The Candy Bombers

Online Description

In the tradition of the great narrative storytellers, Andrei Cherny recounts the exhilarating saga of the unlikely men who made the Berlin Airlift one of the great military and humanitarian successes of American history. “What an exciting, inspiring, and wonderfully-written book this is…Each page has lessons for today, and it is also a thrilling narrative to read.”—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs The Candy Bombers is a remarkable story with profound implications for our own time. Cherny tells the tale of the ill-assorted group of castoffs and secondstringers who not only saved millions of desperate people from a dire threat, but also won the hearts of America’s defeated enemies, inspired people around the world to believe in America’s fundamental goodness, avoided World War III, and won the greatest battle of the Cold War without firing a shot. With newly unclassified documents, unpublished letters and diaries, and fresh primary interviews, The Candy Bombers takes readers along as American pilots, with only a few small rickety planes, manage to feed and supply West Berlin completely by air for nearly a year; as Harry Truman exploits the very real threat of war to win an upset reelection campaign; as America’s first secretary of defense descends into madness in the midst of a dangerous military crisis; and as a lovesick American pilot shows that acts of basic human kindness can send powerful ripples through the course of history.

🔫 Author Background

Andrei Cherny is an American writer and policy practitioner who has worked as a White House speechwriter and as a senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center. He co‑founded and edited Democracy: A Journal of Ideas and previously authored The Next Deal. His journalism has appeared in major U.S. newspapers and magazines, and he has served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. These experiences inform his narrative history of the Berlin Airlift with a strong interest in ideas, institutions, and public leadership.

🔍 Author’s Main Issue / Thesis

Cherny argues that the 1948–49 Berlin Airlift fused logistics, leadership, and moral persuasion into a decisive demonstration of American power that was neither appeasement nor aggression. The airlift not only broke Stalin’s blockade but also catalyzed West German democracy, cemented transatlantic unity, and defined a confident moment of the “American Century.” He emphasizes that after the airlift, European communist expansion stalled, and the operation’s sheer scale—over 277,000 flights and 4.6 billion pounds of supplies—remains unmatched as a humanitarian‑strategic campaign.

🧭 One-Paragraph Overview

Spanning from the end of World War II through the lifting of the blockade and beyond, The Candy Bombers intertwines high politics (Truman, Clay, Bevin, Malik) with ground‑level protagonists (Ernst Reuter, Gail “Candy Bomber” Halvorsen, William Tunner). Cherny shows how shattered Berlin became the battleground where currency reform, civic resilience, airpower innovation, and public diplomacy converged. The Soviets sought leverage through strangulation; the Western response—first hesitant, then audacious—constructed a flying bridge that fed two million people and reframed global perceptions of the United States. The candy drops became a symbol of soft power that mobilized American publics and Berliners alike, while organizational reforms under Tunner turned a precarious effort into an industrial‑scale operation. The crisis culminated in May 1949: the blockade ended, West Germany’s constitutional order advanced, and the Western alliance took firmer shape.

🔑 Top Takeaways

• The airlift worked because of hard logistics (C‑54s, Tegel runway, traffic control reforms) and soft power (Halvorsen’s “Little Vittles”) operating in tandem.

• Lucius D. Clay’s resolve, paired with Truman’s steadiness, prevented a dangerous escalation or a humiliating retreat. 

• Ernst Reuter and Berlin’s public transformed from victims of defeat to agents of democratic renewal—galvanizing Western opinion. 

• William Tunner’s systems thinking (scheduling, standardization, safety) converted a fragile bridge into a 24/7 conveyor belt. 

• The French demolition of Tegel’s radio towers dramatized allied unity and operational priority over Soviet obstruction. 

• The blockade’s end in May 1949 and the Basic Law’s adoption marked a hinge in European history toward stable democracy and containment.

📒 Sections

Prologue: September 2001

Summary: The book opens with a candlelight vigil in Berlin after 9/11, where ordinary Germans express solidarity with Americans. Cherny uses this post‑Cold War moment to reflect on the enduring memory of the airlift: gratitude toward an America that once fed the city from the sky. The prologue frames the narrative as a study in remembered benevolence and the long arc of political legitimacy. It signals that the coming story is not only about planes and tonnage but also about symbols, citizenship, and moral imagination. 

