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Foreword
No other aspect of a nation's political health is as important as the relationship between its government and military. At the most basic level, the necessity of protecting the country from external and internal threats must be balanced by the obligation to preserve fundamental civil liberties. The United States is unique among nations, for it has successfully maintained civilian control of its military establishment, doing so from a fundamental principle institutionalized in its Constitution and embraced by its citizens. The United States has thus avoided the military coup that elsewhere has always meant the end of representative government and the extinguishing of individual freedom. The American military is the servant of citizens, not their master.
This series presents the work of eminent scholars to explain as well as assess civil-military relations in U.S. history. The American tradition of a military controlled by civilians is venerable-George Washington established it when he accepted his commission from the Continental Congress in 1775-but we will see how military leaders have not always been sanguine about abdicating important decisions to those they regard as inexperienced amateurs. And while disagreements between the government and the military become more likely during wars, there is more to this subject than the institutional arrangements of subordination and obedience that mark the relationship of government authorities and the uniformed services. The public's evolving perception of the military is also a central part of this story. In these volumes we will see explored the fine line between dissent and loyalty in war and peace and how the government and the armed forces have balanced civil liberties against national security. From the years of the American Revolution to the present, the resort to military justice has always been an option for safeguarding domestic welfare, but it has always been legally controversial and generally unpopular.
The United States relies on civilians to serve as most of its warriors during major conflicts, and civilian appreciation of things military understandably changes during such episodes. Opinions about the armed services transform accordingly, usually from casual indifference to acute concern. And through it all, military and civilian efforts to sustain popular support for the armed forces and mobilize enthusiasm for its operations have been imperative, especially when the military has been placed in the vague role of peacekeeper far from home for extended periods. The changing threats that America has confronted throughout its history have tested its revered traditions of civil-military relations, yet Americans have met even the most calamitous challenges without damaging those traditions. The most successful representative democracy in the world has defended itself without losing its way. We are hopeful that the volumes in this series will not only explain why but will also help to ensure that those vital traditions Americans rightly celebrate will endure.
David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, General Editors
Volumes in Series
The American Revolution by Vikki Vikkers
The War of 1812 by Reginald C. Stuart
The Military and Native Americans: Indian Removal and Indian Wars before the Civil War by Robert Wettemann
The Mexican-American War by John Pinheiro
The Civil War: Northern Civil-Military Relations by Charles Hubbard
Military Necessity: Civil-Military Relations in the Confederacy by Paul D. Escott
Civil Military Relations on the Frontier and Beyond, 1865-1917 by Charles A. Byler
Civil-Military Relations during the First World War by Nancy Gentile Ford
World War II by Brian Waddell
The Korean War by Burton Kauffman
A Clash of Cultures: Civil-Military Relations During the Vietnam War by Orrin Schwab