United States Government and History

• Author: William Starr Myers
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Date: 01 March 1956
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625630400124
• Subject Matter: Articles

151

181).

This

the

author

denies

and

seeks

to

demonstrate

the

falsity

of

the

several

assumptions

upon

which

Morgenthau

re-

lies

to

support

his

position.

FRANK

M.

RUSSELL

Berkeley,

Calif.

UNITED

STATES

GOVERNMENT

AND

HISTORY

JOSEPH

M.

JONES.

The

Fifteen

Weeks

(February

21-June

5,

1947).

Pp.

viii,

296.

New

York:

Viking

Press,

1955.

$3.75.

DONALD

F.

DRUMMOND.

The

Passing

of

American

Neutrality,

1937-1941.

Pp.

vi,

409,

ii.

Ann

Arbor:

University

of

Michi-

gan

Press;

London:

Geoffrey

Cumber-

lege,

Oxford

University

Press,

1955.

$7.50.

These

two

books

tell

a

valuable

story

of

a

change

in

the

policy

of

the

United

States

which

was

almost

revolutionary

in

char-

acter.

On

February

21,

1947,

the

British

government

let

it

be

known

to

our

officials

in

the

State

Department

that

it

was

im-

possible

for

that

government

to

undertake

further

responsibility

in

the

Near

East

and

would

withdraw

the

forces

stationed

in

Greece.

The

only

way

to

prevent

Greece

from

falling

into

the

hands

of

the

Russian

Communists

would

be

for

the

United

States

to

fill

the

breach

and

become

an

active

guardian

of

the

interests

in

the

eastern

Mediterranean.

This

would

be

a

complete

change

of

American

policy

since

the

time

of

George

Washington.

Even

Monroe’s

enunciation

of

the

Monroe

Doctrine,

in

1823,

contained

less

danger

to

American

interests

than

would

this

new

action

and

its

influence

on

American

foreign

policy.

Nevertheless,

it

was

a

momentous

action

that

the

Truman

administration

thus

left

the

policy

of

George

Washington

and

started

the

United

States

in

a

new

direc-

tion

which

was

bound

to

have

great

sig-

nificance

in

the

history

of

the

times.

Mr.

Truman

appeared

before

a

joint

session

of

Congress

on

February

21

and

announced

his

decision

to

undertake

the

consequent

change

to

our

policy.

Secretary

Acheson

followed

this

up

by

a

speech

in

Cleveland,

Mississippi

before

the

Delta

Council

and

on

the

following

June

5,

General

Marshall

carried

further

the

advocacy

of

the

new

policy

at

Har-

vard

University,

Cambridge,

Massachu-

setts.

These

three

speeches

with

the

skill-

ful

development

of

a

favorable

public

opinion,

were

the

remarkable

accomplish-

ments

of

the

Truman

administration.

Mr.

Jones

tells

the

story

of

the

fifteen

weeks

in

which

the

American

people

and

their

government

assumed

the

responsibility

of

world

leadership.

The

merits

or

demerits

of

this

profound

change

in

direction

will

be

the

subject

of

study

by

American

historians

for

years

to

come.

One

school

of

thought

now

con-

tends

that

the

new

developments

of

these

fifteen

weeks

of

change

from

George

Wash-

ington

to

Harry

S.

Truman

were

from

the

sublime

to

the

ridiculous.

While

others,

such

as

Mr.

Jones,

think

Truman

and

his

advisers

were

showing

signs

of

real

states-

manship.

It

will

be

some

time

during

years

to

come

before

a

proper

judgment

of

the

matter

can

be

made.

Mr.

Jones

was

a

member

of

the

State

Department

and

tells

the

story

from

in-

side

knowledge

of

events

that

were

rapidly

changing

the

whole

world

policy

of

the

United

States.

His

book

represents

the

highest

type

of

journalistic

writing.

He

wholeheartedly

endorses

the

new

Truman

policy.

There

is

no

wild

propaganda,

but

a

setting

forth

of

the

facts

of

the

case

as

he

sees

them

and

with

a

dramatic

power

of

suspense

that

holds

the

attention

of

the

reader

as

would

a

novel

of

our

times.

Mr.

Drummond

gives

a

fine

background

of

the

events

leading

up

to

the

&dquo;Fifteen

Weeks.&dquo;

His

style

of

writing

is

restrained

and

forthright.

He

gives

a

fine

descrip-

tion

of

the

passing

of

American

neutrality

during

the

years

1937 -to

1941

which

made

possible

the

change

in

policy

mentioned

above.

He,

likewise,

seems

to

endorse

the

strange

and

tortuous

changes

brought

about

by

the

Roosevelt

administration

which

made

possible

the

revolutionary

events

that

fol-

lowed.

He

is

careful

not

to

stress

the

giv-

ing

of

the

fifty

ships

to

Great

Britain

and

the

broad

and

audacious

policy

of

&dquo;lend

lease,&dquo;

which,

under

the

guise

of

measures

of

peace,

were

a

virtual

declaration

of

war

against

Germany

and

her

allies.