Key Points:

• Berlin’s empathy toward the U.S. is rooted in the airlift.

• Memory politics: historical rescue shaping present identity.

• Sets tone: humanitarian action as strategic capital.

• Personalization of grand strategy through lived experience.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Public memory; soft power; legitimacy of liberal order. 

Introduction: June 24, 1948

Summary: The blockade shocks Berlin awake: roads, rails, and canals are sealed, electricity curtailed, fear palpable. Early allied deliberations vacillate between withdrawal, convoy, or an interim air resupply. Clay’s instinct is to hold the city; Truman’s instinct is to avoid war and humiliation. The introduction sketches the stakes: two million civilians, the credibility of the West, and the risk of miscalculation. It seeds the book’s key characters and the audacious experiment about to begin. 

Key Points:

• The blockade begins amid policy uncertainty.

• Clay favors staying; Washington gauges risk carefully.

• Air supply emerges as a stalling tactic that becomes strategy.

• Berliners’ morale is decisive to any plan’s success.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Deterrence without war; leadership under ambiguity; civilian resilience. 

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PART I: THE BANKS (Spring 1945)  

Chapter 1: The End

Summary: As Nazi Germany collapses, Allied lines converge and the wartime alliance begins to fray. Early occupation politics in Berlin plant the seeds of future confrontation: competing visions of denazification, administration, and legitimacy. The human and material devastation defines the baseline against which all postwar policy must operate. Cherny introduces the first tangle of personalities and priorities that will shape the city’s fate. 

Key Points:

• The victory coalition carries built‑in ideological fault lines.

• Berlin’s rubble landscape constrains all choices.

• Control of police and bureaucracy matters more than titles.

• First glimpses of Soviet–Western divergence.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Power vacuums; institutions as levers; politics of reconstruction. 

Chapter 2: Tombstones

Summary: Cherny surveys the moral and physical wreckage: graves, ruins, scarcity, and shell‑shocked populations. Policy debates over punishment versus rehabilitation meet the stubborn facts of urban survival. The chapter underscores how scarcity and symbolism interact, with food and coal doubling as instruments of power. It foreshadows the Communist push to control everyday administration. 

Key Points:

• Scarcity politics become strategic terrain.

• Competing occupation doctrines collide on the ground.

• Early propaganda and police control shape daily life.

• Berliners’ needs outpace any blueprint.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Material need vs. ideology; moral reconstruction; state capacity. 

Chapter 3: Visions

Summary: Emerging Western and Soviet blueprints for Germany diverge sharply. The chapter traces how ideas—federalism, markets, social democracy—begin to cohere in the West as Moscow consolidates power in the East. Berlin becomes a stage for competing modernities, with the city’s parties testing their appeal in the ruined streets. 

Key Points:

• Programmatic visions harden into policy paths.

• Western parties rebuild civic life; Soviets bet on control.

• Elections loom as legitimacy contests.

• The future of Germany is debated in Berlin’s rubble.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Ideas in power; legitimacy through elections; urban politics as grand strategy. 

Chapter 4: Flight

Summary: Berlin’s administrative, economic, and social “flight paths” are contested: people, expertise, and goods move uneasily across zones. The allies struggle to coordinate as shortages and black markets expand. Cherny shows how administrative friction and airfields like Tempelhof foreshadow aviation’s strategic role before anyone imagines an air bridge. 

Key Points:

• Networks (airfields, logistics) gain political meaning.

• Friction among allies complicates city governance.

• Berlin’s openness becomes vulnerability.

• Early aviation infrastructure matters later.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Infrastructure as strategy; coalition coordination; permeability of boundaries. 

Chapter 5: The Descent

Summary: From VE‑Day into occupation routines, Berlin’s living standards plunge. By July 4, 1945, U.S. forces formally enter their sectors; commandant Frank Howley learns urban governance by crisis. The Soviets invest in police and administration while Western authorities debate ends and means—setting up later collisions over currency and sovereignty.

Key Points:

• U.S. sector administration begins on July 4, 1945. 

• Howley’s on‑the‑ground improvisation. 

• Soviet control of levers (police, radio) sets precedents.

