John Foster Dulles Criticism
John Foster Dulles, who served as the U.S. Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959, was a pivotal figure in shaping American foreign policy during the Cold War era. Known for his staunch opposition to communism, Dulles labeled it a "moral evil" and played a key role in developing strategies to contain its spread, underpinning policies of "massive retaliation" and "brinkmanship." These concepts involved using the threat of nuclear reprisal and willingness to risk war to ensure peace, aligning with President Eisenhower's "New Look" defense policy, which emphasized technological advancement and nuclear deterrence.
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1888 into a politically influential family, Dulles was drawn to international politics early on, inspired by attending the Second Hague Peace Conference. His career included significant contributions to international peace efforts and foreign policy discourse, notably through works like War, Peace, and Change and War or Peace. The latter critiques Truman's containment strategy, advocating for more proactive measures against communism, as noted by several contemporary critics such as William T. Fox and Basil Rauch.
Dulles's tenure included efforts to curb Soviet influence in Eastern Europe and establish the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) to prevent communist expansion. His diplomatic maneuvers, like the negotiations over the Quemoy and Matsu islands and the Suez Crisis, showcased his complex engagement in global conflicts. Despite his controversial methods and eventual decline due to cancer, Dulles's legacy in American diplomacy remains significant, prompting reevaluations by historians such as Challener and Fenton, who highlight the depth of his character beyond the stereotypical portrayals.
Critics have examined Dulles's collaboration with President Eisenhower, considering whether Dulles exerted dominant influence on U.S. foreign policy during the administration's tenure. While his approach was initially criticized for exacerbating Cold War tensions, later assessments have sought a more nuanced understanding of his contributions, as discussed by scholars like Ronald W. Pruessen and Richard H. Immerman.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Essays
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Review of War or Peace
(summary)
In the following review, Fox summarizes the argument of Dulles's War or Peace, calling it "a sensible book which ought to be widely read."
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Review of War or Peace
(summary)
In the following review, Rauch calls War or Peace a "primer for Everyman" that asserts "the primacy of moral issues in international affairs," but nevertheless observes that the work occasionally fails to surmount Republican partisanism.
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Review of War or Peace
(summary)
In the following review, Rapp argues that Dulles's general thoughts on sustaining world peace and containing communist expansion as outlined in War or Peace are "more important than his specific recommendations."
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Morals and Power
(summary)
In the following essay, originally delivered as an address before the National War College at Washington in 1953, Dulles outlines the mechanisms of Soviet power and ideology, which, he contends, may be defeated by the "supremacy of moral law."
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An Appreciation of John Foster Dulles
(summary)
In the following essay, originally published in 1959, Nixon honors Dulles for his firmness, integrity, and skill in negotiating foreign policy as United States Secretary of State.
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John Foster Dulles
(summary)
In the following essay, Morgenthau examines Dulles's role as Secretary of State in relation to several factors, including Congress, the President, and general public opinion. Overall, Morgenthau argues that Dulles's work was essentially a continuation of his predecessors' foreign policies, and was aimed at maintaining the status quo while appearing to be innovative.
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John Foster Dulles and American Statecraft
(summary)
In the following essay, originally delivered as a lecture in 1964, Craig surveys Dulles's qualifications and tenure as secretary of state. While acknowledging Dulles's faults, such as occasional lapses of precision or tact, Craig emphasizes his successes and particularly grants him credit for the recovery of western unity and will.
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Which Way America?: Dulles Always Knew
(summary)
In the following essay, Challener and Fenton use Dulles's correspondence and the taped recollections of his friends and colleagues to present a more complicated view of Dulles than the common stereotype of him as a one-dimensional, Christian anti-communist.
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The Moral World of John Foster Dulles: A Presbyterian Layman and International Affairs
(summary)
In the following essay, Mulder investigates the religious and moral sources of Dulles's approach to international affairs.
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Will the Real Dulles Please Stand Up
(summary)
In the following essay, Holsti evaluates the largely negative assessment of Dulles presented in Townsend Hoopes's The Devil and John Foster Dulles, as well as other contemporary accounts, by comparing Dulles's record as secretary of state to that of Henry Kissinger.
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Eisenhower and Dulles: Who Made the Decisions?
(summary)
In the following essay, Immerman puts forth evidence which questions the conventional view that Dulles dominated the president in his foreign policy decision-making during the Eisenhower administration.
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Eisenhower, Dulles, and Dienbienphu: 'The Day We Didn't Go to War' Revisited
(summary)
In the following essay, Herring and Immerman suggest that Dulles and Eisenhower had offered "a massive air strike to relieve the Vietminh siege of the French fortress at Dienbienphu" in 1954, thus bringing the United States close to war in Southeast Asia a decade before large-scale U.S. military involvement in Vietnam began.
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John Foster Dulles and the Creation of the South-East Asia Treaty Organization in 1954
(summary)
In the following essay, Dingman discusses the successes and limitations of Dulles's involvement in the creation of SEATO, an organization that Dulles largely envisioned as designed to check possible communist aggression in Southeast Asia.
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John Foster Dulles and the Predicaments of Power
(summary)
In the following essay, Pruessen undertakes a survey of Dulles's actions and policymaking as U. S. Secretary of State. Pruessen maintains that Dulles's intellectual achievements far outnumbered his practical ones, and that his diplomatic endeavors in Europe proved much more successful than those in Asia, the Middle East, or Latin America.
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Review of War or Peace
(summary)
- Further Reading