Overview

As National Security Advisor to President Gerald Ford, advisor to President Ronald Reagan, and as National Security Advisor to President George H. W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft was at the center of the ongoing debate over how to shape American foreign policy in the post-war world. As David F. Schmitz makes clear in his new biography, Scowcroft was a realist in his outlook on American foreign policy and an heir to the Cold War internationalism that had shaped that policy since 1945. During his most important service, as George H. W. Bush's national security advisor, Scowcroft sought to work with like-minded Republicans and Democrats to construct a post-Cold War foreign policy that would provide consistency and stability to American policymaking in a rapidly changing international environment, defend the internationalist position from challenges and criticisms, and buffer the conduct of diplomacy from the turbulence of domestic politics. The type of bi-partisan cooperation and internationalism that marked the pre-Vietnam War years served as Scowcroft's guide to how to defend American interests and promote U.S. values and institutions globally. While not always successful, Scowcroft provided a consistent internationalist voice in the midst of change.

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Reviews

Few figures dominate the landscape of American diplomacy during the Cold War's latter half like Brent Scowcroft, the only man to serve two different Presidents as National Security Advisor. David F. Schmitz captures Scowcroft's cool analysis and prudent realism as no other scholar, reaching back to combine his early writings with a detailed analysis of Scowcroft's day-to-day management of the Cold War's end from his White House office. This brief and accessible biography makes a fine addition to the library of anyone seeking to understand American foreign policy during years of profound change and beyond. -- Jeffrey A. Engel, Kruse '52 Founders Professor, Texas A&M University David Schmitz has written a concise, extremely engaging narrative on the important, albeit underappreciated and understudied, American foreign policymaker, Brent Scowcroft. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in modern U.S. foreign policy. -- Kyle Longley, Snell Family Dean's Distinguished Professor, Arizona State University In this deeply researched book, David Schmitz offers a rich portrait of an important but poorly understood policymaker who has deserved serious attention for a long time. But the book offers much more than biography. Through the lens of Brent Scowcroft's long career, Schmitz deftly analyzes the development of U.S. foreign policy since the Vietnam War. -- Mark A. Lawrence, University of Texas at Austin, author of The Vietnam War: A Concise International History

Few figures dominate the landscape of American diplomacy during the Cold War's latter half like Brent Scowcroft, the only man to serve two different Presidents as National Security Advisor. David F. Schmitz captures Scowcroft's cool analysis and prudent realism as no other scholar, reaching back to combine his early writings with a detailed analysis of Scowcroft's day-to-day management of the Cold War's end from his White House office. This brief and accessible biography makes a fine addition to the library of anyone seeking to understand American foreign policy during years of profound change and beyond.--Jeffrey A. Engel

In this deeply researched book, David Schmitz offers a rich portrait of an important but poorly understood policymaker who has deserved serious attention for a long time. But the book offers much more than biography. Through the lens of Brent Scowcroft's long career, Schmitz deftly analyzes the development of U.S. foreign policy since the Vietnam War.--Mark A. Lawrence

Author Information

David F. Schmitz is the Robert Allen Skotheim Chair of History at Whitman College and the author, most recently, of The Triumph of Internationalism: Franklin D. Roosevelt and a World in Crisis.

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