Rating: 
Summary: timely and generally accurate
Review: I have had the opportunity during my years at the Pentagon and the National War College to get to know five of the six people highlighted in this book. Mann describes each quite accurately, in my judgment. My only real objection is that Mann depicts Colin Powell and Richard Armitage as men without vision or the ability to think and act strategically. On this point, I would strongly disagree. Anyone interested the American defense policy should read this book.
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Summary: Live long, and prosper
Review: I need to preface this review by saying that I am always more than a bit skeptical about political books that happen to coincide with an election cycle, whether they are written by a republican or a democrat. Nonetheless, Mann makes a believer out of me and earns my highest rating for it - *****. This book stands out ahead of most, if not all the other books on the Bush administration that were printed in this last election cycle. Well done.
I recommend this book for an excellent account of how the Bush Cabinet came together both ideologically, professionally, and as a team of members from different backgrounds. IMO, the Bush cabinet (aka "The Vulcans") may in fact be the most qualified Cabinet ever assembled by a US President. This book gives biographical information on each member, including where and how their respective ideas were formed, and how those ideas come into play in the Bush White House as it grapples with the terrorism issue. Mann does an excellent job of maintaining objectivity and provides some useful insights and interpretation of the Bush administration's policy and initiatives in the light of his perspective on the Vulcans.
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Summary: Essential for American foreign policy and politics buffs
Review: In a season when almost every "serious" political book is a tedious partisan screed, this book is a breath of fresh air. Mann does not take sides. He does not vilify the Bush "war cabinet." Nor, as some reviewers of this book here seem to imply, does he whitewash them. What he does is to give an incredibly detailed analysis of the events, personal relationships, and policies that shaped the six major figures of the Bush administration: Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, Armitage, and Wolfowitz. He covers a wide breadth of time -- all the way back to the Nixon years, when Rumsfeld and Cheney got their starts in government -- and meticulously details how, over the succeeding years, each of these figures gradually broke with the traditional guiding principles of "realpolitik" espoused by figures like Henry Kissinger and developed the muscular unilateralist views that now, for better or worse, guide American foreign policy. This book is not about George W. Bush, and Mann makes that clear. It is about the policymakers who back him up. There are amazing insights and historical details here that no other book I've read about the administration has. If you are looking for a book that buttresses your preconceptions about the Bush administration, this is not the book for you (although there are enough quotes from each of the six figures in here to make them rue ever having uttered a public word), and there are many other books by Clarke, Wilson, Hannity, Coulter, etc., etc., out there to satisfy that need. I would have liked to see more emphasis on the figures' formative years, and I would have also liked to see more focus on specific points in time, such as, for example, the Robert Dole campaign, for which Rumsfeld and Cheney did background work, and the interpersonal conflicts and grudges (of which there are many, reaching back many years) among some of the figures can be confusing, but these are minor issues. This is a well-researched, probing, and (a welcome change) unfailingly thoughtful book about modern politics and foreign affairs.
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Summary: Wild Look At The Chicken Hawks Determining Foreign Policy!
Review: In this absorbing albeit sometimes frightening look at the six most influential of GW's war cabinet, it is instructive to discover that they jokingly refer to themselves as "The Vulcans". Such free-associating and identifying themselves with a band of battle-hardened warriors is typical of the solipsistic way in which this coven of chicken-hawks views themselves and the wider world outside the rose-colored windows of the West Wing. So far out of touch with the realities of war and the pumped-up celebration of intellectual gamesmanship as opposed to battle experience, only two of the principals have any actual experience with the military at all, and only one, Colin Powell, ever actually saw combat. Indeed, it is exactly this sense of the callow intellectual arrogance of the others, impressively academically accomplished but only marginally administratively experienced in the praxis of the real world outside the ivory walls of the academy, bureaucratic functionaries like Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleeza Rice, Dick Cheney, and Richard Armitage, that shines through, and helps to explain the strange fevered brand of jingoistic and extremely self-serving patriotism that has characterized the deliberation of the Vulcan brotherhood. It is in the meticulous tracing of the individual careers and the internecine connections among the several individuals that this book provides such a yeoman's service to our understanding of the particular forms of madness that currently infects the Executive branch. In this sense, this book by James Mann is an impressive work of scholarship and presents the reader with a wealth of information regarding each individual and how each of the principal's particular odyssey through a variety of academic, governmental, and corporate situations lends itself to their