I am intrigued by the comparison of Bush and Chamberlain; both men who convinced themselves they were doing good, both men who made huge foreign policy blunders and stuck to them. Chamberlain turned around after Munich though (it didn't save him)--will Bush? Surely the utility of Churchill for him was that Churchill, though effectively an American figure in modern historical appeal, can be swapped for Lincoln and Washinton as an idol when things get tough. The real european churchill--who of course began appeasement in 1926, of Japan--tends to get forgotten in all this. I've been thinking about this on my blog at www.martinmeenagh.blogspot.com Feel free to comment!
I am intrigued by the comparison of Bush and Chamberlain; both men who convinced themselves they were doing good, both men who made huge foreign policy blunders and stuck to them. Chamberlain turned around after Munich though (it didn't save him)--will Bush? Surely the utility of Churchill for him was that Churchill, though effectively an American figure in modern historical appeal, can be swapped for Lincoln and Washinton as an idol when things get tough. The real european churchill--who of course began appeasement in 1926, of Japan--tends to get forgotten in all this. I've been thinking about this on my blog at www.martinmeenagh.blogspot.com Feel free to comment!