BY KAREN BOSSICK
Former United States Secretary of the Navy John Lehman will offer an insider’s perspective on America’s Cold War struggles on the high seas at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 26, at Ketchum’s Community Library.
The lecture is offered in partnership with the Sun Valley Center for the Arts.
In his new book, “OCEANS VENTURED: Winning the Cold War at Sea,” Lehman describes how he was one of the chief architects of the Navy’s Cold War resurgence, which gave him unparalleled insight into decisions that helped America win the Cold War.
It turns out that when Ronald Reagan took office in January 1981, theUnited States and NTO were losing the Cold War, as the USSR had superiority in conventional weapons and manpower in Europe.
But Reagan led a bipartisan Congress to restore American command of the seas by building the Navy back to 600 major ships and 15 aircraft carriers. And he adopted a bold new strategy to deploy the growing fleet around the periphery of the Soviet Union.
The Soviets were forced to bankrupt their economy trying to keep pace and shortly afterwards the Berlin Wall fell and the USSR disbanded.
A book signing will follow the lecture.