Traces the extraordinary influence of Texas warrior culture on American national politics, from the creation myth of the Alamo to the George W. Bush administration's pre-emptive attack policy in the Middle East.
Cowboy politics is in. When George W. Bush announced a new American policy of pre-emptive attack against potential enemies in 2002, he ushered in the triumph of Texas values over the American agenda. This book traces in lucid and engaging style the fascinating influence of the Texas warrior culture from the Alamo to the present day. This is not a history of Texas, but much Texas history is entwined with American national politics. This book locates such diverse phenomena as Cold War politics, the Kennedy assassination, U.S.-Mexican immigration policies, Texas death penalty practices, and recent U.S. Middle East policy in the context of this Alamo attitude.
While the Texas influence has always been strong, and has ebbed and flowed, never has it been stronger, especially as a guiding force in American foreign policy. Today, people around the world perceive this Manifest Destiny swaggering style in our foreign policy. Because of its sheer size, its border wars with Mexico, its ten-year history as an independent republic, and its having been settled by a warrior culture originating in the English-Scottish borderlands and arriving in Texas via the southern Appalachians, Texas is unique in American politics. The author does not assert that Texas causes, or is the sole cause of, our various policies or of so many violent events. Rather, he demonstrates convincingly that the Texas warrior culture provides a fascinating context for national politics in a way that no other state's political culture can claim.
Introduction
Visions and Revisions of the Alamo
Bordering on Chaos
Circling the Wagons
Lone Star Rising
Pop Goes the Alamo
Lone Star Noir
Davy Crockett in Vietnam
Apocalypse Now and Then
Other Lines, Other Sands
Son of a Gun
Alamo America
Reviews
Deep in the Heart is a vigorous critique of the direction of US politics since the 1910s, and especially since the presidency of George W. Bush. McEnteer writes a powerful political history centered on the Alamo tendency in American politics evident since the 1830s, waxing and waning in its impact through history, but climaxing with the Alamo attitude of the George W. Bush administration. The book is well-documented, relying on a mixture of primary and secondary sources....Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers/faculty.—Choice
The value of ^IDeep in the Heart^R is that it helps us to see that what may seem like current aberrations are, unfortunately, not aberrations at all.—Great Plains Research
Endorsements
Jim McEnteer has done it again, focusing on the robust Alamo culture of Texas (shoot first, ask questions later) to explain the essence of President Bush's equally robust, pre-emptive approach to foreign policy in the post 9/11 world. It's obviously a controversial theme, but very relevant, and written in a clear and engaging style that reflects McEnteer's background in journalism and scholarship. I highly recommend this book.—Marvin Kalb,^LSenior Fellow, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy^LJohn F. Kennedy School of Government^LHarvard University
