From Publishers Weekly
Blumentahal, senior editor of the New Republic , has much to say about the U.S. in relation to global politics over the last five years. His wide-angled, trenchant analysis includes an account of Gorbachev's "rescue" of Ronald Reagan from the Iran- contra scandal, a withering reconstruction of the 1988 presidential campaign, and a convincing argument that the presidency of George Bush is based not on the Reagan model but on the Nixon presidency. Blumenthal's Bush is a sorry figure: a presidential candidate forced to hire a "specialist in creating visions" (speechwriter Peggy Noonan), a chief executive generally baffled by Gorbachev's insistence on fundamental reforms and public debate. The author contends that both Cold War liberalism and conservatism are outdated, and that a long-range policy with substance is needed. He points out that the end of the Cold War resembles its 1945 beginnings--with the resettlement of Europe and the triumph of democracy the twin themes--and maintains that U.S. leadership is now faced with the task of fulfilling Franklin Roosevelt's "Grand Design" of liberal internationalism, the formation of a great power consortium to guard global peace.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In this history of the 1988 Presidential campaign, Blumenthal, a senior editor of The New Republic , contends that while Reagan and Gorbachev were declaring the Cold War over, Bush and Dukakis were blind to the course of events in Europe and chose to run a campaign based on old Cold War issues like defense spending or such non-issues as the Pledge of Allegiance and Willie Horton. "The old order was decaying, but a new order was not being created," Blumenthal notes. In addition to his devastating descriptions of the failings of Bush and Dukakis, Blumenthal also provides revealing portraits of such other candidates as Quayle, Dole, Jackson, Hart, etc. The book, however, tends to ramble and repeat itself. For consideration by academic and larger public libraries. See also Roger Simon's Road Show and Paul Taylor's See How They Run , reviewed in this issue, p. 238.--Ed.
- Jeffrey R. Herold, Bucyrus P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Jeffrey R. Herold, Bucyrus P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
