The Statesman

Reflections on a Life Guided by Civility, Strategic Leadership, and the Lessons of History

Ambassador David Abshire - Edited by James Kitfield - Foreword by Evan Thomas

The late Ambassador David Abshire lived a quintessentially American life, one that spanned the Great Depression, World War II and the Cold War. He graduated from West Point, fought in the Korean War, earned a doctorate in history from Georgetown University, and served in government during the Vietnam War. He also co-founded one of the world’s preeminent think tanks in the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Along the way he became a personal adviser to multiple presidents, earning a reputation as one of Washington, D.C.’s truly wise men.

All of which makes the warnings contained in these memoirs so topical. Writing near the end of his life, Abshire concludes that our country has lost its sense of strategic direction and common purpose. Our domestic politics have entered an era of hyper-partisanship and gridlock, even as dangerous challenges to U.S. interests gather overseas. America, Abshire concludes, is in deep trouble.

In this extraordinary final love letter to his country, Abshire tells his fellow citizens how to reclaim American exceptionalism. That journey begins with rejecting the great incivility that has infected our national discourse. That fundamental lack respect among political partisans has eroded our trust in each other, and faith in our leaders. The only way to recapture them, Abshire argues persuasively, is to reinvigorate a politics of lively, robust debate within a framework of respect and civil behavior. Before it is too late.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 220 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-5381-0921-2 • Hardback • March 2018 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

978-1-5381-0922-9 • eBook • March 2018 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

Subjects: History / United States / 20th Century, Biography & Autobiography / Political

The Statesman

Reflections on a Life Guided by Civility, Strategic Leadership, and the Lessons of History

Hardback

eBook

Summary

The late Ambassador David Abshire lived a quintessentially American life, one that spanned the Great Depression, World War II and the Cold War. He graduated from West Point, fought in the Korean War, earned a doctorate in history from Georgetown University, and served in government during the Vietnam War. He also co-founded one of the world’s preeminent think tanks in the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Along the way he became a personal adviser to multiple presidents, earning a reputation as one of Washington, D.C.’s truly wise men.

All of which makes the warnings contained in these memoirs so topical. Writing near the end of his life, Abshire concludes that our country has lost its sense of strategic direction and common purpose. Our domestic politics have entered an era of hyper-partisanship and gridlock, even as dangerous challenges to U.S. interests gather overseas. America, Abshire concludes, is in deep trouble.

In this extraordinary final love letter to his country, Abshire tells his fellow citizens how to reclaim American exceptionalism. That journey begins with rejecting the great incivility that has infected our national discourse. That fundamental lack respect among political partisans has eroded our trust in each other, and faith in our leaders. The only way to recapture them, Abshire argues persuasively, is to reinvigorate a politics of lively, robust debate within a framework of respect and civil behavior. Before it is too late.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 220 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-5381-0921-2 • Hardback • March 2018 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

978-1-5381-0922-9 • eBook • March 2018 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

Subjects: History / United States / 20th Century, Biography & Autobiography / Political

Author

David M. Abshire, Ph.D., Author
Ambassador David M. Abshire co-founded the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC with Admiral Arleigh Burke in 1962, and served as its chief executive for many years. He was the President and CEO of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) in Washington, DC., and chaired the Richard Lounsbery Foundation of New York, which gives grants in the fields of science and education. A 1951 graduate of West Point, he served in the Korean War and later earned a doctorate in history at Georgetown University. Abshire served as Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, and between 1983 and1987 he was the U.S. Ambassador to NATO. In December 1986, he became Special Counselor to the President at the depths of the Iran-Contra crisis, and was subsequently awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal. Dr. Abshire was also the author of seven previous books.

James Kitfield, Editor
James Kitfield is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, and co-editor of the Center’s Triumph & Tragedies of the Modern Congress and Triumphs & Tragedies of the Modern Presidency. He is also a contributing editor and former senior national security and foreign affairs correspondent at Atlantic Media Company. He has written on defense, national security, intelligence and foreign policy issues from Washington, D.C. for over two decades, publishing hundreds of magazine features and web stories and reporting from dozens of countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Africa. His reporting from conflict zones such as the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan has won numerous awards, including the only three-time winner of the Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense. He is the author of three books on national security, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Kitfield graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia’s Henry Grady School of Journalism.

Evan Thomas, Foreword
Evan Thomas is the bestselling author of nine works of nonfiction, including Being Nixon,Ike's Bluff, and The Wise Men (with Walter Isaacson). Thomas was an editor, writer, and reporter at Newsweek for 24 years, where he was the author of more than a hundred cover stories. Thomas has won numerous journalism awards, including a National Magazine Award. In 2005, his 50,000-word narrative of the 2004 election was honored when Newsweek won a National Magazine Award for the best single-topic issue. Thomas is a fellow of the Society of American Historians and has taught writing at Princeton and Harvard. He is a graduate of Harvard and the University of Virginia Law School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Dark Days and Enduring Lessons: On Strategic Leadership, Trust and Reform
Chapter 2: Beginnings: A Student of History
Chapter 3: Student, Soldier, Cadet: Early Lessons in Strategy
Chapter 4: Crucible of Leadership: The Korean War
Chapter 5: A Master in Strategy: Georgetown, Eisenhower and Project Solarium
Chapter 6: Ivory Towers & Institution Building: Georgetown’s Center for Strate-gic Studies
Chapter 7: Washington in Crisis: The State Department, Vietnam and the Nixon Years
Chapter 8: A Voice in the Darkness: Preserving Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty
Chapter 9: A Perfect Victory: Revitalizing NATO
Chapter 10: Saving the Reagan Presidency: A Leader Regains the Nation’s Trust
Chapter 11: Reimagining the World: CSIS in the Post-Cold War Era
Chapter 12: Triumphs & Tragedies: CSPC, 9/11, and the Iraq War
Chapter 13: The Art of National Renewal: Science, Education and Infrastructure

Epilogue

Features

- A warning that America is in danger of losing its strategic direction and sense of common purpose
- Early lessons in strategy as a West Point cadet and a soldier
- Learning in the crucible of leadership that was the Korean War
- Mastering strategy and co-founding the Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Dark days in Vietnam and the Nixon years
- Institution building at NATO and at Radio Free Europe
- Saving the presidency of Ronald Reagan and winning the Cold War
- Assessing the triumphs and tragedies of the post-Cold War era
- Pursuing national renewal through science and education
- Applying the lessons of history to regain American exceptionalism.