American military has shown no special talent for defeating insurgencies, the President is sending more troops to Afghanistan. Fritz Kraemer would be pleased.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking history, December 9, 2009

By 

Ray Locker (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Forty Years War: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons, from Nixon to Obama (Hardcover)

Len Colodny and Tom Shachtman break new ground in modern history by fully exploring the influential role played by longtime military adviser Fritz Kraemer, the man who discovered Henry Kissinger and brought Alexander Haig into the Nixon administration's National Security Council. Kraemer's influence continues to this day, as former vice president Dick Cheney echoes Kraemer's belief in the dangers of provocative weakness. Many books have explored the relationship between Kissinger and Richard Nixon. Few have mentioned Kraemer more than briefly. The Forty Years War more than makes up for that omission, and for this alone, it should be considered a groundbreaking work of history.