Deceit on the Road to War: Presidents, Politics, and American Democracy

(Cornell University Press, 2015)

Book Forum
December 8, 2015
1:00PM to 2:30PM EST
Hayek Auditorium
Featuring the author John M. Schuessler, Associate Professor, Department of Strategy, Air War College; with comments by Elizabeth Saunders, Assistant Professor, Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University; and Trevor Thrall, Associate Professor, School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs, George Mason University, and Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; moderated by Benjamin H. Friedman, Research Fellow in Defense and Homeland Security Studies, Cato Institute.
Liberal democracy improves foreign policy. That, at least, is the view of most political scientists and the idea behind the U.S. Constitution’s assignment of war powers to both executive and legislative branches. The need for public consent, the theory goes, prevents leaders from launching reckless wars. Divided power and a free press generate debate that exposes bad ideas. U.S. politics inhibits foolish wars.

In a new book, Deceit on the Road to War: Presidents, Politics, and American Democracy, John Schuessler darkens that story. The need for broad support in democracies, he argues, also encourages leaders to deceive the public. Examining the U.S. debate about entry into World War II, the Vietnam War, and the recent Iraq War, Schuessler finds that presidents used information advantages over the public to manipulate it into war. The result was good in World War II, but this history suggests that democracies, at least this one, might not be so wise about starting wars.