---
product_id: 52160563
title: "The War State: The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite, 1945-1963"
brand: "michael swanson"
price: "€ 42.32"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.fr/products/52160563-the-war-state-the-cold-war-origins-of-the-military
store_origin: FR
region: France
---

# The War State: The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite, 1945-1963

**Brand:** michael swanson
**Price:** € 42.32
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** The War State: The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite, 1945-1963 by michael swanson
- **How much does it cost?** € 42.32 with free shipping
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The War State: The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite, 1945-1963

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Read it
  

*by K***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 28, 2023*

If you wanted to know how the world and the US got into the pickle they're in now, this is the book. Eerily omniscient considering the Ukraine situation now.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A Clear Explanation and Analysis of Where We Are
  

*by J***K on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 31, 2014*

Mike Swanson is a former hedge fund operator and currently a stock market guru. Surprisingly, his degrees are not in business, but History. He has written a very interesting, clear, and complete history of America as a "War State" from WWII to the present.The general theme is that the "military-industrial complex" has hijacked the government for decades and has sabotaged our economy whether intentionally or through carefree greed. Swanson, as befitting a former graduate student in History, has done an immense amount of research. He reveals some amazing facts regarding the "cold war" and the Complex's ability to diminish the Presidency while increasing the power of the Permanent Bureaucracy. It has managed to change the way America thinks of itself to a model unthinkable to the Founding Fathers. Along the way in this narrative you can see many similarities to the extinct empires of old.While Truman and Eisenhower were aware of the risk, they had little power to combat the big money flowing from the defense establishment into Congress and general elections. As a result, although Eisenhower warned of the risks, they did little about it. If there is a hero in this book, it is JFK. Having been misled by the military and CIA regarding Cuba, he went around them to come up with a diplomatic solution which years later led to detente. Shortly thereafter, he was assassinated. It makes you think when you see whom he aggravated.His military advisers and those connected with the Complex mostly wanted to nuke Cuba and seemed oblivious to our losses. (Of course this is true of all our wars where the old seem little concerned by the young being taken off the board). Swanson's research into the recently opened Russian archives provides fascinating material on Kruschev and how the Russians perceived their threat from the U.S. Meanwhile, the Complex diligently pursued homeland propaganda to keep Americans in a heightened fear of Russia. Sort of tragically, we hear of the call to close a non-existent "missile gap" and calls for an absurd number of nuclear weapons - it's doubtful we needed tens of thousands of H-Bombs.All in all, this is a terrific book.Nevertheless, I have a few quibbles. First, I think the Complex, including DuPont and the Rockefeller and Morgan interests existed before WWII and were highly instrumental in getting us into WWI and the small wars between WWI and WWII.Second, as shown by Russia's own problems controlling the military complex there, it appears that an economy needs a huge defense complex to ensure full employment. In Russia's case, they went over the tipping point and dissolved (and, as Swanson points out, we might be next).Third, aside from saying the current state of affairs is disastrous; there is no proposal to solve the problem except to vote for change. We know how well that works when you have a propagandized and fearful populace. Also, with such a huge bureaucracy, and Complex, how do you handle it's shrinkage without sinking the economy? They need to be re-tasked, but that is easier said than done and Swanson makes no suggestions.Fourth, the book essentially ends with Kennedy and gives short or no shrift to Lyndon Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, and even Obama - all of whom, despite their varying rhetoric, appear to be in the Complex's pocket. In fact Johnson pioneered a new stage of war finance. He believed in a war with no obvious costs to the people. For instance, unlike in WWI, WWII, and Korea, there was no increased taxation of the rich, or excess profits taxes on those benefitting from the war. You can guess what this did for our deficit, but it made permanent war more acceptable to the people. The costs are there, but hidden.Fifth, perhaps because of his own participation in the world of finance, Swanson says almost nothing about the complicity of big finance in the problem, except to mention the huge participation of investment bankers, and Yale "bonesmen" on the more problematic side of the corridors of power.Quibbles aside, I love this book and recommend it to anyone who seeks to understand what has really moved America over the last 70 years. The notes and bibliography are also excellent. This is a job well done by a good historian outside the mainstream.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Good Overview Of The Cold War
  

*by J***O on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 10, 2018*

This book provides a good overview of the so called Cold War I thought.I read this book as part of my ongoing research about the assassination of President Kennedy. At this point in my research I need to move past the nuts and bolts of the assassination like how many times JFK was shot and things like that. Those aren't the most important questions. The important issues are who wanted John Kennedy dead and why and how were they able to do something like that. There had to be some major reasons why they would commit such a monumental crime. And those reasons are revealed in books like this somewhere.When I say 'they' I mean the Military Industrial Complex. I have no doubt that John Kennedy was stabbed in the back by treasonous elements within his own country. It's hard for me to tell how extensive this conspiracy really went and into what areas of the Military Industrial Complex. The CIA and the Joint Chiefs Of Staff are on the suspect list though. There was no love lost between President Kennedy and the military and intelligence establishments. Mr. Swanson tells how Robert Kennedy was concerned that the military brass might kill his brother during the ominous Cuban Missile Crisis.Some of those generals like Curtis 'Bombs Away' Lemay lost their marbles during World II I think. Lemay didn't seem to understand what nuclear weapons really are. Lemay seemed to speak about the use of nuclear weapons in World War II terms like they were just another type of bomb.Near the end of the book Mr. Swanson mentions some things Jackie Kennedy said her husband John was planning to do:1. Attend a peace summit in Moscow.2. Remove J. Edgar Hoover as the director of the FBI.3. Replace Dean Rusk in the State Department.4. Get control of the government's policy in Vietnam.That list right there is an excellent starting point for understanding some of the many reasons why the War State wanted John Kennedy dead.Mr. Swanson talks about an important government directive called NSC-68. This National Security Council directive labelled any country that refused to bow to the will of the United States a communist sympathizer. And any country that got on that list was then subject to the CIA's evil machinations.Some authors such as the great Fletcher Prouty felt the entire Cold War was a myth that was fabricated by the War State to justify their own existence.For me the assassination of President Kennedy and the quagmire in Vietnam confirm that hypothesis. Those are two historical realities which indicate that the War State had flown off the rails.
  
JFK: The CIA, Vietnam, and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy







  
  
    
  
JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters







  
  
    
  
The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government







  
  
    
  
The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War







  
  
    
  
The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ







  
  
    
  
The Dark Side of Lyndon Baines Johnson







  
  
    
  
Countdown to Darkness: The Assassination of President Kennedy Volume II (Volume 2)







  
  
    
  
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years







  
  
    
  
Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer, and Their Vision for World Peace: Third Edition







  
  
    
  
Ufo...Contact from Planet Iarga

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*Last updated: 2026-01-25*