Book Review – Bomb Power
Image: Bomb Power by Len Lantz (CC BY-NC-ND)
Synopsis: Len's Star Rating: 10 out of 10. An eye-opening book that explains the role of nuclear weapons supremacy in escalating the power of the US President and unbalancing constitutional checks and balances.
BY LEN LANTZ, MD / 5.31.2025; No. 131
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Star Rating – 10 out of 10
Rating guide: 1 = horrible, 5 = average and 10 = wow
Author
Garry Wills
About the author
Garry Wills is a journalist, professor, historian, and award-winning author of over 50 books on topics of American history, politics, and religion. He achieved his BA in philosophy from Saint Louis University, his master’s in philosophy from Xavier University, and his PhD in philosophy from Yale. Dr. Wills won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for his book Lincoln at Gettysburg. He taught history at Johns Hopkins University (1962 to 1980), is a fellow at the University of Edinburgh, and currently serves as an Emeritus Professor of History at Northwestern University.
General description
Gary Wills’ Bomb Power provides a detailed perspective on how atomic weapons, which he refers to as the Bomb, fundamentally changed democracy in America. The author provides numerous examples, from the funding and creation of the Bomb to the use of secrecy to bypass existing laws and congressional oversight, that demonstrate repeated violations of the US Constitution. Once nuclear weapons existed, an extensive network of support via the National Security State was developed to aid in protecting state secrets, preventing other countries from developing nuclear weapons, and spreading the US atomic arsenal across the globe. Gary Wills also demonstrates how, by granting the US President control over the Bomb, the three branches of the federal government have become increasingly unbalanced, leading to further abuses of power, including the creation of a “parallel government.”
Unique and most important aspects
In Bomb Power, author Gary Wills shows how the Bomb has radically changed the US constitutional democracy into a National Security State since the advent of nuclear weapons during World War II. The race for global nuclear supremacy has fundamentally altered the system of checks and balances upon which the country was founded. Granting the US President control over the Bomb has resulted in a progressive concentration of power within the executive branch. The author also shows how US Presidents have abused Bomb power and kept the US in a nearly continuous state of “emergency” for over seven decades. Important features of this book include:
Stories about the making of the first atomic bombs and the politics and secrecy involved in creating a worldwide nuclear arsenal
Details on how the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 gave control of the Bomb to the President of the United States
Misunderstandings about the constitutional limits on the President as Commander in Chief
Theories and policies in fighting communism, such as “containment,” “rollback,” and “counterforce,” which increased the risk of brinkmanship
How the National Security Act of 1947 led to the creation of
The Air Force, as a separate branch of the military, primarily to support the Bomb
The National Security Council (separate from the State Department)
The Department of Defense
The CIA
The rationale for the formation of NATO and the creation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for maintaining the US global nuclear arsenal and national security
The problem of Unitary Executive Theory and the abusive practice of presidential signing statements
Best quotes
“This book has a basic thesis, that the Bomb altered our subsequent history down to its deepest constitutional roots. It redefined the presidency, as in all respects America’s ‘Commander in Chief’ (a term that took on a new and unconstitutional meaning in this period).”
“But since the inception of World War II we have had a continuous state of impending or partial war…normality never returned, and the executive power increased decade by decade, reaching a new high in the twenty-first century—a continuous story of unidirectional increase in the executive power.”
“Executive power has basically been, since World War II, Bomb Power.”
“Foreign governments that granted us territory and protection were to be supported, even if they were not very good at recognizing the rights of their citizens. Thus began a long history of friendly relations with dictators. Obtaining and securely maintaining our bases was considered more important than the moral legitimacy of the regimes granting us such access.”
“Lodging ‘the fate of the world’ in one man with no constitutional checks on his actions, caused a violent break in our whole governmental system…the nature of the presidency was irrevocably altered by this grant of a unique power.”
“The President has no power, as Commander in Chief, over any civilian.”
“Accountability is the essence of democracy.”
“The most momentous executive actions have to do with war, defense, and national security—such as when George W. Bush set up an alternative justice system, secret and unaccountable, to ‘fight terror.’”
“It has become common to deny courts what are labeled ‘state secrets,’ even when the secrets have no military importance.”
“One of the principal aims of creating secrecy around government documents is to cover up criminal or bungling acts of the government.”
“The comic strip [Doonesbury] illustrates a recurring and favorite use of government secrecy. It is meant not to fool the enemy, which knows what is going on. It is for fooling Congress and the American people.”
“Looked at from any angle, the [presidential] signing statements clearly go against the Constitution’s structure, in which the legislature makes law and the President executes it.”
“[Dick] Cheney said the Constitution was irrelevant to executive power.”
Who would enjoy this book?
Readers interested in the far-reaching impacts of maintaining the US nuclear weapons arsenal from giving control of US nuclear weapons solely to the President will likely enjoy Bomb Power.
Who would not enjoy this book?
Readers who are not proponents of constitutional democracy or who would be offended by criticism of past US presidents are unlikely to enjoy Bomb Power.
Conclusion
Bomb Power is an eye-opening book that explains the role of nuclear weapons supremacy in escalating the power of the US President and unbalancing constitutional checks and balances.
