Drawing the line with the past : Munich's influence on American foreign policy in the Korean and Gulf crises.

Abstract

Present Harry Truman relied heavily on lessons of the past when he resolved to “draw the line in Korea” in 1950. Four decades later, President George Bush resorted to history on deciding to “ draw the line in the sand”. What stood out was their use of the Munich analogy. Did the presidents, at opposite ends of the Cold War, use the analogy to formulate policy or to justify decisions already made?