• Living standards become political facts.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Learning to govern; coercion vs. consent; everyday life as policy. 

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PART II: THE BEND (Spring 1948)  

Chapter 6: Chasm

Summary: By early 1948, small frictions widen into a geopolitical canyon. Berlin’s 1946 election had already shocked Moscow; Ernst Reuter’s rise personifies democratic pushback. In March, the Czech coup and mounting Soviet pressure darken the horizon. Clay and Western officials weigh risks as the city’s fate tightens around currency and control.

Key Points:

• Reuter emerges as a formidable democratic voice. 

• Communist setbacks at the polls prefigure harder tactics. 

• Region‑wide shocks (Prague, Masaryk) shift calculations. 

• Clay calibrates firmness vs. escalation.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Democratic legitimacy; coercive revisionism; leadership resolve. 

Chapter 7: March

Summary: Currency politics take center stage; the West readies reform while Soviets prepare to retaliate. The June 18 broadcast on the Deutsche Mark crystallizes the break; Berlin’s economy and politics cannot remain ambivalent. Reuter, Howley, and Clay each face the implication that the city itself will test whether Europe tilts to freedom or fear. 

Key Points:

• Monetary reform becomes the proximate cause. 

• Berliners brace for confrontation.

• Legitimacy will hinge on keeping the lights and food on.

• Public opinion and morale gain strategic weight. 

  Cross-Cutting Themes: The politics of money; sovereignty and consent; morale as a center of gravity.

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PART III: THE BRIDGE (1948–1949)  

Chapter 8: June

Summary: The blockade begins; allies hesitate. LeMay toys with dropping coal from B‑29s; practicality and safety intervene. What starts as a stopgap air supply (“Vittles”) becomes the only viable course while Washington and London debate. Clay seeks time; planes buy it. Berliners’ stoicism justifies the gamble.

Key Points:

• From contingency to commitment in days.

• LeMay’s bold but unworkable bombardment idea. 

• Naming and framing: “Operation Vittles.” (p. 264) 

• Public mood hardens in favor of resistance. 

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Improvisation under pressure; narrative framing; civil–military learning.

Chapter 9: July

Summary: Early flights reveal the scale problem: C‑47s are too small; coal dominates the tonnage equation. Publics in Berlin and abroad follow the unfolding drama via CBS and newspapers; legitimacy accumulates flight by flight. Halvorsen’s chance encounter with children plants the seed for “Operation Little Vittles,” linking logistics to empathy.

Key Points:

• Aircraft capacity, not just courage, is limiting. 

• Media attention builds allied resolve. 

• July 19 sparks Halvorsen’s idea. 

• Morale operations complement tonnage.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Technology/throughput; storytelling power; humanitarian signaling.

Chapter 10: August

Summary: Bill Tunner arrives and professionalizes the airlift: tighter scheduling, standardized loads, instrument flying discipline, and a culture of safety. The change is managerial and moral; crews sense they are part of something precise and purposeful. The operation shifts from heroic improvisation to a humming system. 

Key Points:

• Tunner’s systems approach stabilizes the bridge.

• Metrics and routine trump ad hoc daring.

• Weather, icing, and traffic control managed as processes.

• Accidents drop as throughput rises.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Management as strategy; the ethics of efficiency; institutional learning.

Chapter 11: September

Summary: Mass rallies and Reuter’s oratory (“People of the world: look at Berlin!”) crystallize the political meaning of the airlift. Truman’s campaign rhetoric intersects with Berlin’s defiance; the allied case is now publicly moral and strategic. Air figures climb, and the city’s spirit consolidates.

Key Points:

• Reuter’s speech becomes a transatlantic call to duty. (p. 380) 

• U.S. politics and Berlin morale reinforce each other. 

• Throughput and reliability continue to improve.

• The narrative of freedom outcompetes propaganda.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Public diplomacy; democracy’s voice; symbolic politics.

Chapter 12: October

Summary: Little Vittles scales—press, schools, and civic groups flood the effort with candy and parachutes. German children become visible beneficiaries; the airlift’s image softens even as tonnage targets harden. Berlin’s daily life is reorganized around predictable flights and shared sacrifice. 

