"Geoffrey Jensen brings clarity to our understanding of the political processes that fundamentally altered the racial composition of the American military. Black men had always served in American wars, but beginning with the Civil War, their service had been in segregated units. The US military was not integrated until after World War II. During the nearly thirty years under examination in this book, racial integration and reform of the military needed to occur to protect the nation's image during a largely ideological struggle. America's racial woes were grist for the propaganda mills in Moscow. But integration of the armed forces needed more than just Cold War justification. It required the willingness of the president to lead from the top. Military integration occurred as the result of the longstanding tradition of Congress to allow the executive branch to control the staffing and composition of the military. Jensen contends that understanding the action, or inaction, of US presidents and presidential administrations matters equally as much as understanding the efforts of those outside of Washington and the West Wing, as it was the presidents who were the ones dictating the pace, whether rapid or gradual, from with which reform was carried out"-- Provided by publisher.