collectively peculiar take on the world, which the author characterizes as demonstrating a fevered embrace of American military power even as it eschews reasoning with traditional allies, as harboring and unfettered and unbending faith in the ability of American might to remake the world in its own image, and the power and allure of democracy as the model for the world's enthusiastic (or otherwise) evolution toward our kind of brave new world. In this sense, the fact that so few of them seem to remember Vietnam tells one volumes of the political blindfolds these people bring to their deliberations. Of course, this is not to suggest that Mann shows uniformity of opinion or approaches among the principals, and he handily demonstrates how different orbits of power have emerged, with Colin Powell and Richard Armitage (those with the most diplomatic and military experience) arguing on behalf of more restrained and traditional diplomatic approaches to vexingly complex world problems, but often losing to the bureaucratic in-fighting to the combined forces of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, who often pull Paul Wolfowitz and feckless Condoleeza Rice in tow to win the day in terms of the collegial (and otherwise) infighting that goes on within the Vulcan brotherhood. Yet, it is also accurate to characterize the six as sharing core values, viewing the military in general and the Pentagon in particular as the single most effective and efficient arm of American power and the standard holder for extension of the Bush administration's foreign policy prerogatives. Moreover, Mann seems to believe that this perception of the world and our place in it stems from the experience of 911 (something I strenuously disagree with, given Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Cheney and others having recommended invasion of Iraq to President Clinton in an open letter in the mid-1990s). Mann admits as much in tracing the history of these ardent proponents of intervention who themselves avoided military service in train to their own greater personal political and academic ambitions. Likewise, Cheney's reworked doctrine of preemptive attacks as being justified, which he first introduced in the early 1990s. These are people who believe an overpowering military capability is an essential underpinning for current policy, and is synonymous to corresponding American interests. In this solipsistic worldview America is held to be an unmitigated force for good regardless of the collateral damage we may cause in visiting hellfire and aggression. In addition, they are card-carrying professional Pollyannas regarding American power, dismissing any and all arguments about over-extension of resources; skeptical to the man (or uber-woman) about consultation with allies or pesky multilateralism. This book is a splendid read even if one sometimes wonders if the author is bending over backwards in deference to the principals. His treatment of broad policy issues such as the transition from the Realpolitik world of Kissingerian hegemony to the seedy notions of preemptive aggression and the use of 911 as an excuse for a multitude of excesses and extensions mentioned nowhere in the Constitution. The anecdotal flow is entertaining and educational, and we learn a great deal both about the individuals and the way in which our foreign policy is being created and executed. Enjoy!
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Summary: What Shaped the Views of Bush's Foreign Policy Team
Review: In this interesting book, we learn of the history of the most pivotal figures in the Bush foreign policy/national security team, namely Paul Wolfowitz, Colin Powell, Condeleeza Rice, Richard Armitage, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney. We see that although of different backgrounds temperments and political/ideological views, all came together in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 to favor a strong preemptive approach to combating terrorism. Of these figures, only Wolfowitz can be considered a "neo-con". Cheney, a strong figure in the real politik approach of the first Bush administration and the earlier Ford administration is hardly a neo-con. Yet the administration is smeared as controlled by the dastardly neo-cons. The book moves in largely chronological order and traces the early life and careers of these pivotal figures and shows how they came to be where they are today. It presents a vivid and lively portrait of these larger than life figures. The story is presented without a pre-existing agenda. Jim Mann neither reveres nor disdains the Vulcans. He simply seeks to understand them. Therefore I recommend this book to everybody.
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Summary: Hard to finish
Review: Insightful. Long. Detailed. For me an interesting history of the intertwining of lives. Eventually the detail was a just a little too much for me so I started to skim. Still, worth the read.
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Summary: An Unbiased View of the Bush War Cabinet
Review: James Mann has produced the definitive work on the interactions, motivations and personal histories of the President's war cabinet. Particularly useful was the book's coverage of the neo-conservative movement's genesis and its impact on those currently in power in the White House. Likewise of interest, was Mann's coverage of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powel, Wolfowitz, Armitage and Rice's activities and interplay during the years the Republicans were out of power. The book also highlights the tensions inherent in a Powell - Rumsfeld cabinet and the crucial mitigating role played principally by Rice but also Armitage and Wolfowitz. I highly recommend this book for anyone who seeks a better grasp on decision making in the first GW Bush administration. It was an easy read with a compelling story line.
