America Can Win: The Case for Military Reform

After serving as George McGovern's campaign manager in the 1972 presidential election, Hart entered the Colorado senate campaign in 1974. An upset victory set the young, dashing idealist on a course for national leadership. To the suprise of many this presumed dove, who had just spent the past several years of his life arguing against US intervention in Vietnam, turned his attention to war making. He created the Bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Military Reform which dealt with such neglected issues as military doctrine, personnell retention, and unit structure. Sensational issues like $1,000 toilet seats may have gotten the headlines but it was the obsession with obscurity that ultimately made the difference. Hart personally sought out inconoclasts in the ranks like John Boyd and Pierre Spreye and brought their ideas to the forefront over the objection of Pentagon brass. This book, written prior to the 1988 debacle, is in part the dramatic story of those visionaries who overcame the resistance and inertia of the military establisment to create a lean, mean fighting machine. It is also part blueprint for finishing the job. This book is indispensable to military history buffs and is still relevant today thanks to the oblivious, foot dragging, poll watching Bill Clinton. What a sad contrast.