By Lorna S. Jaffe, et al. Gives a historical perspective on the development of the chairmanship as an institution as well as on the Chairman’s an d Vice Chairman’s role in the formation and implementation of our national security policy. Sheds light on civil-military relations at the highest level during the Cold War and its immediate aftermath. Provides valuable insight into the interaction of individuals, circumstances, and law, which produced the chairmanship as we know it today.

This study of the chairmanship traces the evolution of the position from its World War II origins through the first post-Cold War chairmanship. It sketches the careers of my predecessors from Omar Bradley through Colin Powell and those of the first two Vice Chairmen. In doing so, the book shows how each dealt with a wide variety of political, diplomatic, and military challenges. Its brief accounts of the histories of 'The Tank, ' the Chairman's flag, the Joint Chiefs of Staff badge, and the designation of an official residence for the Chairman provide additional information about the Office of the Chairman. The author think that all who are interested in the institutional development of the US military will find the book instructive.

"This revised fifth edition examines the development of the chairmanship as an institution over the last sixty-seven years. It presents an expanded historical essay and four additional career biographies, with associated updates to the supplementary sections and appendices." --p.vii.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the nation's highest-ranking military officer. He presides over the Joint Chiefs and provides military advice to the civilian leadership. Soon after the JCS came into existence during World War II, Admiral William D. Leahy became its presiding officer. This arrangement continued after the war, with General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower serving briefly after Leahy's departure in early 1949. When the National Security Act of 1947 gave legal sanction to the JCS, it did not authorize a chairman. However, service disagreements over roles, missions, and the allocation of funds to meet the growing threat from the Soviet Union led Congress to create the position of Chairman of the JCS in 1949. General Omar N. Bradley, USA, became the first Chairman on 16 August of that year. Although law, executive action, and practice extended the Chairman's role during three subsequent decades, his authority remained restricted, and he served essentially as the first among equals on the JCS. In 1986, however, believing that the JCS system required fundamental reform, Congress enacted the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act, which greatly expanded the Chairman's authority and responsibilities.

The transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stands as one of the most dangerous periods in American history. But as #1 internationally bestselling author Bob Woodward and acclaimed reporter Robert Costa reveal for the first time, it was far more than just a domestic political crisis. Woodward and Costa interviewed more than 200 people at the center of the turmoil, resulting in more than 6,000 pages of transcripts—and a spellbinding and definitive portrait of a nation on the brink. This classic study of Washington takes readers deep inside the Trump White House, the Biden White House, the 2020 campaign, and the Pentagon and Congress, with eyewitness accounts of what really happened. Intimate scenes are supplemented with never-before-seen material from secret orders, transcripts of confidential calls, diaries, emails, meeting notes and other personal and government records, making Peril an unparalleled history. It is also the first inside look at Biden’s presidency as he began his presidency facing the challenges of a lifetime: the continuing deadly pandemic and millions of Americans facing soul-crushing economic pain, all the while navigating a bitter and disabling partisan divide, a world rife with threats, and the hovering, dark shadow of the former president.