William Inbodenis executive director of the Clements Center for National Security and associate professor of Public Policy and History at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, both at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to academia, he worked for fifteen years as a policymaker in Washington, DC, and overseas, including senior positions with the State Department and the National Security Council in the George W. Bush administration. A graduate of Stanford University, he earned his doctorate at Yale. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and his commentary has appeared in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, TheWeekly Standard, World, NPR, CNN, Sky News, and the BBC.
“[A] deeply informed and gracefully written account…. [Inboden]
makes vividly clear how Reagan conducted the Cold War while
contending with a host of other harrowing foreign policy issues….
Superbly invokes the peril and uncertainty of the era.”—The
Washington Post
“William Inboden’s masterly diplomatic history The Peacemaker:
Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink reveals the
qualities that made Reagan an extraordinary president who
established the conditions for the collapse of Soviet communism…
this comprehensive and judicious book shows what is possible when a
president understands the symmetry of American interests and
American ideals.”—The Wall Street Journal
"William Inboden has produced the definitive account of how Ronald
Reagan negotiated a peaceful end to the Cold War... [a] masterly
work."—National Review
“Masterful… Inboden’s book should be regarded as the definitive
history of American foreign policy in the 1980s for years to
come.”—The Critic
“The Reagan foreign policy deserves a detailed history, and Inboden
was the right person to write it.”—City Journal
“[A] rich and superbly crafted narrative. The Peacemaker deserves
to take its place among the canon of preeminent Reagan
literature.”—The Washington Free Beacon
“An important book.”—War On the Rocks
“Inboden delivers an expert account of the political and diplomatic
events of the 1980s… A well-researched study that will produce
further debate about the Reagan era and the Cold War.”—Kirkus
“Inboden offers blow-by-blow accounts of foreign-policy crises and
melodramatic infighting among Reagan administration officials while
shaping a lucid, engrossing narrative from the chaos.… a
stimulating case for the 40th president as a serious, far-sighted
statesman.”—Publishers Weekly
“A luminous examination of one of the most consequential yet
elusive figures in modern U.S. and world history. Years in the
making and based on a vast array of sources, The Peacemaker is a
richly textured work of broad scope and deep analytical power.
Critics no less than supporters of Reagan and his foreign policies
should read Inboden’s provocative, absorbing book.”—Fredrik
Logevall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Embers of War
“William Inboden’s The Peacemaker makes the strongest case yet for
Reagan as a successful grand strategist. Clearly written,
thoroughly researched, full of fresh information, this
comprehensive account will shape all future studies of the role the
United States played in ending the Cold War.”—John Lewis Gaddis,
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of George F. Kennan: An American Life
and On Grand Strategy
“William Inboden has written a remarkable, singular book on Ronald
Reagan's foreign policy and, specifically, on his determination
from the outset of his presidency to be a peacemaker even as he
pursued the collapse of the Soviet Union. Inboden's careful
documentation and analysis of how Reagan developed and implemented
this dual and seemingly paradoxical strategy will confound both the
left and the right today, just as did Reagan while he was
president. Imboden makes a compelling case that Reagan—criticized
by the left as a warmonger, by the right as too soft, and by most
of the foreign policy establishment as naive, unrealistic and
ill-informed—was in fact an extraordinarily successful grand
strategist in pursuit of his twin goals. And deeply committed
to avoiding a nuclear holocaust. The Peacemaker is an important
contribution to understanding Reagan's foreign policy and is, at
the same time, a great read.”—Robert M. Gates, CIA deputy director,
1982-1989, Secretary of Defense, 2006-2011, and #1 New York Times
bestselling author of Duty: Memoir of a Secretary at War
“[A] mesmerizing book… so easy to pick up and keep reading, so
hard to put down…[an] impressive range of the archival, oral and
published sources that buttress every chapter.”—Paul Kennedy,
New York Times bestselling author of Engineers of Victory
“William Inboden has made a major contribution to our understanding
of the Reagan presidency and the twilight of the Cold War era.
Meticulously researched, vividly detailed, crisply paced, and
judiciously argued, The Peacemaker paints a compelling portrait of
a president with deep (often religiously grounded) convictions,
steadfast purpose, and surprisingly deft diplomatic skills.
Inboden’s account has persuaded even this initially skeptical
reader to re-think Reagan’s foreign-policy record and give him his
due as a visionary architect of the Cold War’s conclusion. A
landmark study in the character and consequence of transformative
leadership.”—David M. Kennedy, Professor of History Emeritus,
Stanford University, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Freedom
From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945
“A timely reminder of Ronald Reagan’s strategy for advancing peace
through strength in a world where, as he famously said: ‘A nuclear
war cannot be won and must never be fought.’”—Graham
Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard
University, and author of Destined for War: Can America and China
Escape Thucydides Trap?
“President Reagan’s commitment to negotiated surrender of the
Soviet Union entailed turning their strengths into liabilities
while revivifying America’s economy, military, alliances, and
confidence, integrating power and diplomacy. This landmark book
provides a long-overdue reconsideration of grand strategy in the
Reagan Administration, casting light on the degree of difficulty
associated with reviving the geopolitical fortunes of the free
world. It also reveals the centrality of religious faith in
President Reagan’s worldview. William Inboden has achieved
something wonderful in conjuring the past so skillfully with this
excellent book.”—Kori Schake, American Enterprise Institute, author
of Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American
Hegemony
“Ronald Reagan was one of the most consequential presidents in US
history. And this is the most consequential book yet written on his
foreign policy. There is no better guide than William Inboden to
the remarkable turn of events that ended the Cold War—and Reagan’s
unique role in bringing them about.”—Hal Brands, author of The
Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us about Great-Power
Rivalry Today
“William Inboden has given us the definitive account of Ronald
Reagan's greatest contribution to world history: his strategy to
obtain a negotiated surrender from Soviet leadership that would end
the Cold War with a decisive American victory. The Peacemaker is
both gripping and meticulously researched. Inboden has dramatically
enhanced our understanding of the president who saved America while
bringing freedom to millions worldwide.”—Rep. Mike Gallagher
“William Inboden has written the book on Ronald Reagan’s national
security policy. As Americans stare down the possibility of a
Beijing-led 21st century, we would do well to learn from Ronald
Regan. Taking office during a time of anxiety and doubt not unlike
our own, Reagan defeated Soviet communism and enlarged the free
world. Reagan navigated hard choices, fierce criticism, political
divisions, and the constant threat of nuclear destruction to win
the Cold War and leave a legacy that endures today. Like no author
before, William Inboden rekindles America’s familiar story with
deft prose, a gripping narrative, and new insights in every chapter
of this definitive account.”—Sen. Ben Sasse
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