Keepers of the Keys: A History of the National Security Council from Truman to Bush

by John Prados

Acclaimed historian John Prados tells the astonishing story of how the National Security Council, an obscure department not accountable to Congress, was transformed from a small advisory board under Truman, virtually to supplant the State Department under Nixon, and then to conduct covert, illegal operations under Ronald Reagan. 24 pages of photographs.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Dr. John Prados is an American historian & researcher whose primary areas of specialisation are the history of World War II, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and politico-military affairs generally. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in Political Science (International Relations). Dr. Prados is a senior fellow and project director with the National Security Archive at George Washington University (Washington, D.C.).

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long, dry, detailed, this is a history of the National Security Council from its formation under Truman until the eve of the first Iraq war under Bush. I read it because I've not really known much about the organization despite having heard of it and of its national security advisors since at least the Kennedy administration.

Although an arduous task, I found reading it to be worthwhile, particularly in reference to the Reagan administration and its probable parallels to what may occur during the upcoming Trump presidency. Both of them, Reagan and Trump, were exceptionally lazy and ignorant executives surrounded by right wing idealogues. The result in the Reagan years was a government, often at cross purposes with itself, directed by underlings, a government without a center. Reagan, susceptible to the advice of whoever spoke to him last, was a pawn to the mechanizations of bureaucrats, acting, supposedly, in his name but actually in accord with their own purposes. This, according the Prados, was the institution's low point, contrasted with the relatively well functioning NSC under Eisenhower.

While Keepers of the Keys covers the major events occupying the presidency from 1948 to 1991, most attention is paid to the illegal activities of the Reagan White House as regards the Iran/Contra scandals.