Research Catalog

Title

Uncommon cause : a life at odds with convention / by General George Lee Butler, United States Air Force, Retired.

Author

Butler, George Lee

Publication

• Denver, Colorado : Outskirts Press, [2016]
• ©2016

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

2 volumes (x, 406 pages, 25 unnumbered plates; iii, 468 pages, 34 unnumbered plates) : illustrations, portraits; 23 cm.

Summary

• "Join Lee Butler on his profound intellectual journey from Army brat to 4-star general commanding U.S. strategic nuclear forces to advocate of the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide. Volume I offers an unsparing account of his unorthodox professional path in the United States Air Force, including confrontations with his superiors over policy and ethics that constantly put his career at risk. It also recounts the toll his military career had on his wife, who moved thirty times, and his two children, each of whom went to ten different schools. Volume II recounts his role in the events surrounding the end of the Cold War, as he articulated a new national military strategy and restructured the nation's strategic nuclear forces. He includes a gripping account of the power struggle between the civilian leadership at the highest levels of government, where nuclear weapons policy emanated, and senior military officers responsible for translating that guidance into war plans for employing 10,000 weapons against some 12,000 targets. He then describes his post-retirement global campaign to persuade nations to remove their nuclear weapons from alert, dismantle them and eventually eliminate them. Striking a deeply emotional chord among supporters and critics alike, his highly publicized efforts were both praised and condemned."--Publisher's description.
• This engaging autobiography traces the life of a shy, insular lad, born into an Army family with roots in the rural South, who gained an unlikely acceptance to the fledgling Air Force Academy and graduated in 1961, survived a career punctuated by an unrelenting series of personal and professional crises, and took command of the Air Force's strategic nuclear forces just as the Cold War was drawing to a close. Seizing the moment, General Lee Butler won Presidential approval for a merger of the bombers and land-based missiles in his charge with the Navy's ballistic missile bearing submarines. This long overdue centralization of command authority also set the stage for a wholesale reorganization of the Air Force's conventional combat and support aviation, sweeping changes to the nuclear war plan that eliminated thousands of targets, and a concomitant reduction in the size of the nuclear arsenal. These initiatives, in turn, saved tens of billions of dollars, helped build trust with his Soviet counterparts, and facilitated advances in nuclear arms control. More importantly, by the time his military career ended, General Butler had developed a profound concern regarding the intolerable dangers posed by the vast nuclear weapon enterprises in the United States and the Soviet Union. From his vantage point of unparalleled experience, he saw the inherent folly of "Mutual Assured Destruction," premised on a host of assumptions that he came to see as largely unwarranted. Even so, he entered retirement in 1994 convinced that the close of the Cold War era would also bring a renewed urgency to ending reliance on nuclear weapons as instruments of military power. That faith was quickly shattered by the political upheaval in both Washington and Moscow. The rekindling of distrust and loss of momentum in arms control prompted General Butler to return to public life. His eloquent appeal for the elimination of nuclear weapons created a global sensation, eliciting praise and condemnation in equal measure, marking the start of a fascinating campaign that laid bare the powerful sway these weapons hold over present and aspiring members of the nuclear club. While the most galvanizing chapters of General Butler's narrative speak to his role in reshaping U.S. defense policy in response to the collapse of the Soviet Union, it remains faithful to his larger purpose: a retrospective, one that often reads like a novel. He tells his story with unsparing candor, leavened with a personal touch and a stream of anecdotes both humorous and poignant. He writes from a family perspective, a tribute to his wife, Dorene, and children, Brett and Lisa, to whom he dedicates his book. The family knew well the hardships and sacrifices of military life, including constant uprooting; their son and daughter attended ten schools in twelve years. Dorene's devotion mirrored that of her husband, and her role, documented in these pages with great affection, was central to his career. One reviewer distilled perfectly the essence of their captivating relationship, "This is above all a love story."

Alternative Title

Life at odds with convention

Subject

• Butler, George Lee
• Generals > United States > Biography
• Cold War > Biography
• Nuclear weapons
• Deterrence (Strategy)
• Nuclear disarmament
• Généraux > États-Unis > Biographies
• Guerre froide > Biographies
• Armes nucléaires
• Dissuasion (Stratégie)
• Désarmement nucléaire
• Generals
• United States

Genre/Form

Biographies.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

• Volume 1: The formative years -- Volume 2: The transformative years.
• Volume I: The formative years. About the author -- A wife for all seasons -- A special acknwledgement -- Other acknowledgements -- Foreword -- Part One: Apprentice. Pensive author -- Country boy -- Family member -- Army brat (1939-1955) -- Student, Washington and Lee High School (1955-1957) -- Air Force Academy cadet (1957-1961) -- Student pilot (1961-1962) -- Instructor pilot (1962-1964) -- Olmsted scholar (19634-1967) -- Fighter pilot (1967-1968) -- General's aide (1968-1969) -- Assistant professor (1969-1972) -- Airlift pilot (1972-1973) -- Student, Armed Forces Staff College (1973-1974) -- Action officer (1974-1977) -- Bomber pilot (1977-1979) -- Chief, Staff Group (1979-1981) -- Part Two: Executive. 320th Bomb Wing COmmander (1981-1983) -- 96th Bomb Wing (1983-1984) -- Inspector General (1984-1986) -- Air Staff Director (1986-1987) -- Joint Staff Deputy Director (1987-1989) -- Glossary -- Appendices: Todes, trends and tasks: Remarks to the National War College -- Index.
• Volume II: The transformative years. Foreword -- Masters of the nuclear enterprise -- Joint Staff Director -- Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Air Command -- Commander-in-Chief, United States Strategic Command -- President, Kiewit Energy Group. Part three: Humanist. Private citizen, public servant -- Reluctant activist -- President, Second Chance Foundation -- Seeker of greater self awareness -- Afterword -- Afterthoughts -- Glossary -- Appendices -- Index.

ISBN

• 9781478709657
• 1478709650
• 9781478751731
• 1478751738

OCLC

• 953733289
• ocn953733289
• SCSB-14642159

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library