For the Common Defense examines the nation’s pluralistic military institutions in both peace and war, the tangled civil-military relations that created the country’s commitment to civilian control of the military, the armed forces’ increasing nationalization and professionalization, and America’s growing reliance on sophisticated technologies spawned by the Industrial Revolution and the Computer and Information Ages. This edition is also a timely reminder that vigilance is indeed the price of liberty but that vigilance has always been—and continues to be—a costly, complex, and contentious undertaking in a world that continually tests America’s willingness and ability to provide for the common defense.
Chapter 1. A Dangerous New World, 1607–1689
Chapter 2. The Colonial Wars, 1689–1763
Chapter 3. The American Revolution, 1763–1783
Chapter 4. Preserving the New Republic’s Independence, 1783–1815
Chapter 5. The Armed Forces and National Expansion, 1815–1860
Chapter 6. The Civil War, 1861–1862
Chapter 7. The Civil War, 1863–1865
Chapter 8. From Postwar Demobilization Toward Great Power Status, 1865–1898
Chapter 9. The Birth of an American Empire, 1898–1902
Chapter 10. Building the Military Forces of a World Power, 1899–1917
Chapter 11. The United States Fights in the “War to End All Wars,” 1917–1918
Chapter 12. Military Policy Between the Two World Wars, 1919–1939
Chapter 14. The United States and World War II: The Road to Victory, 1943–1945
Chapter 17. In Dubious Battle: Vietnam, 1961–1967
Chapter 18. The Lost War: Vietnam, 1968–1975
Chapter 19. The Common Defense and the End of the Cold War, 1976–1993
Chapter 20. World Disorder New and Old, 1993–2001
Chapter 21. Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, 2001–2011
Appendix A. Participation and Losses, Major Wars, 1775–2012
Appendix B. The Armed Forces and National Expansion
Appendix C. The Armed Forces of the Cold War and After
Appendix D. U.S. Troops Stationed Abroad
Appendix E. American Military and Diplomatic Deaths, Terrorist and Military Actions, 1980–2000