Book description
Two-time chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard
G. Lugar has been one of the most widely respected foreign policy
experts in Congress for over three decades. In this illuminating
profile, John T. Shaw examines Lugar's approach to lawmaking and
diplomacy for what it reveals about the workings of the Senate and
changes in that institution. Drawing on interviews with Lugar and
other leading figures in foreign policy, Shaw chronicles Lugar's
historic work on nuclear proliferation, arms control, energy, and
global food issues, highlighting the senator's ability to influence
American foreign policy in consequential ways. The book presents
Lugar's career as an example of the role Congress can play in the
shaping of foreign policy in an era of a strong executive branch. It
demonstrates the importance of statesmanship in contemporary American
political life while acknowledging the limitations of this approach to governance.
"[A] well-researched account.... [Shaw] points out weaknesses
in Lugar's career... [and] gives a convincing description of Lugar's
'considerable legislative legacy.'" -Publishers Weekly
John T. Shaw has covered Congress since 1991 as a congressional
correspondent and vice president with Market News International and as
a contributing writer for the Washington Diplomat magazine. He is the
author of The Ambassador: Inside the Life of a Working Diplomat and
Washington Diplomacy: Profiles of People of World Influence. He has
been a Hoover Institution Media Fellow and is a frequent commentator
for C-SPAN and public radio.
