20th Century American History - Relations - General & Miscellaneous, U.S. Politics & Government - 1945 - 1989, U.S. Politics & Government - 1945 to Present, U.S. Diplomatic Relations - History

The American century

Name: The American century
Author: Donald White
ISBN: 9780300057218

by Donald White

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Overview

Why did the United States assume a preeminent world role after World War II, and why has that role declined since the Vietnam War? This book—the first intellectual and cultural history of America's evolving status as a world power in the twentieth century—addresses these questions by examining Americans' perceptions of themselves and of the world during this period. Drawing on the writings of leading intellectuals, speeches by politicians, popular periodicals, movies and television, opinion polls, and dozens of other sources, Donald W. White explores what Americans thought about power in the twentieth century, how they evaluated America's expanding world role and the confrontations of the Cold War, and how they perceived the erosion of this unprecedented accumulation of power in the years after the Vietnam War.