"This publication looks at aircraft carrier requirements in the U.S. Navy between 1977 and 2001, covering the Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Clinton Presidential administrations. It examines the process by which the Navy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the Joint Staff, Congress, and Presidential administrations determined how many aircraft carriers the Navy needed, how to pay for and build those carriers, and what to do with those vessels once they were in service. Taking this wider view of defense resourcing and planning will allow readers to see how the Navy fit in the wider national security picture"-- |