A book’s acknowledgments are rarely sufficient to convey the extent of an author’s debts. I have become ever more conscious of that fact in writing this book. This book draws on research done as far back as 2004–2005, and on ideas that I have been mulling over for several years. It follows that I have racked up a daunting list of intellectual, professional, and personal debts along the way.
I have benefited from the assistance and guidance of archivists far too many to mention, and from the support and wonderful intellectual climate provided by my home institution, the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy. I have equally benefitted from my interaction with individuals who helped me formulate, reconsider, and refine some of the key ideas in this book. An undoubtedly incomplete list includes Colin Dueck, Charles Edel, Eric Edelman, Jeffrey Engel, John Gaddis, Peter Feaver, Bruce Jentleson, Judith Kelley, Bruce Kuniholm, Melvyn Leffler, Peter Mansoor, John Maurer, Williamson Murray, Joshua Rovner, Daniel Sargent, Josh Shifrinson, and James Wilson. I am particularly grateful to Frank Gavin, James Goldgeier, Robert McMahon, and Jeremi Suri, all of whom read the complete manuscript and offered invaluable comments. At Cornell University Press, Michael McGandy offered support along with insightful advice and was, as always, a pleasure to work with.
My greatest debts by far, of course, are owed to my family. Emily, Henry, Annabelle, and Dolly put up with a lot of long hours and authorial absentmindedness as I was researching and composing the book. But they were always unfailingly loving and supportive, and having them in my life has been the greatest inspiration I can imagine. They did more than anyone else to make this book possible. And so it is dedicated, with great love, to them.