When looking at the impact of foreign-policy events on presidential popularity, many observers of American foreign policy have noted a phenomenon they call the "rally-round-the-flag" effect. Regardless of the general trend in a president's popularity, specific events tend to produce a short-term upward swing in his poll ratings. This increase in popularity appears whether the president's action is wise or unwise, harmful or beneficial to the United States. President John F. Kennedy's rating went up by ten points or more following both the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961 and the successful conclusion of the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962. In response to his rise in popularity after the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy commented, "The worse I do, the more popular I get." President Lyndon B. Johnson's approval rating went up after the Tonkin Gulf incident, and, despite the general, steady...