TAYLOR, Maxwell D.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Uncertain Trumpet. First edition, inscribed by the author on the half-title "To Alvin J. Sands with the sincere regards of the author. Maxwell D. Taylor 20 Oct. 1978". The four-star general Maxwell D. Taylor commanded the Screaming Eagles in the Second World War, and along with Robert McNamara, was crucial in the early escalation of the Vietnam War."Taylor achieved great notoriety from 1955 to 1959 as army chief of staff and a leading critic of national defense policy. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's New Look strategy emphasized nuclear weapons at the expense of conventional forces. Taylor sought to preserve for the army a central role through a national military program that emphasized conventional forces armed with tactical nuclear weapons. He also challenged the president's main concept by arguing that current global politics were likely to produce small, local wars where nuclear weapons were inappropriate. He lost on both issues, although he did block perhaps deeper personnel cuts and secured for the army a role in missile development. Frustrated, he retired when his term ended in June 1959 and spent his last days as a soldier and his first months as a civilian speaking out publicly against administration defense policies. He summarized his views in The Uncertain Trumpet, published in 1960. The book brought Taylor into President John F. Kennedy's inner circle of advisers" (ANB).

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