Major argument and methodology -- Main thesis -- Other patterns and themes -- Regional perspectives -- Post-9/11 thoughts -- From World War II to the Cold War: the Truman years, 1945-52 -- The expanding empire under Eisenhower, 1953-60 -- The Kennedy-Johnson idealist extensions, 1961-8 -- The Nixon-Ford realist consolidations, 1969-76 -- Jimmy Carter's human rights pause, 1977-80 -- Ronald Reagan : the last cold warrior, 1981-8 -- The post-Cold War era : Bush, Clinton, and the search for new themes, 1989-2000 -- George W. Bush and the "War on Terror"