ALAN B. AND CHARNA LARKIN SYMPOSIUM ON THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY

Publications

 

Selling War
in a Media Age

Editors, Kenneth Osgood and
Andrew K. Frank

“Asks whether it is ever possible for a president to nudge the nation toward war without lying. And if he does, is it sometimes all right? Most of these authors would vote no.” – Columbia Journalism Review

“It was a pleasant and poignant surprise to find an afterword written by the late David Halberstam, one of the best reporter-historians of the last century. It may be his last major piece of writing. . . . It is an appropriate way to wind up the collection, because his words are a sobering reminder that the press is important yet not all-powerful in a democracy. Presidents long ago mastered the tools at their disposal to achieve policy ends.” – American Journalism

“American history at its best—insightful and revealing about the past, yet at the same time illuminating the vital questions of our own day.” – Jeffrey A. Engel, Texas A&M University

Written in a lively and accessible style, Selling War in a Media Age is a fascinating, thought-provoking, must-read volume that reveals the often-brutal ways that the goal of influencing public opinion has shaped how American presidents have approached the most momentous duty of their office: waging war.