MAJ Ben Griffin, the Chief of the Military History Division at the USMA, discusses his new book, Reagan’s War Stories: A Cold War Presidency with Dr. Edward Salo. Dr. Griffin examines the popular fiction that Reagan consumed during his life, and how that influenced his worldview. Griffin argues that the novels of Tom Clancy, Louis L’Amour, and science fiction influenced Reagan’s view of 1980s geopolitics. Dr. Griffin also contends that Reagan used stories as a way to present his political viewpoints to the American public and the world. This episode was edited and produced by Jared Samuelson.
Links:
1. Reagan's War Stories - A Cold War Presidency, by Benjamin Griffin, USNI Press, September 15, 2022.
2. “Red Storm Rising’: Tom Clancy Novels and the Cult of National Security.”, by Walter L. Hixson, Diplomatic History 17, no. 4 (1993): 599–613.
3. "Tom Clancy And Ronald Reagan - Two Of America's Greatest Defenders".
2022. The Heritage Foundation.
4. “Reagan, Reykjavik, and Strategic Imagination,” by Thomas Ricks, Foreign Policy, November 2017)
5. Sea Control 169 - Larry Bond & Dr. Sebastian Bruns on Harpoon, Red Storm Rising and Tom Clancy, CIMSEC, April 15, 2020.