Key Points:

• Halvorsen becomes a household name. 

• Civil society multiplies impact.

• Airlift routinization meets human connection.

• International press coverage normalizes the extraordinary.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Civil society mobilization; compassion as strategy.

Chapter 13: November

Summary: Through winter’s onset, operations hold; political messaging emphasizes allied endurance. The bridge proves itself against darkness and cold, turning winter into a test of systems and will. Berlin’s governance adjusts, with Reuter ever more central and the city’s administration aligning around the airlift’s rhythms. 

Key Points:

• Winterization of procedures and aircraft.

• Political steadfastness despite fatigue.

• Governance and logistics now interlocked.

• Public rituals (memorials, renamings) cement memory. 

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Rituals of resilience; seasonal adaptation; memory‑making.

Chapter 14: December

Summary: The French remove Tegel’s hazardous Soviet radio towers with dynamite, prioritizing air safety over diplomatic niceties. Christmas brings both record generosity and operational strain; Halvorsen and others fly coal and candy as Berliners celebrate with scarce electricity and shared hope. 

Key Points:

• Dramatic French action eliminates a critical hazard. (p. 492) 

• Citywide children’s parties underscore moral stakes. (p. 496) 

• Airlift sustains spirit through the coldest weeks.

• Inter‑allied coordination deepens trust.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Allied unity; safety culture; seasonal symbolism.

Chapter 15: Spring Again

Summary: With 1949 underway, production rises, rations improve, and the operation reaches cruising altitude—then a surge (“Easter Parade”) signals strategic dominance. U.S.–Soviet backchannels (Jessup–Malik) and NATO’s emergence bracket a diplomatic path to end the siege. On May 12, 1949, the barriers lift; trains and trucks roll, lights blaze, crowds cheer. The airlift continues into September to build stockpiles, and the Federal Republic’s Basic Law passes in May, anchoring the political outcome the bridge enabled.

Key Points:

• Industrial‑scale airlift breaks Soviet leverage.

• Easter 1949 becomes an inflection point. 

• May 12 reopening: convoys, cheers, electricity restored. (pp. 530–531)

• West German Basic Law adopted. 

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Victory without war; institutional birth; the politics of closure.

Afterword: Coming Home

Summary: Clay departs to ovations; Berlin’s gratitude is formalized in ceremonies and new place‑names. The airlift reframes U.S.–German relations and accelerates the transition from occupation to partnership. The allies move from military government toward a civilian high commissioner, reflecting a new democratic normal. 

Key Points:

• Public thanks for Clay and allied crews.

• Administrative handovers signal normalization.

• The “Air Bridge” becomes civic memory.

• Western Germany consolidates institutions.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Gratitude and legitimacy; memory as policy; democratic consolidation.

Epilogue: October 1990

Summary: Germany reunifies on October 3, 1990; the airlift’s legacy resurfaces in a healed Berlin. Cherny reflects that the victory of 1948–49 marked a summit of American confidence before later Cold War strains. The airlift stands as the closest U.S.–Soviet brush before Cuba, yet it produced a stable deterrent balance and a durable alliance.

Key Points:

• Reunification crowns a long arc begun in crisis. 

• Airlift as apex of American moral confidence. (p. 543) 

• Enduring lesson: firmness without firepower can win.

• Logistics + legitimacy reshape world politics.

  Cross-Cutting Themes: Long memory of aid; strategic restraint; democratic peace.

🎭 Central Themes

• Logistics as Strategy: Throughput, safety, and routine become instruments of statecraft. 

• Soft Power & Public Diplomacy: Candy drops, radio, and rallies mobilize publics on both sides of the Atlantic.

• Civic Resilience: Berliners’ endurance legitimizes allied risk and sustains the bridge. 

• Allied Unity by Doing: French, British, and American choices align around pilots’ safety and citizens’ needs. 

• Constitutional Founding: Airlift success abets West Germany’s Basic Law and postwar order. 

📖 Historiographical Context

Cherny converses implicitly with operational histories such as Tusa & Tusa’s The Berlin Airlift, Halvorsen’s memoir The Berlin Candy Bomber, and diplomatic treatments (e.g., McCullough’s Truman). He departs from purely logistical or elite-only narratives by blending high politics with civic activism and media. The notes reveal deep use of press accounts, oral histories, newsreels, and archival cables, situating the book between narrative synthesis and primary‑source reportage.