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Summary: How the Vulcans Turned America Into an Empirial Power
Review: James Mann superbly reveals how the Neo-conservatives in W.'s administration have dramatically changed America's national security policy from one based on balance-of-power politics to unilateral engagement in the world, based largely on the philosophy of might-makes-right. Mann documents the decades'-long gestation of this agenda and how 9/11 has been used an excuse to turn American into a de facto emperial power. In the process, the U.S. has alienated many of its traditional allies, most notably the Europeans. This shift is as dramatic as the one that occurred after WWII when the United States had to assume a larger role in world affairs. The policy makers of that era were steeped in diplomacy and believed that the U.S. needed to be a model of strength and maturity in fostering democratic values throughout the world. The Neo-cons rely largely on military might and have been openly petulent in their dealings with the rest of the world. The Neo-cons' short-sighted assumptions and rush to unnecessary war in Iraq may well have set back America's effort to promote democracy for years to come. Whether the Neo-cons will continue to shape America's foreign policy in the long-term or ultimately prove "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" remains to be seen. In the meantime, every America who wants the real answer behind why we went into Iraq should read "Rise of the Vulcans."
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Summary: Don't judge this book by its cover.
Review: Jim Mann has produced something truly remarkable -- a cogent and reflective assessment of contemporary personalities and still unfolding events. A group biography has not been so expertly researched and brilliantly written since Timberg's The Nightingale's Song" or Thomas/Issacson's "The Wise Men". Unlike the "quickie" books by Richard Clarke and Bob Woodward, Rise of the Vulcans will stand the test of time, and will likely be considered an essential text for this period of history. The author expertly weaves together the biographies and philosophies of Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condi Rice, and Dick Armitage. He is even-handed and fair-minded throughout; if he has an agenda, he conceals it well. If I may presume to re-state the author's central thesis: the six public servants featured in this book share a common goal -- to promote the "strategic depth" of the United States, i.e. to lead the nation to a position of military superiority so overwhelming that no competitor will ever even begin to try to overtake them. That's putting it very simply, of course; suffice to say that this book provides intriguing glimpses into the grand strategy underlying the current maneuvers in the Middle East. The worst thing about this book? The Beavis and Butthead quality cartoons on the cover, and the dumb title. But if you buy any book about the Iraq imbroglio, start with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: A primer on the current ¿power elite¿, as Mills would put it
Review: Let's dispense with a frequently asked question right off the bat, that being, "what the heck do these guys have to do with Spock/Star trek"? Answer-nothing. The Vulcan of the title refers to a statue of the Roman God, Vulcan, God of the Forge/Fire, in Birmingham. Several of the Vulcan's have ties to Birmingham and they liked the symbolism of being aligned with this figure. That tidbit above goes a long way towards providing an insight into this book, actually. This is basically an historical treatise reviewing the history of the self named Vulcan's-in real life, known as Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Armitage, and Condoleezza Rice. These 6 people make up the core of the Bush foreign policy making apparatus and the book details their long history of working together with-and at times working together against-each other. It is a set of relationships that extend back as much as 30 years in some cases. As such, the book provides a primer of sorts as to the mechanics of how a "power elite", in John Stuart Mills famous phrase, is formed and maintained. It provides insight as to how events shape ideology, how pragmatism shapes alliances, how power works and is maintained. The book also provides insights into how the transitions between being in government-then out of government-then in government, and so on, shapes the larger "power elite" that runs the US foreign policy apparatus. Lastly it provides insight into how the ideologies, policies and personalities of the major players in power- Nixon, Kissinger, Snowcroft and so on-shape and hone the relationships and ideologies of the aligned forces of such subgroups as the Vulcan's. This is a political junkie's book. Jim Mann, the author, is a journalist. The book reads like a journalist trying to be an historian. Which is to say it comes across as a journalism/history hybrid. To his credit, Mann does a commendable job of sticking on theme and minimizing the more sensational-seeking traits that seem to be congenital to modern day journalists. There are, however, forays into personal trivia and minutia that clearly satisfy the journalist in Mann without adding anything worthwhile to the story. Moreover, while commendable objective, there are times when the authors opinions are clearly evident. Let's just say he's obviously not a fan of most of these folks. That fact-as apparent as it is-detracts from the books credibility as a historical tome. In the end one is left with an appreciation for the scholarship. However, the slants and subtle elements of bias intrinsic to the text leave one with a healthy dose of skepticism as well. Reading the book I kept remembering that old saw that "a competent historian can make any historical event seem inevitable" This tome relies too much on the inevitability factor and too much ignores the art pure serendipity played in events and relationships. All in all, worth reading, but to be taken with a grain of salt.
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