Uncommon Cause - Volume I

"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.