The noted economist and former National Security Advisor shares lessons learned from decades of national policymaking in this insightful memoir.
A trusted advisor to Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson and one of America's leading professors of economic history, W. W. Rostow helped shape the intellectual debate and governmental policies on major economic, political, and military issues from World War II to the dawn of the twenty-first century. In this thought-provoking memoir, Rostow discusses his analysis of-and involvement with-eleven key policy problems. In the process, he demonstrates how ideas flow into concrete action and how actions taken or not taken in the short term actually determine the long run that we call "the future."
Rostow examines such varied issues as using airpower in 1940s Europe; early attempts to end the Cold War; the economic revival of Korea; attempts to control inflation in the 1960s; the Vietnam War; and the challenges posed by declining population in the twenty-first century. In discussing these and other issues, Rostow builds a compelling case for including long-term forces in the making of current policy. He concludes his memoir with provocative reflections on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and on how individual actors shape history.

W. W. Rostow was Rex G. Baker Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at the University of Texas at Austin. His sixty-year career has also included service in the U.S. State Department, and he served as special assistant to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

A trusted advisor to Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson and one of America's leading professors of economic history, W. W. Rostow has helped shape the intellectual debate and governmental policies on major economic, political, and military issues since World War II. In this thought-provoking memoir, he takes a retrospective look at eleven key policy problems with which he has been involved to show how ideas flow into concrete action and how actions taken or not taken in the short term actually determine the long run that we call "the future." The issues that Rostow discusses are these:o The use of air power in Europe in the 1940so Working toward a united Europe during the Cold Waro The death of Joseph Stalin and early attempts to end the Cold Waro Eisenhower's Open Skies policyo The debate over foreign aid in the 1950so The economic revival of Koreao Efforts to control inflation in the 1960so Waiting for democracy in Chinao The Vietnam War and Southeast Asian policyo U.S. urban problems in disadvantaged neighborhoodso The challenges posed by declining population in the twenty-first centuryIn discussing how he and others have worked to meet these challenges, Rostow builds a compelling case for including long-term forces in the making of current policy. He concludes his memoir with provocative reflections on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and on how individual actors shape history.