GRITtv: Julian Zelizer: National Security Myths

Presidents who don't articulate some kind of distinct national security agenda leave themselves open to continual attack from their opponents and often fall into a defensive posture while trying to formulate their policies. By trying to avoid angering everyone, they often end up pleasing no one. That's what Julian Zelizer, Princeton professor and author of Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security - From World War II to the War on Terrorism, said in a critique of Obama's foreign policy in his first year. In his book, Zelizer lays out a history of national security policy in the U.S. and makes the point that bipartisanship has largely always been a myth here. Instead, presidents who succeed lay out a concrete plan for what they want and fight to get it accomplished. Obama, he suggests, should take a lesson or two from the past.