🧩 Frameworks & Methods

• Narrative Political History: Braids White House deliberations, occupation governance, and Berlin street‑level experience. 

• Source Base: Oral histories (e.g., Halvorsen, Draper), newspapers, CBS radio, newsreels, and Clay’s papers anchor chronology and texture.

• Micro‑biography: Clay, Reuter, Halvorsen, Tunner serve as lenses to interrogate statecraft, civic action, and management.

• Institutional & Managerial Analysis: Emphasis on process innovation (scheduling, standardization) as causal drivers of success. 

🤷‍♂️ Actors & Perspectives

Harry S. Truman

• U.S. President

• Perspectives: Avoids both appeasement and war; favors steady pressure and alliance cohesion.

• Evolution: From caution to confident endorsement of the bridge; folds Berlin into a broader containment strategy.

• Influence: Sets tone for firmness without escalation; underwrites the operation politically. 

Gen. Lucius D. Clay

• U.S. Military Governor in Germany

• Perspectives: Staying in Berlin is non‑negotiable; willing to test convoys but pivots to air.

• Evolution: From improvised crisis manager to symbol of allied resolve and Berlin’s champion.

• Influence: Operational green light, moral anchor, and public face of allied commitment.

Ernst Reuter

• Berlin Social Democratic leader (Lord Mayor)

• Perspectives: Democracy through endurance; public mobilization (“People of the world…”) as leverage.

• Evolution: From vetoed mayor to legitimized leader after blockade’s end; “Lord Mayor of rubble.”

• Influence: Gave the crisis its democratic voice; rallied Berliners and swayed Western publics.

Lt. Gail S. Halvorsen

• USAF pilot; originator of “Operation Little Vittles”

• Perspectives: Human connection as strategy; small gestures signal big commitments.

• Evolution: From anonymous transport pilot to emblem of allied compassion; organizes mass candy drops.

• Influence: Soft‑power multiplier; activated U.S. civil society support for the airlift.

Maj. Gen. William H. Tunner

• Airlift commander

• Perspectives: Logistics is destiny; systematize everything.

• Evolution: Imposes discipline after August; reduces accidents and raises tonnage.

• Influence: Converts heroics into habit; makes victory a matter of schedule. 

Gen. Curtis LeMay

• USAFE commander (early phase)

• Perspectives: Seek decisive, even theatrical solutions (e.g., coal drops from bombers).

• Evolution: From combat intuitions to acceptance of transport realities.

• Influence: Kicks off “Vittles”; illustrates shift from wartime to peacetime airpower. 

Soviet Commanders (Sokolovsky, later Chuikov)

• Soviet military leadership in Germany

• Perspectives: Use blockade to force Western capitulation; maintain face at exit.

• Evolution: From maximal pressure to negotiated retreat (minute past midnight).

• Influence: Their tactics created the test that legitimated the Western order. 

Gen. Jean Ganeval (France)

• French commandant in Berlin

• Perspectives: Prioritize airfield safety; confront obstructions directly.

• Evolution: From wary ally to decisive actor (Tegel towers).

• Influence: Demonstrated allied resolve and operational primacy. 

Frank L. Howley

• U.S. Commandant, Berlin sector

• Perspectives: Hands‑on urban governance; media savvy; firm with Soviets.

• Evolution: From improviser to institutional partner of Reuter and Clay.

• Influence: Managed the city‑level political theater sustaining the bridge. 

🕰 Timeline of Major Events

• 1945 — Allied victory in Europe; Berlin occupation begins; U.S. enters its sector on July 4—administration under Howley. 

• 1946-10 — Berlin city elections rebuke Communists; Reuter rises as democratic standard‑bearer. 

• 1948-03 — Regional shocks (e.g., Prague coup) deepen Cold War tensions; Berlin’s stakes sharpen. 

• 1948-06-18 — Western announcement of the Deutsche Mark sets stage for confrontation. 

• 1948-06-24 — Blockade of Berlin begins; electricity curtailed; supply lines severed. 

