From time's perspective, the second Eisenhower administration's record in national security affairs seems better than many rated it at the time. The danger posed by a "missile gap" was countered without resorting to massive expenditures. Threats to West Berlin and the "offshore islands" of Quemoy and Matsu were mastered by relatively low-key responses. An intervention in Lebanon was short and successful. Cuba, the Congo, and Southeast Asia remained volatile, however, and all were approaching crisis states by January 1961. The Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 designated the Joint Chiefs of Staff as staff assisting the Secretary of Defense in his exercise of direction over the unified and specified commands. That, in turn, prompted a reorganization of the Joint Staff. The joint committees (Strategic Plans, Intelligence, and Logistics) that had existed since 1947 were abolished; the numbered "J" directorates of conventional staff replaced then. General Nathan F. Twining, USAF, served as Chairman from August 1957 until September 1960. His contributions, although not well known, were significant. He sided with the President, and broke with the Air Force, in maintaining that a costly crash effort to develop and deploy missiles was unnecessary. Twining also backed Eisenhower, and opposed the Service Chiefs, in concluding that modest steps would be enough to make the Soviets shy away from a confrontation over Berlin. The Chairman was also instrumental, when the Service Chiefs became deadlocked, in working out solutions that created the Single Integrated Operational Plan and the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff.

Working the machinery of government -- Backing away from "massive retaliation" -- Budget ceilings shape force levels -- Closing the "missile gap" -- Arms control: the moratorium on nuclear testing -- Maintaining the military assistance program -- NATO emphasizes nuclear capabilities -- Germany and Berlin -- The Middle East: implementing the Eisenhower Doctrine -- The Middle East: Lebanon and after -- What role for CENTO? -- Cuba becomes a Communist state -- The Cold War comes to Africa -- The Far East: holding the line -- The Far East: fissures in containment -- Conclusion -- Map: deployment of United Nations units -- Abbreviations and acronyms -- Principal civilian and military officers.