The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made

"The Wise Men: Six Friends and The World They Made," is an extraordinary, thought-provoking, and captivating look at the six men, most of whom were graduates of the famous Groton school and later graduates of Yale, Harvard, and Princeton who helped shape American foreign policy for way over fifty years. Often working in the private sector as bankers, Wall Street Insiders, and Railroad Tycoons they immediately responded to the call whenever their government and president sought their advice and council... Taking government jobs as Secretary of State, Ambassadors, Secretary of War, and National Security Advisor... Working for Presidents FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, and Ronald Reagan. They differed in political philosophy, some leaning left while others leaned right; yet together they were the chief architectures of the Marshal Plan, convincing President Truman about the importance of rebuilding Western Europe after World War 2, despite Congressional and public reluctance to the idea, keeping lines of communication open with the Soviet Union, despite its aggressive takeover of Eastern Europe, building the alliance that came to be called NATO, and which was a major deterrant to Soviet aggression and fighting Communism wherever it spread leading us into two unpopular wars in Korea and Vietnam.The six men, Averell Harriman, Dean Acheson, George Kennan, Robert Lovett, John McCloy and Charles Bohlen are hardly household names, even to individuals who think of themselves as knowledgable about American history, but their contributions to American greatness and America's status as a World Power is undeniable and as a nation we should be thankful for their unselfish duty to country... even if at times their philosophy and policies lead us down the wrong path.A must read. Highly recommend.

After reading this fully engrossed story of these great patriots,one has to be depressed and sad and worried at the state of our democracy.Our politicians are shallow,opportunists ,who for the most part have no moral compass and listen to the rabble and hatred of the mob..This book should be required reading for our college students..then perhaps they will see the light,educate themselves and carry forth the goodness that America once promised and mostly delivered

I'm a fan of both Thomas and Isaacson so I went into this wish really high expectations and this detailed book didn't disappoint. If you've read any of Evan Thomas' books such as " The Very Best Men: The Daring Early Years of the CIA " or " Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 " then you will be familiar with his style of tracing the lives of several characters in one book. I have always enjoyed his style of biography that shifts from character to character in different chapters. Great read.

As happens frequently in biographies, the authors fell in love with their subjects; praise for the 6 main members of the Cold War "Establishment" far outweighs criticism. Averell Harriman and Dean Acheson get the most thorough attention among the 6 subjects, and rightfully so.I took away one star because the authors largely see the foreign policies of Republican presidents Ike, Nixon and Reagan through the eyes of the Wise Men, instead of objectively. Only when Nixon "comes to his senses" and asks Acheson and Harriman for advice does he receive some praise. Ike's foreign policy era is portrayed as one to be endured until the Wise Men are allowed back in the inner circle under JFK. Their total disdain for Reagan is clear; no mention of the reasons for end of the Cold War and Reagan's active part in it.However, the 5-star section of the book is clearly the LBJ-Vietnam era. Wow, they really can't stand LBJ as a human being and politician, but his (and the Wise Men's) agony over the Vietnam war is written about almost lyrically. The authors convey the complicated global factors of the war in an admirable, even-handed, almost sympathetic way.

I think this is a fine piece of work, but I'm a retired professor of history. Still, I hope laymen will pick up this book because Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas have crafted a compelling and eminently readable narrative of how a relatively stable world order was created following the utter devastation of the second world war. My first lecture in every class I taught was devoted to the importance of a knowledge of our history for every American citizen.We can't determine where we are going unless we know how we got here.

All came from the same ideological sourcing. Wall Street trained, Ivy League universities. Prone to go against popular opinion when it came to world politics. Matching were their bosses the president's, who fleshed out the end results covering some five decades. Nelson Weller

It was an excellent review of how 6 men influenced the foreign policy of the US from World War II into the late 1980's and early 1990's. They were able to provide an understanding of the world including Europe, USSR and Southeast Asia. Often they did not agree with themselves but they always treated each other respectfully and appreciated the differing viewpoints. They were men who were not out for personal glory themselves, They served the nation because they were patriots. A very interesting book.

This is a very enjoyable history of the origins of the cold war and national security policy making into the 70s. It's much better at covering the period between 1944 to the mid 50s than it is for the later stuff, partly because the protagonists had a more central role earlier and then found themselves on the periphery. Discussing Vietnam policy making through the experiences of the six leaves a lot undiscussed, but it isn't bad.The early chapters are not particularly interesting, except from the fact that they provide a vivid and surprising insight into the world of the east-coast aristocracy (1st half 20C), which is probably necessary for a full appreciation of what follows.Apart from the less informative later chapters, the only other grievance that I can cite is the fact one does get the impression that the authors have been a little less critical of their subjects (and JFK) than is reasonable. It is also perhaps too harsh on LBJ.

Everyone should read this book - how America & Israel shaped and own the financial markets

A must read for the student of the Cold War

A good walkthrough recent American history

Eye opening read