Power Wars: The Relentless Rise of Presidential Authority and Secrecy - Softcover

Savage, Charlie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316286591 ISBN 13: 9780316286596

Publisher: Back Bay, 2017

Synopsis

Barack Obama promised change from George W. Bush's global war on terrorism. But the Obama administration used drones to kill suspected militants and vacuumed data on Americans' phone calls. Obama criticized Bush's unilateralism and secrecy, but launched wars without going to Congress and presided over an unprecedented crackdown on leaks.

With extensive reporting, Savage explores how and why Obama and his legal team--an elite, liberal group who vowed to restore the rule of law--end up accused of entrenching the sweeping powers of the post-9/11 security state. If legitimate, the accusation stands to change the legacy of Obama's entire presidency.

About this title

Review:

"Both the most comprehensive and the most engrossing look at how Obama morphed from a candidate beloved by the civil liberties community into what many saw as a continuation of George W. Bush...could not be more timely."--Trevor Timm, The Guardian

"The most essential explanation of modern-day American national security policy.... Anyone who has followed current events on drone strikes, surveillance, and encryption, and other essential issues at the forefront of modern America--and wants the entire inside baseball play-by-play to go with it--will love this book."--Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica

"The book has much broader appeal than to those in the national security law bubble... [Deeply sourced] is an understatement, as Savage reveals the contents of never-before released documents, memos, and internal deliberations across a variety of topics."--Cully Stimson, Lawfare

"It is hard to imagine many journalists capable of writing a book on this topic on the scale, and with the ambition, of this one."--Robert Bauer, Time

"The value that Savage brings to his book is in reporting out how Obama's lawyers, who were often the toughest critics of Bush when they were out of power, wrestled with and ultimately sanctioned this retrenchment."--Eli Lake, Bloomberg View

"The most comprehensive account to date of the Obama administration's approach to national security law and policy-making."--Matthew C. Waxman, Time

Power Wars covers "in intricate detail nearly every major issue in Obama's national security policy: detainees, military commissions, torture, surveillance, secrecy, targeted killings, and war powers. Its behind-the-scenes story will likely stand as the definitive record of Obama's approach to law and national security. ... His main interest is presidential power in its perennial struggle with Congress and the courts. Ultimately, the stakes are high: whether we will continue to have, in John Adams's words, 'government of laws, and not of men.'"--David Luban, The New York Review of Books

"Already classic.... Savage's 700 page book, with access to a staggering 150 current and former top officials, including executive branch lawyers normally terrified of the press, paints a picture like no other."--Yonah Jeremy Bob, The Jerusalem Post

A New York Times Editors' Choice
Named one of the best books of 2015 by ABC News and The Guardian
"Offers a master class in how to think seriously about crucial aspects of the [war on terrorism]. ... comprehensive, authoritative ... anyone truly interested in foreign policy or national security should find it essential and enthralling, thanks to the author's intelligence, objectivity, legwork and literary skill. ... Savage's superb book should stand as an indispensable guide to the debate."--Gideon Rose, New York Times Book Review

Power Wars "will almost certainly stand as the most comprehensive account of the Obama administration's policies, views, theories and bureaucratic battles over national security laws and the legacy of the 2001 attacks. His account is thoughtful and consistently fair-minded... no small achievement."--James Mann, New York Times

Book Description:

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie Savage asks "Has Obama become Bush?" in this deeply reported investigation of the national security state.

About this edition

• Publisher: Back Bay
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0316286591
• ISBN 13: 9780316286596
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 688