About xx| xxBooks xx|xx Contact xx| xxReviewsxx |xx Ideasxx|xx Links  



FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Number 11.1.2.2007
(NEW SERIES—2007)

(Read, Print, or Download in >PDF>>
Format)


HOW THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,
THE PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY,
AND "VICTIMOLOGY STUDIES"
ARE RELATED TO THE
NEW AMERICAN POLICE STATE

ADDENDUM 1
..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·
A PASSAGE FROM

THE TRAGEDY OF AMERICAN DIPLOMACY (1959)

by

WILLIAM APPLEMAN WILLIAMS
..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·..........·
FROM CHAPTER 8,
"THE TERRIFYING MOMENTUM TOWARD DISASTER"

..........Finally, and despite various appearances to the contrary, Dulles was limited by Eisenhower's deep reluctance to involve the United States in another major military intervention. The President was not a true cold war crusader. And while he accepted a large role for America in the world, he was not an active expansionist. He had an honest, informed concern for the security of the United States. He understood that the economy required a routine relationship with the world marketplace. And he was advised-pushed-by men who advocated the orthodox answers to those problems. That factor is the key to Eisenhower as President. He had assembled and trained, as Supreme Commander in the European Theater during World War II, one of the best staff in the history of warfare. He mistakenly assumed that the civilian elite around him was intellectually as tough (and as self-critical), and on that basis he delegated too much authority.

..........Even so, had he been as weak as his critics charge, then the United States would have been at war several times during the eights years he served as President. But Eisenhower did control Dulles and he did slow the momentum of the interventionist "total diplomacy" evolved by Truman and Acheson. His personal traits and philosophical outlook combined to give the United States a breathing space from the burdens of empire. World War II clearly deepened his inherent aversion to organized violence, and his approach stressed the idea of giving Americans a chance to explore their individual capacities, and to act together to improve their society.

..........Eisenhower emerges as a true conservative in the traditional sense. He clearly seems to have sensed that the era of American expansion was coming to an end. He did not fully comprehend what that meant, let alone understand how to act as a civilian general on the insight he enjoyed, but he was not mesmerized by the vision of a New Frontier and he did not think that the United States cold determine the future of the world. His greatest mistake in foreign policy was the failure to follow through on his decision against a massive air strike to help the French avoid defeat in Vietnam.

Back to FFT11.1.1.2007

>READ, PRINT, OR DOWNLOAD IN PDF FORMAT>>