• 1948-06/07 — Operation Vittles launches as a stopgap, becomes strategy; LeMay’s coal‑drop idea shelved; “Vittles” named. (p. 263–264)

• 1948-08 — Tunner takes command; throughput and safety surge. 

• 1948-09 — Reuter’s Reichstag rally: “People of the world: look at Berlin!” stabilizes Western resolve. (p. 380) 

• 1948-12-16 — French demolish Tegel radio towers; hazard removed. (p. 492) 

• 1949-04 — “Easter Parade” record flights foreshadow Soviet climbdown. 

• 1949-05-08 — Bonn approves the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. 

• 1949-05-12 — Blockade lifted; trucks and trains roll; Berlin lights blaze again. (pp. 530–531)

• 1949-09 — Airlift ends after stockpile build‑up; symbolic final candy “raid” in September. (p. 543) 

• 1990-10-03 — German reunification; epilogue links memory to present. 

🧐 Critical Reflections

Strengths: Vivid storytelling anchored in primary material; deft integration of logistics, politics, and public feeling; compelling portraits of Clay, Reuter, Halvorsen, Tunner. Weaknesses: Less technical depth than some operational studies; Soviet internal deliberations mostly reconstructed from Western vantage points; occasional U.S.‑centric framing. Blind Spots / Questions: How contingent was the outcome on a few managerial choices (e.g., Tunner’s reforms)? Could alternative Soviet tactics have neutralized the airlift’s symbolic power? How replicable is “candy diplomacy” outside a uniquely post‑Nazi moral landscape?

⚔️ Comparative Insights

• Tusa & Tusa, The Berlin Airlift: Offers denser operational data; Cherny foregrounds civic emotion and political rhetoric alongside metrics. 

• McCullough, Truman: Emphasizes presidential decision‑making; Cherny adds Berlin street‑level agency and allied texture. 

• Halvorsen, The Berlin Candy Bomber: First‑person empathy; Cherny situates Halvorsen within alliance politics and media ecosystems. 

✍️ Key Terms

• Operation Vittles — Allied air supply to Berlin, 1948–49. (p. 264) 

• Operation Little Vittles — Halvorsen’s candy drops to children. 

• Tegel Runway — New runway constructed from rubble to expand capacity. 

• C‑47 / C‑54 — Workhorse transports; capacity jump crucial to tonnage. 

• “Easter Parade” — Record‑setting surge of flights in April 1949. 

• RIAS — American‑run radio station amplifying Berlin’s voice. 

• Basic Law — West German constitution adopted May 1949. 

• Containment — Strategy of firm resistance without war; Berlin as proving ground. 

❓ Open Questions

• Could a negotiated settlement without an airlift have secured comparable legitimacy for the West?

• What were the counterfactual risks had accidents or a mid‑air collision sparked escalation?

• How transferable is “logistics + legitimacy” to contemporary sieges or blockades?

🗂 Notable Quotes & Thoughts

• “The Berlin Airlift never truly began.” (p. 263) 

• “Call it ‘Vittles’ if you have to have a name.” (p. 264) 

• “People of the world: look at Berlin!” — Ernst Reuter. (p. 380) 

• “Now I am Lord Mayor of rubble.” — Reuter, after his election. (p. 491) 

• “You will have no more trouble with the tower.” — Gen. Ganeval. (p. 492) 

• “At exactly one minute past midnight, the Russians lifted the barrier…” (p. 530) 

• “277,000 flights and 4.6 billion pounds of food and supplies…” (p. 543) 

🥰 Who Would Like It?

Graduate seminars in Cold War history, international relations, leadership/management, public diplomacy, and urban politics; readers who value narrative history with strong characters and a clear through‑line from operations to outcomes.

📚 Related Books

• D.M. Tusa & J. Tusa, The Berlin Airlift — Operational chronicle that complements Cherny’s narrative. 

• Gail S. Halvorsen, The Berlin Candy Bomber — First‑person account of “Little Vittles.” 

• David McCullough, Truman — Presidential leadership context. 

• Jean Edward Smith, Lucius D. Clay — Biography of the airlift’s key U.S. leader. 

• Robert Murphy, Diplomat Among Warriors — Diplomatic perspective on the airlift’s political effects.